Board craftsman Mr. Torayoshi YOSHIDA made Japan grown kaya Ten-masa 2.3-Sun (about 70 mm thick) Table Shogi Board No.89025F

It is becoming more and more difficult to obtain Japan grown kaya wood.

The top has remnants of wood bark and scratches from the processing.
The top, bottom, One cutting side and both side has some color spots derived from the wood materials.
*Please check the photo images.

Yoshida Gobanten was established in 1916 and continuously made various Go and Shogi boards for more than 100years.
The owner takes over the name of 'Master Yoshida Torayoshi' for generations.
All the boards made by the 3rd and 4th generation of Yoshida Torayoshi, the present owner, have engraved words of Ichi-jo (一如) in Chinese character, as the evidence of his work.
The word 'Ichi-jo' is a part of famous four-character idiom 'Busshin Ichi-nyo (物心一如)', that literally means 'matter and mind are one/body and mind as one'.
This implies a strong will that when we make boards, our board and mind are as one.
The engraved words 'Ichi-jo (一如)' is the evidence of Go master, who made this board with his spirit and board as one.
We are happy to offer these special boards made by the Go board master Mr. YOSHIDA Torayoshi, for his devotion and his long years of experience and outstanding technique.

Kaya is regarded as one of the best materials to make Go and Shogi boards, because of its good sound and feel when placing the stones, moderate elasticity, beautiful grain, color, gloss and luster, and aroma.
There are three types of kaya trees: "Hyuga Kaya" which is grown and harvested in a mountainous area in the southern part of Kyushu, Japan, "Japanese-grown honkaya" which is grown in other areas of Japan, and "Chinese-grown honkaya" which is mainly grown in Yunnan Province, China.
Generally, Japanese-grown honkaya is said to be better than Chinese honkaya in terms of quality.
The main difference between Japanese and Chinese kaya is the wood quality, caused by the natural environment where the tree was grown. Japanese kaya is usually lighter and more yellowish in color and has a unique wood aroma.
Depending on your preference, Japanese kaya is generally more highly valued than Chinese kaya, and the value and price of Japanese kaya tends to be higher due to the rarity of the wood.

In order to make a one-piece Go/Shogi board or board with legs, it is necessary to get a large tree between 200 and 800 years old.However, since logging is now prohibited in many forests in Japan, large-diameter kaya wood is almost impossible to find on the market.
The procurement of kaya is becoming more and more difficult and the Japanese honkaya Go board is getting rarer year on year.

*Go board materials are explained detail in "How to choose a board".
Please take a look.
Go to "How to choose a board".

"Ten-masa" cutting style has masame (straight grain) only on the top surface of the board.
The bottom surface has itame (flat grain).
The general masame boards belong to this type.
The top surface is beautifully finished so the ten-masa board is highly valued.

*Go board cutting styles are explained detail in "How to choose a board".
Please take a look.
Go to "How to choose a board".

• Product : Board craftsman Mr. Torayoshi YOSHIDA made 1-piece table Shogi board
  Ten-masa 2.3 sun / 7.0cm thick
  Item No.89025F
• Size (height × width × thick)
  366 mm × 336 mm × 70 mm
• Weight : About 4.1 kg
• Included：Certificate


• Please bear the actual cost for shipping charges outside Japan.

You may find small knots, burrs, rolled-in bark as all these products are made of natural trees.
There may be some small flaw or scratch, dent, chipping.