November 17th, "Shogi Day" Special Board craftsman Mr. Torayoshi YOSHIDA made Japan grown Kaya Kiura 3.9-Sun (about 120 mm thick) Shogi Board with legs No.84002F *Off-spec 411-SBL-06

All Go stones, Go boards, Shogi pieces, Shogi boards, Go bowls, etc. are made using natural materials.
For this reason, some products may present defects such as flaw, stain, crack and/or wood knots, or damages caused at the time of manufacturing and/or storage, and thus they cannot be sold at full price.
We do not sell any product with significant defects. We may sell some products with minor defects as "off-spec products" at a discounted price upon confirmation that customers are duly aware of any defects in advance.
We try our best to describe the condition of any defect as precisely as possible using pictures and text.
Please order items only after checking and accepting the condition of defects. Thank you.
*'Defects' refer to any scratch and flaw.

This is a high quality board made of Japanese Kaya wood.
This is a Kiura board, so the top surface appears Itame.
The board is made of Japanese kaya wood and has a high-quality feel.
There is a fixed crack on the bottom.
There are some color stains on the top, the bottom, the cutting sides, and the sides.
There are small scratches on the legs.

*Please check the 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 master, who made this board with his spirit and board as one.
We are happy to offer these special boards made by the board master Mr. YOSHIDA Torayoshi, for his devotion and his long years of experience and outstanding technique.

”Kiura” cutting style applies to the center (core) of the log and itame (flat grain) appears on the top surface of the board.
The top surface has masame (straight grain) at both ends and an oval or bamboo shoot-like pattern or irregular itame pattern in the center.
Itame (flat grain) appears on the top surface.
This is the most valuable cutting style of the itame wood.

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

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".

• Board craftsman Mr. Torayoshi YOSHIDA made Japan grown Kaya Kiura 3.9-Sun (about 120 mm thick) Shogi Board with legs *Off-spec Product No.：No.84002F
  Size (height×width×thickxlegs)：370 mm × 336 mm × 120 mm × 90 mm
  Weight：About 7.2 kg
  Included：Certificate, Paulownia cover, and Cotton cover


• 1,000 JPY flat rate shipping within Japan, free shipping for purchases totaling 20,000 JPY or more.
  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.