This gorgeous goban came to Baduk Club from an antique dealer in Ibaraki.
The board is 14.3cm thick, and has a lovely yellow tone. It comes with a decorative (brocade) cloth cover and paulownia lid. It stands 27cm tall with legs on, and packaged and boxed with the lid on it weighs 17 kilograms.
It looks like a textbook species of Kaya, with these indicators:
- The Cut: it is a Center Cut (kiomote) to show off the heart of the tree.
- The Grain: the lines are wavy, unlike shin-kaya and most matsu. There are hundreds of rings here in the heartwood alone. This is unmistakably Honkei.
- The Weight: at 14.5kg it is incredibly dense. Kaya retains its resin as it cures.
- The Size (of the trunk): You can see that the rings radiate outward instead of forming neat semi-circles, so this was an absolutely tremendous tree. While kaya isn't rare, it does take 500-1000 years to grow large enough to be used for a go board.
- The Color: a warm yellow, the heartwood is a uniform tone. It was the custom in the 80's to add color to the board, and this may be the case.
- The Scent: The board gives off a sweet smell, like vanilla and cloves.
A center cut like this leaves beautiful end-grain where both players will sit, and straight lines along each side. The top and bottom have cross-grains in unique patterns like a fingerprint. based on the heartwood of the tree.
The corners and edges are all quite good. The protective paulownia lid has done its job. There are some knots in one lower corner, which is probably why the bottom was not used as the playing surface. The legs look slightly more orange, and may be Katsura.
A crack exists (on the underside) but it looks very stable. Kaya is cured for 10 years before being cut, so the strength of the resin helps insure that the wood doesn't come apart. Still, it should be oiled and re-waxed (including the legs), especially if your climate is less humid than Japan. Visit my Care Instructions to learn more.
Please understand that this is a Vintage item. Purchased new, such an item would cost about $3000-$5000 today.
If you would like to add go bowls or stones, it would be no trouble to bundle this item with other products from our warehouse in Japan.
Shipping Details:
Already included in the price is the cost of FedEx International Priority shipping from Japan (to nearly anywhere). This service reduces the actual transit time to only 5 business days, and also allows more room for padding in order to avoid shipping damage. Please allow a week for Customs preparations, then a FedEx tracking number will be provided that you can use to sign up for notifications.
Downgrading to ground shipping with Japan Post Surface is possible if you wish to reduce the cost, but this will be at your own risk as damage can occur during this 3-month shipping method. Please contact us for details.
