This goban set came to Baduk Club from a private home in Fukuoka, Japan. The seller says it is from his childhood home and that the clams are Japanese from Hyuga.
The board is 17cm thick, and stands 29cm tall on legs. It has an even yellow color typical of Shinkaya (Alaskan Spruce). It is a quarter-sawn board, a Shihou-masa cut. This cutting style creates straight lines on all of the surfaces, so the board is easy on the eyes and no cross-grain heartwood interferes with the clean look. This is the highest-rated cut for go boards.
The board is in great condition, without any conspicuous large scratches. It would still be good to clean and wax the board, unless your climate is as humid as Japan's. Visit my Care Instructions to learn more. The legs are a darker color and are probably Katsura - they are in very good shape as well.
The bowls are Keyaki (zelkova) or something similar like Cherry or Ash.
The stones are a full set of slate and shell, about size 30-32 (8mm-9mm). The white pieces have dense lines in the photos so they may indeed be Hyuga suwabute shells (as the seller claims). But he could be mistaken and they maybe be Mexican clamshell - without backlit photos it is hard to tell so they will be priced as though they are Moon-grade Mexican clams.
This is a Vintage item.
Shipping Details:
FedEx International Priority shipping from Japan (to nearly anywhere) is already included. 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.
Because of the quality of this set, Surface shipping is not recommended, but it is possible (in 2 parcels with Japan Post) if you wish to reduce the cost by about $120. Contact us with the chat widget to make such arrangements.
