This awesome goban came to Baduk Club from a refurbisher in Kanagawa, Japan.
The board is 17cm thick, and has been resurfaced. It comes with a cloth cover and a protective paulownia lid.
It is textbook Kaya, with these indicators:
- The Cut: it is an Oi-masa cut, halfway between Quartersawn and Riftsawn. This cut presents straight lines on nearly all the surfaces and has great dimensional stability.
- The Size: While kaya isn't rare, it does take 500-1000 years to grow large enough to be used for a go board. Most kaya boards are plain-sawn, but a quartersawn board like this is only possible with a tree of the largest diameter.
- The Grain: the lines are wavy. They are also quite thin because Kaya is a slow-growing tree and you can see hundreds of rings.
- The Weight: at 17 kilograms it is very dense. This is because Kaya retains its resin as it cures in the warehouse for 10 years before being shaped.
- The Color: the heartwood is a uniform candy color. This is a deep caramel color indicative of the prized Kaya wood from southern Japan.
- The Scent: it carries a sweet smell like vanilla, incense, clove, or patchouli.
The board is in excellent condition, and has a raised lacquer grid. The paulownia lid may need some re-gluing. The legs are also kaya, and their proud shoulders are an excellent sign of quality.
Purchased new, such an item would cost about $5000-$10000 today.
Please refer to my Care Instructions for storage tips. Proper care will help cracks from developing along Pith Rays (veins used by the tree to transfer water).
Please understand that this is a Vintage item. Some defects may exist so please examine the photos carefully.
Shipping Details:
FedEx International Priority shipping from Japan is already included in the purchase price. 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 we will email you a tracking number.
