Hello,

I am completely new to Go but found this cool looking board in a thrift shop where I live. I picked it up for $15 and now I am trying to find out more about it.

I now know that it is called a goban and it is clearly Japanese as there are some faded characters written on the bottom. I've tried reading through the message boards and learn more about the woods and cuts but would love some help and a second opinion to my research. It would be incredible if someone could help with the characters and give some idea what it is worth so I can look after it properly.

Thanks so much!

Here is a close up of the text

It does look similar to the goban posted in this thread Help identifying the wood of a goban. In that case the conclusion was that it was katsura.

I think I need to point out that there is lot of reflected light on the board in your pictures and the color balance doesn't look like it is same in all three pictures. I don't think I'd have thought they were of the same goban if I found them separately.

Maybe you could post better pictures?

I'd say with almost total certainty that it is Katsura. You got a great deal - enjoy!

You have stumbled across a treasure and saved it from becoming a plant stand in some idiot's loft. Go back and see if the shop has the stones stashed away someplace before someone makes aquarium decorations out of them. I see this is your first post here. Look back over this forum and you will find at least five similar inquiries (over two or three years), most with better pictures, which made those conversations easier.

We can eliminate hiba and old kaya, not the right colors or grain patterns. The apparent age suggests old growth katsura, based previous threads and comparison with my katsura board.

The inscription can probably be translated easily if inaccurately online but you will need to control the focus and shake of your camera.

_________________
David Bogie, Boise ID
I play go, I ride a recumbent, of course I use Macintosh.

Just a quick update regarding the characters on the bottom. The right hand side is a date 13th Sept 1922. The left side is probably a name and too faded to read.

I suppose considering the age then this would suggest it is made from old katsura from the previous posted message.

There were no stones in the shop but i've spent a lot of time reading and looking and decided to buy some yunzi stones from china. By the time they arrive I will have had some time to practice and learn the basics!