Dear all,

I am currently in the process of purchasing a kaya table goban -- a very exciting prospect. I am going through a very reputable dealer Kuroki Goishi, from whom I have bought stones and bowls in the past, and I was very happy with the quality of the product and the service. The question now is whether to buy a Hyuga Kaya board or a Hon-kaya board. I was recommended a beautiful Hon-kaya board 7cm thick made from one piece. My questions is, is there a difference in quality between the famous Hyuga Kaya and Hon-kaya? Any insight would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!

BT

Hyuga Kaya is very nice but it's very difficult and would be very expensive to expect a good quality one piece goban made from Hyuga Kaya. I think a one piece Hon Kaya goban is more worthwhile than a multi-piece Hyuga Kaya goban.

I have a one piece Kaya myself and it is a thing of beauty. Check it out at:
http://tchan001.wordpress.com/2010/05/3 ... ble-goban/

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http://tchan001.wordpress.com
A blog on Asian go books, go sightings, and interesting tidbits
Go is such a beautiful game.

Honkaya means genuine kaya as opposed to shinkaya which is actually spruce wood. Kaya trees have the botanical name Torreya Nucifera. Hyuga is the old name for what is now Miyazaki prefecture and hyuga kaya refers to kaya from that region. Connoisseurs of Japanese go equipment think that the hyuga kaya boards have superior color and grain texture, though of course these qualities vary from board to board and may be found in genuine kaya boards from other regions. Besides color and grain texture, kaya go boards are appreciated for their uchiaji, the physical experience of playing stones on the board, which is supposed to be better than that of other commonly used woods.

You might want to consider how you are going to use this board. Does it have legs? If not, i. e. if it is intended for use on top of a table, it might be a bit too thick. The tops of Western tables at which we sit on chairs tend to be around 30" above the floor and another 2.75" for the thickness of the board might make it awkward for use on such a table. I have a 5 cm thick Hyuga kaya board (three pieces) and I find it hard to see the surface properly when it is on my dining table. In Japan boards like these are used on tables with tops about 24" above the floor. On the other hand, some people have no problem with this. I solved it by using an adjustable desk chair and raising it to its maximum height.

Firstly, thank you to those who took the time to reply. I am aware that Hyuga Kaya is a subset of Hon-kaya in general, but as there seems to be no distinction between types of Hon-kaya with the exception of Hyuga, I was simply curious if there is a difference in quality? Knowing that Hyuga kaya is known as being the best due to its color tone, softness, et al, which are due to the local conditions, is there a notable difference between the two?

I would be extremely grateful to anyone who may have specific knowledge on the subject.

Many thanks,

BT

The choice of a goban should probably be based on the characteristics of the grain as opposed to the specific area of harvest. Most importantly, look for a very even, straight grain on the top of the board, so as not to distract from play. Look for fine, thin growth rings and a reddish color. Red colored kaya has more natural oils in it, and is denser. Kaya grows in other areas of Kyushu, and elsewhere in Japan. Other things being equal, you probably shouldn't pay considerably more for a goban just because it came from a tree grown in Miyazaki. Look for a honkaya board that exemplifies the best qualities of timber in a goban. I believe KGT only uses Japanese T. Nucifera for honkaya boards, and does not import other varieties of torreya, but some shops in tokyo offer gobans of torreya grandis from China.

Thank you very much. This was very helpful. This is an image of the goban I ended up buying -- it is a one piece hon-kaya from the Gifu prefecture (Honshu kaya). Please let me know your thoughts.

Very nice! Enjoy playing on it

BT3: That board is beautiful. Enjoy it!

Gowan: Congrats on your 1000th post =).

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Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

Those are just his old GD posts...

Wow, I'm out of it. Thanks for the correction.

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Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

That's all right. I'll accept congratulations any time

There's always the coffee table option:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8nrfPi8wrUs/TZOR9Dw34zI/AAAAAAAA49Q/XJtcXKTiysw/IMG_6105.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8nrfPi8wrUs/TZOSOH2q8tI/AAAAAAAA5Aw/p9uP4zQulWY/IMG_6137.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8nrfPi8wrUs/TZQsduUCVEI/AAAAAAAA5Zg/Zw9CXNXe6Zk/IMG_6410.JPG

Photos from eurogotv.com are of last weekends Shusaku Cup

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Where've you been? Zatoichi could slice the board in half, put it back together again and rearrange the position so fast that no-one even knew he'd drawn his sword - and he was blind. ~ John Fairbairn

Very nice board! Love the colour!

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