Sorry... I posted while trying to revise something. Editing...
..edited
I'll try to answer proficiently, but I'm sleep deprived, right now (and it's not going to get solved for a couple of days, so...). Sorry if I ramble.
bogiesan wrote:Ah, chiyodad! He had a good run blogging about his go experience. Entertaining and just the right amount of detail as he introduced odd video clips and unusual products. Yellow Mountain Imports is a much different company than it was back then.
He's probably the one thing I miss the most of that period. And I got to know some interesting blogs through his. All of them long asleep, now. And, yes, one of the things that shocked me when I "came back" the time before this was the vibe I was getting out of YMI. It didn't match. But then, buying from them wasn't that much of an option back then, so I never really explored that.
The global market for quality go equipment is apparently vast, the demand remains unsatisfied, and the returns for equipment makers are possibly quite lucrative.
You need the expertise. I keep seeing the price for second hand, unrestored, goban, and some of them are quite cheap. But... you do need to restore those. So you need the expertise for the purchase... and all the process afterwards. I'm not aware of any Western artisan schooled in that. We even have swordsmiths with menkyo certificates, but no goban artisans.
Japanese slate and shell sets are not ever going to become less expensive. Ceramic and glass sets coming from the east will continue to get more expensive as the regional standards of living increase, costs of materials rise
You've reminded me of something... Some months ago, there were some interviews to bokken/bokutô [wooden sword] makers; I can look them up if someone's interested. One of the things they asked them was about the quality of some European made bokken. The Japanese artisans seemed satisfied about the quality of those... and absolutely flabbergasted at the price. So, between that and, as you mentioned, tariffs, cost of living, transportation, clearance... There might be an option.
Alternative materials such as exotic stones and minerals will remain quirky oddities until, of course, the costs of traditional sets rise to approach the costs of the exotics.
Well, the price of shell stones IS higher than most of those at the link I sent. Quite a bunch of them are at 400 USD, for 10 mm thick stones. Shaakengo has
Jitsuyo at 9.8 thickness for 430 EUR. What I'm not sure at all with these things is hardness, brittleness and consistency and overall aesthetic effect.
The bigger question for me is simply, “Why not?”
Indeed.
the history of glass marble manufacture is a good example. The dominant maker was Germany until the 1920s when the USA took over due to sophisticated manufacturing techniques and better glass chemistry.
Germany was changing focus to other things, back then.
Now the industry is owned by a single Mexican company with two small USA makers still in business. However, there are hundreds of highly skilled glass people making exceptionally cool handmade marbles that command steep prices and are highly collectible.
There seem to be small makers here and there, too. Googling about this a couple days ago, I found a factory-museum in SW England (somewhere slightly NW of Portsmouth, IIRC); there must be others. Just throwing an idea, but a meeting of Go event and traditional crafts promotion might be nice.
Mexican workers are now being paid well and the machines they use are sophisticated.
Define "being paid well". Because the Devil's advocate in me would point out that the Chinese might argue the same.
I can easily see the Mexican marble maker Vacor setting up a sideline of go stones. Maybe even doing interesting colors and patterns that would resemble the precious and semi-precious stones (that we imagine owning but not playing with).
Well, an ancient sage said capitalism is weird...
I actually see a smaller manufacturer doing that and, if successful, Vacor jumping in. Monopolies are not usually fast to adapt. And, frankly, 90% is about as close to that as you can get in an unplanned economy, I'd guess.
If they were reasonably priced and were comfortable in the hands, maybe they’d sell. However, I do not think the process of making perfect multi-colored glass spheres is directly adaptable to the manufacture of the traditional dual-convex lens shape. Perhaps there is room for a third design for go stones, a shape determined by the manufacturing technique rather than an applied aesthetic.
There are several points, there. Japanese aesthetics tend to have a forgotten, deep layer of ergonomics and usage requirements. I'm not sure how much you could change the design and keep it useful without changing, say, the way the stones are held. If you change that, the way the stones rest on the board might also have to change... and so on.
But then, one fast and easy change would be marbles and boards with depressions (say, Abalone board game-style). Changing the material of the marble would be relatively easy... and helpful for blind people.
In a way, the options for different shapes are already there. But do we have a public for those? The Western Go player is a minority. And cultural minorities tend to be rather conservative. Also inventive, because they have hurdles the original culture doesn't, but... well, we still see Shell ishi as a pinnacle. Japanese, not Mexican. That alone says a lot.
I don't know. I see options, but...
We'll see. Take care.
… but imagine having non-glossy “mock Yunzi” stones in “earthen” shades of red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple with the same grip, the same weight … and then some with the same colours plus soft streaks of other colours in it … <dreaming> … and single-convex stones apparently are a lot easier to make … maybe I should get me a small enamel furnace and try something out … broken glass can be found everywhere, and sand is cheap …