This is a high quality traditional style Japanese shogi board made of a single block of "shin kaya" wood mounted on four carved legs.
Originally, Japanese traditional shogi boards were made of a wood called "Kaya" - and indeed, the top quality boards are still made of this material. But due to the cost of this precious kind of wood, and the laborious process of creating a shogi board out of it, the starting price of a Japanese kaya shogi board is around $2,000...
Therefore, shogi craftsmen turned to another kind of wood to make high quality boards but at a more affordable price. These boards use a wood called Shin-kaya, or "New" kaya in Japanese.This @new-kaya" is Picea asperata, or a form of spruce from Alaska or Thailand. It has a light but warm golden-yellow appearance.
Nowadays Shin-kaya boards are the most popular one among Japanese shogi players and are well appreciated all over the world.
The board on offer here is a Shin Kaya shogi board with legs.
Board: approx 14" x 13" x 3.5"
Height including legs: 7.5"
Weight: 10.5lb (4.8kg)
