There is also the point that it is artificially favouring the Japanese version over qipan and badug pan. The artificial distinction between legged boards and table-top boards is rarely sustained, is unnecessary and does not exist in the Japanese. While there is room for some foreign words, like touché, they are mostly welcome when they fill a need. No need to get fancy with the foreign lingo. So please don't assume that if a famous go player signs your favorite goban at a go congress, it'll automatically be worth an exorbitant amount of money. Notice that they don't mention whether it is a Hyuga Kaya goban though. They had one on sale for a bargain price but it is probably no longer available. If you google for "shihomasa kiseido" you will come up with an old out-of-date page which mentions that shihomasa gobans will generally cost you ¥900,000+. Now notice the prices they expect for their boards. Notice that they do not have any shihomasa cut boards even in their Gallery of Wonderful Goods. Notice that of all these boards, only the last one is labeled "Tenchimasa" while the others are only labelled "Masame" (I would think that the others are probably the cut "Tenmasa". The thickness of the boards range from 6.1 sun to 8.5 sun so the ¥33 million goban 6 sun goban isn't really that thick. Now look at the Hyuga Kaya Floor Boards at Kurogoishi's Gallery of Wonderful Goods for some comparative study. These three cuts are the most sought after when buying gobans. ![]() This gives a top with straight grain and the sides have a mixture of straight and curved grains. The sides will have irregular grain though.ĪFter this there is the tenmasa "heaven straight grain" cut. The next best cut is called tenchimasa "heaven and earth straight grain" which means the top and bottom of the goban have straight grains. And it does seem to be customary for goban makers to reserve their best gobans for such treatment with calligraphy from from one or more famous go players commemorating a special occasion. Couple that with the calligraphy from a couple famous go players and the goban maker can ask a lot for the board. ![]() It is very rare to see shihomasa grain gobans and they cost a lot of money as is. It is the rarest cut which produces straight grain (masame) on four sides of the goban and it is the most warp resistant cut. The key to why it is so expensive is the cut, shihomasa which means "straight grain on four sides".
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