Several types
of wood are used to make Go boards, including New
Kaya, Katsura and the world famous Hyuga Kaya. Kaya
is an evergreen tree with spreading brownish branches.
It is a slow growing tree requiring several hundred
years to mature. The cut Kaya wood is yellow in
color and has a beautiful, distinct grain and moderate
elasticity. The wood contains rich oil content,
has an attractive luster and an aromatic smell.
The Kaya tree of Hyuga is the finest material for
Go boards, due to the closer grain and more pleasing
color than Kaya trees from other areas. The cut
Kaya wood is naturally dried for a long period (5-10
years) before being used to produce boards. The
Hyuga Kaya Go boards are almost always used at title
matches throughout the world. Their color mellows
with age and they produce a lively click when struck
with a stone.
The Kaya
trees are felled and sold at an auction of rare woods
held three times a year by the Forest Office in Japan,
which has a policy to fell them according to a carefully
laid plan and use the income to conserve the forest through
replanting.
There
are three types of Hyugo Kaya boards depending on the
portion of the wood trunk used:
1.
Masame (quarter grain/straight grain) 正目 （直紋）– Best
quality with uniform straight grain
2.
Itame (cross grain – back side) 板目（彎紋-木裏）– Second best
quality, cross grain appears at the middle.
3.
Itame (cross grain – front side) 板目（彎紋-木表）– Third best
quality, tiny knots may appear at the back of the board
For
tabletop Masame type Hyugo Kaya boards, there are four
grades:
1. Super Special Grade 頂級 – Made with 3-5 pieces
of Hyugo Kaya wood of very fine straight grain.
2.
Special Grade 特級– Made with 3-5 pieces of Hyugo Kaya
wood of fine grain.
3.
High Grade 高級 – Made by joining 3-5 pieces of Hyugo
Kaya wood.
4.
Standard Grade 實用– Made by joining 7-9 pieces of Hyugo
Kaya wood.
New
Kaya wood (新榧木)and Katsura wood (桂木)are
also fine quality wood but are more economical. Both
have distinct grain and moderate elasticity.
Grid
lines on high quality Go boards are made with sword and
filled to ensure decades of usable life (grid lines of
many low-cost boards from other markets are printed which
will fade out after repeated use). Each grid line is carefully
position to form 2.3 cm x 2.4 cm rectangle (shorter side
facing players) for optimum perspective balance.
Fine
quality boards can last for decades and are often passed
on from generation to generation as a family treasure.
