Life In 19x19

Kris2476 wrote:A1 to T1: 16"
A1 to A19: 16.75"

Hi Christopher,

My shinkaya Japanese board (in avatar photo):
A1..T1: ~396 mm ~= 15.6" (narrower than yours)
A1..A19: ~429 mm ~= 16.9" (more stretched than yours)

Board width: ~421 mm ~= 16.6"
Board length: ~455 mm ~= 17.9"

(Stones are more X-axis crampy on my board than on yours! )

Interesting!

EdLee wrote:本蛤碁石 hon hamaguri go ishi

本 hon; true/genuine/proper; as in honte 本手. (See also Honda, below.)

蛤 hamaguri; clam(s).

碁 go; as in Go.

石 ishi; stone(s). As in 碁石 Go stones, go ishi.
And Mr. Ishida 石田 -- "stone field" -- of the famous Ishida Joseki dictionaries.
Honda 本田 -- automobile brand -- true/proper/genuine field.

( Mini Japanese lessons. )

You should start a thread for Japanese lessons. I've learnt 7 kanji already today. Putting kanji into context with names of Go players and names of Japanese companies makes them come to life quite well. You have a knack for it.

Hi Jujube,

Thanks. My Japanese is extremely limited,
having studied it formally at a city college for only 6 months
back in the early 1990's. ( Japanese 101 & 102. )
I'm lucky because I already knew most of the Kanji,
as they are Chinese characters.

Some characters are easier to learn than others,
because they're quite visual.

Example: 田 field, as in a rice field.

Ishida 石田 stone field
Honda 本田 genuine field (In Hikaru, there's an insei named Mr. Honda )
Toyota 豊田 abundant field ( as in a rich field, an abundant harvest )
Matsuda 松田 (Mazda motors) pine field

( Got lucky that the clam shell stones name is easily cross-referenced with other famous terms. )

EdLee wrote: Honda 本田 genuine field (In Hikaru, there's an insei named Mr. Honda )
Toyota 豊田 abundant field ( as in a rich field, an abundant harvest )
Matsuda 松田 (Mazda motors) pine field

& there is also Honda Kunihisa 9-dan who won the 1984 NHK cup. There is a video or two on YouTube of him playing.

EdLee wrote: I cushion all my bowls, even my very cheap bowls and plastic ING stones.
It's just good habit to protect the stones, the bowls, and dampen the clacking noises.

And not just the interiors -- I also cushion the bottom of the exterior of the bowls, and the lids! (When I flip the lids as prisoners' containers.) This protects not only the bowls & lids, but whatever surface they rest on; e.g. the goban!

I cringe when people slide the bare bottoms of their bowls along the surface of the goban; a reaction not unlike the screeching sounds on a chalk board!

This is the first i've heard of such a strategy, I think I might do just that for my soon-to-arrive new set! Do you glue the felt pieces to the bottom of the bowls? Or do you just place them on the bottom before play?

EdLee wrote:

How do you cushion the outside of the bowls/tops?

1-mm or less foam sheet ;
1-mm or less felt sheet ;
cut into a circle shape for your needs --
your local art supplies or crafts store is your friend.
(When I flip the lids over for prisoners containers,
I also cushion the interior of the lids (round felt sheet);
all these circular cushions fit inside the bowls for easy storage! )

Thanks for the links!
While I like the idea of cushioning the inside of the bowl (especially during transport), I personally wouldn't bother cushioning the inside of the lid. Taking a prisoner, and dropping it in the lid (to a satisfying click) is part of the beauty of playing Go in person (my opinion). Are you going to be that guy that keeps plastic on his TV?

I have seen sets where the owner uses a handkerchief (or similar size piece of felt cloth) inside the bowl. You can cover the top of the stones this way and - by placing both bowls in a tight fitting box - you can avoid damage during transport. This is another idea for you.