Mr. Kuroki's Gallery of Wonderful Goods
500 year-old Hyuga Kaya, 8.5 sun goban.It has been dried over a period of 15 years.
$110,000. Must protect those soft little goban legs!
Mr. Kuroki has made a new addition to his website, The Gallery of Wonderful Goods. These are beyond the discretionary spending limits of most of us but you may want to keep them in mind if you ever win the lottery.
Below are a few more of the highlights. As always, you can click on the images for enlargements.
Island Mulberry gosu for $4,200.
Black Persimmon gosu for $3,100.
Size 40 (11.3mm) Snow Grade Hyuga clam stones.Price based on negotiation. (The size 38 ones go for $126,400.)
Yahoo! Auctions (Japan)
Maybe you're the sort that prefers something a little more exotic or embellished. In which case, you should prowl about Yahoo! Auctions in Japan and look at some of these other items.
Offered at a starting bid of 6,000,000 Yen (about US$52,200) was this goban and gosu painted mostly in gold with scenes from historical Japan.
Stunning artistry!
A little easier on the wallet is Sai's goban offered at a starting bid of $13. That looks like a cell-phone next to it in the first photo. I'm guessing that the goban is a miniature replica.
Below is an image from the Hikaru No Go Artbook upon which the goban is based. The goban might have been based on an actual historical piece similar to that shown on Mr. Oojier's blog.
posted by ChiyoDad @ 4:30 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
*drool*
NannyOgg
I checked up on Kuroki Goishi's site.
I think you should've mentioned that the prices are in Japanese Yen, not in US dollars. Nearly gave me a heart attack (and i'm only 17) when i thought i needed to sell my house to buy a goban, stones and bowls!
Yes. All the prices on Kuroki Goishi Ten's website are in Japanese Yen and the exchange rate is about $117 as of today. I translated the prices for the goods that were presented in my post.
Still, the 8.5 sun goban is only $15,000 less than this 3-bedroom house in Montana. It is also roughly equivalent to the manufacturer's suggested retail price for the top-of-the-line 2006 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S SUV.
That's not to say that Go gear is expensive. After all, Kuroki's luxury-grade goods are targeted at the wealthy sector of the market. More reasonable prices (in Yen, of course) can be found in his best-buy section.
Interestingly, I had heard that there is a store in Korea that sells goods that are even more expensive than Kuroki's.
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