Traditional craft
Tendo Shogi Koma
天童将棋駒
Shogi pieces from Tendo in Yamagata, a town that makes over 95 percent of Japan's, with lacquer characters on beautifully grained wood.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 8 April 1996
- Type
- Other crafts
- Region
- Tohoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 天童将棋駒
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 天童市、山形市、村山市
Small art on a board
Shogi is Japanese chess, and Tendo makes over 95 percent of Japan's pieces. Characters are written in natural lacquer on woods such as magnolia, maple and boxwood. The finest pieces are carved in true boxwood, then lacquer is built up into the carving so the characters stand raised, a style called moriage. The wood grain matters too, with names like peacock, tiger and root burl. It is made in Tendo, Yamagata city and Murayama in Yamagata.
Three trades
- Blank makers cut and shape the wooden pieces, letting the wood settle first because fresh wood shrinks.
- Carvers cut the characters into the wood.
- Writers paint the characters in natural lacquer, or build lacquer up into the carving for raised pieces.
Samurai side work
In the late Edo period, the Oda domain that ruled the area was short of money. To help, it encouraged its lower-ranking samurai to make shogi pieces as side work, and the trade grew into Tendo's signature craft.
Good to know
- Walk around Tendo: shogi-piece shapes decorate poles, postboxes and bridges.
- Pick up a piece and look at the grain; no two are the same.
Questions travellers ask
What pieces do professional shogi players use?
Raised-lacquer moriage pieces on reddish straight-grained wood.
How much of Japan's shogi pieces come from Tendo?
Over 95 percent.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.