I have just made a new page under the Shogi tab on this website and added two shogi training sets to the listings. Shogi training sets are popular with children here in Japan, and would also suit non-Japanese beginners who want to learn shogi as quickly as possible and master the moves as they play.

Part of the process of learning how to play shogi involves remembering the kanji characters for each piece. That’s because shogi pieces have the piece-name on their face to distinguish them from each other. If you want to play shogi well you have to learn to read the kanji at a glance and know immediately which piece is which.

That can be a difficult job for foreign players who have not studied kanji, but it can be almost as difficult for Japanese children who may only know hiragana and a few basic kanji when they first begin to play shogi.

Kumon Shogi Training Pieces

Some years ago, the Japanese private education company, Kumon, brought out a wooden “Study Shogi” set to help Japanese children learn shogi.

The shogi pieces in the Kumon set have little grids on them representing the squares immediately surrounding the shogi piece, with red arrows to show where the piece can move. If the arrow finishes inside the square, then piece can only move as far as that square. If the arrow breaks through the outer boundary of the square, then the shogi piece in question can move several squares in that direction, like the rook, bishop or queen in chess.

The name of the piece is also given in hiragana underneath the traditional kanji character.

The Kumon set is made to their typically high production standards, and everything is made of wood.

Another nice feature of the set is that the wooden box that stores the pieces, and the wooden lid, double as trays for the shogi pieces during play. Because captured pieces can be reintroduced to the game as your own pieces, it is important to keep all the pieces you capture on display so that both your opponent and you can see what has been captured.

The "Master Shogi" Training Set

More recently, another shogi training set, called “Master Shogi” was released by Japanese game company, Beverly Enterprises Inc. It is a slickly packaged set designed more like a board game, with a cardboard board overlaid with a plastic grid into which the plastic pieces sit very snugly. The squares where the pieces go at the set up stage are marked with the kanji character of the respective pieces.

As you get better at reading the pieces and understanding how they move, you can replace the stickers that cover the plastic pieces with new ones with standard shogi kanji designs on them and no movement styles.

The Master Shogi set includes a couple of illustrated Japanese instruction pamphlets. One of the pamphlets is a in “manga” format, with the instructions explained in popular comic strip style.

If you have some knowledge of Japanese and can read hiragana you will be able to read the Japanese version of the rules that come with the set. If you can’t read Japanese, the diagrams show you clearly how the pieces move.

Both shogi training sets offer the learner a good way to get to know how the pieces move. The Kumon set is better quality, being made of wood, but the Master set is cheaper and has some nice features that youngsters will enjoy such as the option to “upgrade” pieces with new stickers as they master their movements.

Both shogi training sets are now available on this website via this link or under the Shogi tab in the horizontal menu.

David Hurley

Tsume are shogi mating problems. The key feature of a tsume puzzle, unlike a western chess problem, is that you have to check the opponent’s king in every move you make to complete the puzzle.

Here in Japan, some tsume puzzle books date back several centuries and tsume puzzles are generally recognized as a good way to improve your skill in playing shogi. Of course, you don’t actually have to play shogi in order to enjoy the puzzles.

T. Gene Davis’ shogi book, Tsume Puzzles for Japanese Chess starts with an introduction to the game of shogi, with a clear set of rules, with photos and diagrams. That is followed by a brief explanation of how to read the puzzles. Altogether, this shogi book has more than 200 tsume puzzles of varying complexity, ranging from single move solutions to puzzles requiring thirteen moves to solve. Explanatory notes and solutions are provided.

There is also a very useful “quick reference” section which gives you the kanji notation for shogi pieces. One interesting point about tsume puzzles is that they show your opponent’s pieces by printing the kanji upside down, and the quick reference guide shows you the kanji both ways up, which is very helpful for beginners.

David Hurley

Actually, their design resembles that of high quality modern soroban such as the Tomoe soroban – also available on this website.

A typical modern soroban is housed in a plastic “tray”. The tray serves to strengthen the frame, protect the rods and make the soroban easy to use whether you are holding it in your hand or working with it flat on the table.

All the parts of the basic soroban, the tray, the rods and the beads, are made of plastic. It is a bit “chunkier” than the Tomoe model, and not quite as smooth, but it is excellent value for the price, whether you opt for the basic 11 rod soroban or the basic 13 rod version.

The Basic Soroban

Please note that whereas the Tomoe soroban will be shipped by Express Mail Service, the basic version is shipped by air mail – unless you request, and pay for, a shipping upgrade.

Here is the link to the soroban page: http://www.japanese-games-shop.com/other-goods/soroban/

David Hurley

David,

I have the parts that you sent but I can’t read Japanese. I can’t get the Coleto pen together without instruction could you send me instructions in english, please.

All the best,

L.

It had not occurred to me that instructions were necessary, but on second thoughts I realized that loading a Coleto pen is not obvious.

Actually, it can be a bit fiddly.

It didn’t have a Coleto pen to hand, or time to sit down and write a clear set of instructions about how to load it, so I searched YouTube, and found the perfect solution:

I will be updating my Pilot pen listings shortly. For now, you can check them out here.

David Hurley

The Old Classic Shogi Set

One of my longest-standing listings on this site has just undergone a change in specs. The Classic Shogi Set used to be a single box set. The pieces used to be housed in a plastic box that fitted into the top of the game box above the folded board.

Now, however, that set seems to have disappeared; single boxed sets usually have plastic pieces and lighter boards. The “classic” folding board continues to be available, however, in a box of its own, and is sold sepearately.

Likewise, standard shogi pieces are also sold separately in a box of their own, a nice wooden box like the more expensive hand carved sets.

So, it’s out with the old and in with the new for the “classic” set. The specs are pretty much the same for the board, but the pieces may be a little better in quality and the traditional wooden shogi koma box is a big improvement on the old not-so-classical plastic box…

The price is currently the same as before, $55 plus S&H. You can order the set from the Shogi Sets page.

DH

The New "Classic" Shogi Set - Complete With Wooden Koma Box!

I’m interested in buying a Japanese Mahjong set, but I’m not a connoisseur. I would like to know the differences in terms of quality between The Take Mahjong Set, the Standard Japanese Mahjong Set and the Green Tile Mahjong Set, as I’m not fond of the diamond-like little jewel in the Take set, but have read good reviews of it.

I’ve also heard about Sango Mahjong Set but I haven’t seen it in your online shop…

Pierre

My reply:

Hi Pierre,

The key difference between the Take Mahjong Set and the Standard and Green Tile Mahjong sets is the shape of the tile-backs. The Take set has flatter backs for easy wall-stacking. The other sets have more traditional slightly-rounded backs that imitate the shape of the traditional bamboo-backed tiles of yesteryear.

To tell you the truth, “wall stacking” is not a problem with any set, so if you don’t like sets with embedded diamond tiles, I suggest you
choose either the Standard Mahjong Set or the Green Tile Mahjong Set.

The Standard Mahjong set I sell on my site is basically the “Sango” tiles in a cheap box. I can get you a Sango set if you wish, but it
costs about $35 more, and the box is not really much better quality! The TILES are the same.

The faces of the Green tiles are the same design as the Sango/Standard set. The tile backs are green (of course!), and the tiles are a little
heavier.

All sets are shipped by Express Mail Service from Japan.

Hope that helps you make a decision.

Best wishes,

David Hurley

The Nintendo Harifuda deck

Good news for collectors of Japanese card games worldwide! Last month I “accidentally” bought a small stock of Nintendo Harifuda card decks from my supplier. I misread the label, and bought them thinking I was getting Kabufuda decks.

Harifuda is a Japanese gambling game involving cards numbered from one to six.

I have been meaning to add Harifuda decks to my listings, but never got around to it. But with a stock of cards sat on my shelf, I finally found a moment yesterday morning and added them to my listings over on the Tripleclicks website.

Click here to check out the Nintendo Harifuda deck on Tripleclicks.

Tripleclicks is free to join and safe to use. I have a range of Japanese games available on the site and that’s also where I post “hot deals” or “closeouts”.

I returned to Japan a couple of weeks ago and have battled with the orders backlist and now have it under control!

I was hoping to go away with a Motorola Xoom so that I could stay connected wherever I was, but there was a two-week waiting list so I had to drop that idea. Consequently, I only had limited access to the Internet while in Britain. But it was nice to come back and head to my local Yamada Denki electronics super store and pick up a free Xoom as part of a package deal the AU mobile phone company were offering. Very nice, thank you!

Anyway, now I’m back, am fully connected and have almost caught up with orders, I should be able to handle orders and enquiries more swiftly for the rest of the year, if all goes well!

Cheers!

David Hurley

You will be able to order from this site as usual during that period. BUT I won’t be able to handle your order until I get back.

I would expect the first shipment after my return to be on Tuesday 27th September.

Apologies for any inconvenience…

Best wishes,

David Hurley

I offer two types of combi decks on this site, the Tamura Shogundo deck ($18.50) and the economy priced deck by Daiso ($5).

The Daiso deck has been out of stock for quite a while, but I’m pleased to say that they are now back in stock, and with a smart new design on the box. Go to the Hanafuda page and scroll down to find the deck.

Hanfuda/Trumps Combi Deck