Can an Old Go Board Be Repaired? Resurfacing (Kezuri-naoshi) and Re-lining (Memori-naoshi) Explained

A kaya board inherited from a grandparent, or a legged board bought second-hand, rarely arrives in perfect condition. The surface darkens where hands have rested on it for decades, stones leave tiny dents, the lines fade, and sometimes the wood has warped or opened a crack. Many owners outside Japan assume the board is finished.

It may not be. Japanese board makers list planing the playing surface and drawing the lines again among the work they take on as a goban maker (盤師, banshi). This page explains the two jobs Japanese makers talk about, kezuri-naoshi and memori-naoshi, and where their limits are. Whether your particular board can be restored, and at what cost, is something only a board maker can say after seeing it, so no prices are given here.

The short version

• Scratches, stone dents, a darkened surface and faded lines: a Japanese board maker writes that these can be restored by kezuri-naoshi (削り直し, resurfacing) followed by memori-naoshi (目盛り直し, re-lining).
• Cracks and warping : the same maker writes that cracks can be repaired too, but how far depends on how deep the crack runs, where it is, and how much the board has moved.
• Resurfacing removes wood. Each time, the board gets a little thinner, so it can only be done a limited number of times. A thin tabletop board has the least margin.
• The lines are lacquer, drawn by hand. Redrawing them is a craft of its own; tracing them with a pen or marker makes things worse.
• Start with photographs. Surface, ends, sides, damage and underside, in daylight, sent to a board maker.

What Japanese board makers say about repair

Maekawa Kaya Goban-ten, a long-established kaya board specialist, describes the situation plainly in its care guide:

“With many years of use, scratches, stone marks, fading of the lines, and warping or cracking caused by dryness or humidity can appear.” “By planing the surface again and repairing cracks, the board can be beautifully restored.” (Maekawa Kaya Goban-ten, care guide (Japanese), checked 22 October 2026)

In the same shop’s FAQ, the answer to “Can an old go or shogi board be resurfaced?” is that repair and resurfacing are accepted, by email or phone (Maekawa Kaya Goban-ten, FAQ (Japanese), checked 22 October 2026). In other words, sending an old board back to a maker for restoration is a normal request in Japan, not an unusual favour.

Kezuri-naoshi: planing the surface again

Kezuri-naoshi means taking a very thin layer off the playing surface with a plane, so that clean wood appears underneath.

Three things to understand before you ask for it:

• The wood that comes off never comes back. Every resurfacing makes the board thinner. A thick legged board (ashitsuki-ban) has more room than a thin tabletop board, which has very little. For how thickness is measured in sun (1 sun is about 3.03 cm), see Go & Shogi Board Thickness.
• Planing the surface removes the lines too. Resurfacing is therefore almost always followed by re-lining.
• Deep damage may be too deep. If a gouge or crack goes far into the wood, planing it away would cost too much thickness, and the maker may suggest a partial repair instead.

Sanding the board yourself is a bad idea. By hand it is very hard to keep the surface truly flat; you end up with gentle waves that a maker then has to plane away, which means losing more wood than if you had left it alone.

Memori-naoshi: drawing the lines again

The grid lines on a Japanese board are called memori (目盛り). On a traditional board they are not printed. They are drawn in lacquer, one line at a time, and they must be straight, even in width, and meet precisely at every intersection.

Japanese makers use three methods: fude-mori (筆盛り, with a brush), hera-mori (ヘラ盛り, with a spatula), and tachi-mori (太刀盛り, with a sword). In tachi-mori the craftsman puts lacquer on the cutting edge of a Japanese sword, sets the tip of the blade on the board, and draws it back toward the body along the curve of the blade, leaving a slightly raised line of lacquer. Each line is drawn separately. The method, and how to tell it apart, is covered in Tachimori: How the Lines on a Go Board Are Drawn.

If only the lines have faded and the surface is still in good shape, re-lining can be done on its own. When the surface needs planing, both jobs go together.

Please resist touching up faded lines with a pen or marker. Ink that wanders or soaks into the grain has to be planed out later, which again takes wood off the board.

Cracks and warping: the board has to be seen

Cracks (割れ, ware) and warping (反り, sori) mostly come from dryness, humidity and sudden changes in temperature. Maekawa writes that cracks can be repaired and the board restored, but how deep the crack is, where it runs, and how far the board has bent decide what is realistic. A maker needs to see it, at least in photos, before saying anything.

Two things that are easy to misread on an old board:

• The square hollow in the middle of the underside is not damage. On a legged go board it is called heso (へそ, “navel”), also known as chidamari (血溜まり). These are two names for the same single hollow, shaped like an inverted square pyramid. Makers explain it as helping to prevent cracking from drying and to improve the sound of the stones. More in Go Board Legs and the Chidamari.
• A joined board is not a broken board. Some boards are made from several pieces joined side by side, called hagi-ban (接ぎ盤). Maekawa says these play, sound and last much like a one-piece board, so a visible joint line is a feature of the construction, not a crack to be repaired.

After a repair, the bigger job is keeping the board from cracking again. Maekawa’s list of places to avoid is direct sunlight, positions near heaters or air conditioners, and places where the wind blows straight through: anywhere temperature and humidity swing sharply. Equally, keep the board out of a sealed cupboard where moisture gets trapped, and in the rainy season wipe the surface now and then with a dry cloth. The full routine is in Caring for a Go Board.

Before you contact a board maker

If you are writing from outside Japan, a complete first message saves several rounds of email. In natural daylight, photograph:

• The whole playing surface, from directly above, so the overall colour and lines are visible
• Each area of damage close up, with a ruler beside it
• All four sides, especially the two ends (koguchi, the end grain), which show whether the board is straight grain (masame) or flat grain (itame). See Go Board Wood Grain Explained
• The underside, including the legs and the heso on a legged board

And add in writing:

• Dimensions: length, width and thickness (Japanese makers give thickness in sun)
• The wood, if you know it (hon-kaya, shin-kaya, katsura and so on). “Unknown” is a perfectly good answer
• What you would like done: lines only, resurfacing plus lines, or a crack repair

Heavy boards are a real consideration. A thick legged board can weigh more than 30 kg (Maekawa), so ask about packing and international shipping early. Whether a maker accepts boards sent from abroad, the cost and the time it takes are all for the maker to decide; treat their reply as the only reliable answer.

If you are still deciding whether to buy an old board at all, Buying a Used Go Board goes through which kinds of damage are usually fixable and which are not.

FAQ

Will a resurfaced board look new? Surface scratches and darkening usually disappear and the board looks fresh again. It will be a little thinner, though, and deep cracks or strong warping may only partly recover.

Can I have just the lines redrawn? Yes, if only the lines have faded and the surface is sound. If the surface needs planing, the lines go with it, so both are done together.

Can I sand it myself? It is better not to. Hand sanding rarely stays flat, and the maker then has to remove more wood to correct it.

How much does it cost? It depends on the wood, the size and thickness, the damage and the work involved, so no figure is given here. Send photos to a board maker and go by their quotation.

Is a shin-kaya board worth restoring? That varies from board to board, so ask the maker directly. How shin-kaya differs from hon-kaya is explained in Honkaya vs Shinkaya.

Related pages

• Buying a Used Go Board
• Tachimori: How the Lines on a Go Board Are Drawn
• Caring for a Go Board
• Go Board Legs and the Chidamari

This page summarises general knowledge about repairing Japanese wooden go and shogi boards, based on explanations from Japanese board makers (checked 22 October 2026). Whether a board can be repaired, the cost, the time required and the conditions for boards sent from abroad differ by maker and by board; for your own board, consult a goban maker.