Virtual Shogi Pieces


Introduction | Construction | Printing | References
Gote front, p 1 | Gote front, p 2 | Gote back, p 1 | Gote back, p 2
Sente front, p 1 | Sente front, p 2 | Sente back, p 1 | Sente back, p 2

by Lisa M.A. 'Corgi' Winters, last updated 19 December 2004


Introduction:

It all started with Cowboy Bebop and a scene in that anime's movie, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, believe it or not.  The corgi member of the Bebop's team, Ein, turns out to be a decent shogi player; since I started playing that character on the LiveJournal roleplaying game milliways_bar, a friend and fellow player suggested idly that Ein bring a shogi game into the bar and try to engage other players in a game.

This meant I had to learn a little about shogi.  Of course, I went straight to Google and the Chess Variants website.  I wanted to make a set of pieces so I could have something to handle while trying to learn the moves and strategies.  Chess Variants has some nice 'make your own' printable pieces, but being a fussy creatures in some ways, I didn't fancy any of the ones the Chess Variants pros had shared.  Either they were too Western or too... well, practical.

I decided to make my own, and go in a different direction to either the Western symbol sets or the diagrammatic sets -- I wanted to keep a strong Japanese flavour but make it a little easier to remember which piece was which instead of memorising the kanji.  Thankfully, Japanese mon (heraldic emblems) turned out to be the perfect solution.  I tried to pick or compose mon which matched not just the literal translation of the piece names, but the intent of both the symbol and the piece.

inazuma pointer

Constructing the Pieces:

The 'king' actually translates as a kind of general.  Japanese generals, in feudal times, wore distinctive armour; the crest from the kabuto, or helmet, is a specific and often-used mon charge, called a kuwagata.  I was able to find a few pre-existing mon using kuwagata in various numeric combinations.  A big, important king-type general would be worth more than one ordinary general, right?  So the Osho/Gokyusho could be symbolised by three kuwagata; the Kinsho (Gold General) became two kuwagata and the Ginsho (Silver General) just one.  To make it even easier to remember, the symbols were coloured appropriately... except, what colour is a 'Jewelled General'?  Paint Shop Pro had a lovely multicoloured pattern which could be applied to the kuwagata shape that made it look somewhat like a whole treasure-chest of gemstones.   The Jade, Gold and Silver Generals had obvious colour choices.

Next came the middle pieces:  Shogi has a plethora of chariots.  There's the Hisha (Flying Chariot/Rook), the Kakugyo (Horned Chariot/Bishop) and the Kyosha (Fragrant or Incense Chariot/Lance).  The kuruma is a popular mon element -- the wheel.  There were several extant examples of the kuruma being 'hollowed out', or having the hub replaced with other elements.  Therefore, the Flying Chariot became a wheel with kumo, clouds, inside.  The Horned Chariot became symbolised with antlers (tsuno) curved into an elegant circular shape and, in an alternate form, with the 'horns' of a crescent moon (tsuki); and the Fragrant Chariot, which is occasionally known as the Yari (spear) because of its movement, became a kuruma combined with an inverted yahazu -- which is actually a stylised arrow notch, but which is a nice simple pointing shape.  I found no yaris as mon elements in my resources.

The Keima (Knight) has been translated as 'Honourable Horse', the 'Laurel Horse' and even the 'Cinnamon Horse'!  It was harder to make up the symbol for this piece than one might think.  For one, despite the hundreds of plant-based mon, there didn't appear to be any sort of laurel.  For another, there were only two horses showing up in any of my (hastily but obsessively gathered) mon resources -- one bucking in annoyance at being tied between two posts, and one charging away from the viewer, looking back as if executing a strategic retreat.  No horse-heads, hooves, tails or other pieces showed up as separate mon elements.  The only other horse-related item was the bit, stylised as a circled even-armed cross.  I had to improvise.  I managed to find a circular frame (wa or wagata) which suggested a laurel wreath -- appropriate for an Honoured Horse in the Romanised West.  I also found a particular fern symbolised in mon, which actually turns a sort of cinnamon shade as part of its growth cycle.  It also suggested the laurel wreath.  I ended up combining an abstracted horsehead, finished with a circular edge in a mon-like fashion, with the rounded shapes of the shida and the wagata.  Both versions are included.

The Fuhyo (Soldier/Pawn) was simply represented by the wide woven hat worn by many classes of Japanese people in feudal times.

The promoted piece symbols were a little easier to create, since the Nari-Gin, Nari-Kei, Nari-Kyo and Tokin all have Kinsho/Gold General moves when they promote.  To keep track of which piece became what (yes, it's mental coddling), there are bars at the bottom of each piece appropriate to what it is.  The Osho and Gyokusho of course do not promote; neither does the Kinsho.  They got to be blank.  The promoted Kakugyo, becoming the Ryo-uma (Dragon Horse) and the Hisha, becoming the Ryo-o (Dragon King) needed something special, though.  Additionally, they had to show up against the darker wood background.  The Dragon King was relatively easy -- I combined my 'king' symbol, the three-kuwagata mon, with another mon of three dragon talons grasping an orb.  To make it contrast, I coloured it white with a draconic red edge.  The Dragon Horse, like the Keima, was problematic.  I didn't have sufficient combinable elements; I settled for a whole ryo coiled in a circle and changed the orb it was grasping into the circular horse-bit.  It too is white highlighted with red, simply for visual convenience.  Black was just not working out.

inazuma pointer


Printing the pieces:

The subsequent pieces have been arranged in tables with set cell heights and widths, so they should be able to be printed duplex if your printer has good alignment.  Ensure your settings are for 'actual size' on letter-sized paper (8.5x11" or 216x279mm -- A4 paper is 210x297mm and won't quite work).  Either 60# stock is good, or if you feel like being really meticulous, print them out single-sided.  Glue one page onto a sheet of foam core, cut the pieces out with an art knife or Xacto and glue on the reverses.

inazuma pointer


References:
inazuma pointer