Kōda Rohan wrote this shogi essay about shogi-piece calligraphy in January 1901 for Taiyō magazine; it later appeared as Section 3 of his collection Shōgi Zatsuwa.
Lord Minase Kanenari had no son, so he adopted Chikatomo, the son of Lord Takakura Nagaie. Later, Kanenari had a son of his own, named Ujinari.
So Chikatomo gave up the family head role. He became a monk and took the name Issai.
Issai was known for beautiful handwriting. So Toyotomi Hidetsugu had Issai write the name marks on shogi pieces. People say this was the start of the Minase family writing the marks on shogi pieces. They also say there is a one‑volume book, Record of Shogi Pieces, put together by Kanenari, and it tells this story.
In Kyōhō 6 (1721), there was a book printed in Osaka called Shōgi Meishō Kagami (“Mirror of Famous Shogi Masters”). In Volume 2, on the back side of page 12, at the top of the page, it shows shogi pieces written in ink by Lord Minase, the Dainagon. Next to it, it says:
“With these pieces, do not play in a room without a nageshi rail. They are the founder Old Anryū’s ‘forbidden‑brush’ writing. They were fixed up by Shichirōemon, four generations before Tachibanaya Heiemon. Because Anryū said, ‘Make a full set of pieces for that person,’ it finally took about a year to finish. They are truly fine pieces. There are two Drunken Elephant pieces. This is one full set in Japan. If you want them, tell us, and we will supply them.”
It says that, and it’s something we should keep in mind.
People also say that in more recent times, someone named Tōsai wrote name marks on pieces. I have not seen it myself, but I have heard someone say they saw pieces that clearly had Tōsai’s name on them.
Most shogi fans use pieces made by Kinryū, Shinryū, or Yasukiyo. Kinryū is better than Shinryū, and Shinryū is better than Yasukiyo.
Kinryū and Shinryū sets have a name mark on the back of the king piece. The writing is very neat and easy to read. And on those sets, both king pieces are always written 玉 (“gyoku”), not 王 (“ō”).
Yasukiyo sets have no name mark, but the writing has a light, free style. Since it has its own style, you can tell it at a glance.
Anything below that is what people call “Bantarō” pieces. The quality is very poor, and the letters are almost impossible to read.
Besides these, some people order pieces made to their own taste. Among those, there must be all sorts written by skilled hands.