Its wood is prized for the construction of
Go boards and
Shogi boards because of its beautiful yellow-gold color, fine and uniform ring texture, and the sonic quality of the click of a stone on its surface. The tree is protected in Japan because of its scarcity due to past overcutting. Ancient
kaya trees have to be harvested to make thick Go boards, which makes them extremely expensive; the finest ones can cost over $20,000.
Shin-kaya ("new
kaya" in Japanese), imitation
kaya, is usually
Alaskan,
Tibetan or
Siberian
white spruce, which has become somewhat popular for cheaper equipment due to the scarcity of
kaya trees.
Go bowls can also be made of
kaya, though this is less common. In Japanese esoteric Buddhism sects such as
Shingon, the leaves of the tree as well as the oil extracted have ritual uses. The leaves of the tree represent flowers and the oil from the tree is burnt as a lamp during a long meditation practice known as Morning Star meditation. The seeds are edible and are eaten roasted as a snack, like that of
Torreya grandis, and also pressed for their
vegetable oil content. Other than that, the trees can have cultural and historic significance to people living around them, such as the
Japanese Torreya of Samin-ri.
Torreya nucifera extract has been studied for potential medicinal benefits, including treatment of acne and
amoebiasis. Some
terpenoids and
biflavonoids derived from
Torreya nucifera have been shown to act as
protease inhibitors on
SARS-CoV-2. == Famous trees ==