What happens if I submit something that is not a stick?

If the Bureau rules that it is not a sacred stick, no certificate is issued and your daily appraisal slot is not consumed.

Does the same stick get the same result every time?

Titles and notes vary richly with the angle and situation of the photo. Rarity, however, is determined strictly by the total power score, so the same score always lands on the same rank.

Is the photo's location data stored?

No. Uploaded images are re-compressed on save, and metadata such as EXIF (including GPS location) is not retained.

Do I need an account?

Requesting an appraisal requires signing in with a Google account. Your images and codex are visible only to you, except for cards you explicitly choose to share.

Can other people see my codex?

No. Your codex is private. Only cards you explicitly share appear in the public gallery, and you can unpublish them at any time.

THE BŌ — Guide

Q: What is 八百万の神 (Yaoyorozu no Kami)?

Yaoyorozu no kami, literally 'eight million gods', is an ancient Japanese idea that the divine dwells in all things. 'Eight million' means 'countless': in Shinto, kami reside in mountains, rivers, stones and even a fallen stick. THE BO's card names, special moves and the enshrined kami (宿神) shown on each card are themed on these myriad gods.

Official guide of the World Stick Appraisal Bureau

— A formal appraisal for the one you found. —

What is THE BŌ?

THE BŌ (“bō” is Japanese for stick/staff) is a free web app (PWA) run by a self-proclaimed world institution: the World Stick Appraisal Bureau. Submit a photo of a cool stick you picked up on the road, in a riverbed, or behind a shrine, and an AI appraiser will assess it with complete seriousness across five axes — material, silhouette, weathering, ergonomics, and provenance. The verdict is issued as a trading card bearing a unique title, stats, and a rarity grade, and is archived in your personal codex. Cards you are proud of can be shared publicly with the world.

An ordinary twig may be certified as “a replica of a god-slaying spear” — or “something a neighborhood shiba inu left behind.” The deadpan gap between ceremony and subject is the whole point. Works on iPhone and Android, in 日本語 / English / Español.

Our creed

Every stick deserves due respect. The Bureau believes that even a roadside branch carries its own story and worth. The AI appraiser never winks; it rules with rigor, intellect, and logic. That gravity, applied to something so humble, is the flavor of this service.

How an appraisal works

The Bureau appraises only natural sticks found outdoors — branch, driftwood, bamboo, root, vine or bark. Weathered, broken and dirty are welcome, but manufactured articles such as pens or chopsticks, food and living creatures are turned away at intake.

Submission: photograph your stick or choose a photo, optionally declare where you found it (provenance affects value).
First screening (machine inspection): format and resolution checks; the image is resized for appraisal.
Second screening: the AI rules whether the subject is a natural stick found outdoors rather than a manufactured article. If it is turned away, your daily slot is not consumed.
Formal appraisal: the five axes are analyzed to generate the title, stats, attributes, rarity, and the appraiser's notes.
Registration: a unique certificate number (STK) is assigned and the card is archived in your codex.

What is 八百万の神 (Yaoyorozu no Kami)?

八百万の神 (yaoyorozu no kami) — literally “eight million gods” — is an ancient Japanese idea that the divine dwells in all things. “Eight million” is not a fixed number but means “countless.” In Shinto, kami (gods/spirits) reside in mountains, rivers and stones — and even in a single stick fallen by the road. It is in exactly this spirit that the Bureau grants a formal appraisal to the humblest branch: every stick deserves due respect.

So the Bureau's naming is themed on these myriad kami. Each stick receives a kanji title and special move rooted in Shinto and myth, plus the god it channels — its 宿神 (enshrined kami). The god matches the stick's element and form: fire→迦具土神 (Kagutsuchi), water→綿津見神 (Watatsumi), thunder→建御雷神 (Takemikazuchi), earth/mountain→大山津見神 (Ōyamatsumi), light→天照大御神 (Amaterasu)… Title, special move and kami are always inscribed in Japanese, so fans worldwide can display the untranslated kanji.

About the resident kami. When a certificate is issued, a panel titled “About the resident kami” appears directly beneath the card. It tells you two things: who that god is — the myth as recorded in the ancient chronicles, taken from the Bureau's register of kami, so it always reads the same — and why it settled in that particular stick, which is the appraiser's own finding, based on the bend, the char, the fork, the moss or the mud unique to your piece of wood. Twenty-five kami can currently take up residence; all of them are documented in the register. The same god may well inhabit more than one stick.

Rank and encounter rate. Each of the twenty-five carries a rank — Kotoamatsukami, Kamiyo-nanayo, Amatsukami, Kunitsukami, Aramitama. This is the kami's place in the Kojiki genealogy, not a ladder of power: the higher groups are simply older and fewer. Alongside it we publish the measured encounter rate, calculated from every certificate this Bureau has ever issued. A rare kami is rare because the numbers say so, not because we say so.

How to say it. The title and special move stay in kanji, but beneath the certificate we print the reading in katakana and Hepburn romaji. If you can read it you can say it; if you can say it you can pass it on.

Reading the stats

Each card carries four values from 1 to 100; their sum (max 400) is the stick's total power.

ATK (Attack): Aptitude as a weapon. Sharpness of the swing, menace of the striking face.
MAG (Magic): Resident mystery. Bends, knots, and a suspicious provenance all contribute.
DUR (Durability): Sturdiness. Years endured in wind and rain become strength.
WGT (Weight): Gravitas of mass. High is imposing; low is nimble.

Attributes

Up to two attributes are read from the stick's texture, shape, and bearing: Fire, Water, Thunder, Wind, Earth, Dark, Light — or None, the purity of an unaligned stick, which is its own kind of dignity.

Rarity

Common Rare Epic Legendary

Common: Total power under 200. Ordinary, yet honest.
Rare: Total power 200+. Something in the shape or material clearly merits note.
Epic: Total power 280+. A striking silhouette, beautiful weathering. Worth telling.
Legendary: Total power 340+. Near-perfect balance or an extraordinary origin. It does not appear easily.

Rarity is not the appraiser's mood: it is fixed strictly by the total power (max 400). The Bureau's verdict is reproducible — the same stick, at the same score, always reaches the same rank.

Appraisal slots (stamina)

You may request up to 3 free appraisals per day (reset at midnight UTC). Used them all? Come back tomorrow. Good sticks don't run away.

Codex and sharing

Archive: appraised cards are stored automatically. Your codex is private — no other member can see it. Tap a card for details.
Save as PNG: export any card as an image to your device.
Public sharing: publish a card you are proud of as a public URL. Only cards you explicitly enable are public, and you can revoke at any time. Published cards also appear in the public gallery.
Erasure: delete any appraisal record from the card's detail view.

The public gallery and respect

The public gallery is a public hall anyone can browse. A card appears here only if you share it and turn on "List in the public gallery" in its detail view (newest first). You can delist at any time — the public URL stays — and unsharing removes it from the gallery too. Your codex itself is never public. Members may pay respect to another member's public card (one per person, revocable). Respect received on your cards is shown in the card's detail view and in the gallery.

Bureau notices (notifications)

The Bureau notifies you when:

Respect: your public card receives respect (can be turned off in settings).
Review: your public card is reported and temporarily unpublished, and when its review is complete (always delivered, for transparency).

Unread notices light a numbered badge on the Codex tab; opening the codex shows them at the top and marks them read. The respect-notice setting is at the bottom of the in-app Guide tab.

Field research sheet

From a card's detail view, choose "Make a research sheet" to open a printable page in a new tab with the appraisal data (stats and notes) plus blank spaces for handwritten observations and a sketch — great for a summer science project or a parent-and-child nature study. Print it straight from your browser.

Supported environments

Modern browsers on iPhone (Safari) and Android (Chrome). Add it to your home screen and use it like an app (PWA). Available in 日本語 / English / Español.

FAQ

What happens if I submit something that is not a stick?: If the Bureau rules it is not a sacred stick, no certificate is issued and your daily slot is not consumed.
Does the same stick get the same result every time?: Titles and notes vary richly with the angle and situation of the photo. Rarity, however, is fixed by the total power score — the same score always lands on the same rank.
Is the photo's location data stored?: No. Uploaded images are re-compressed on save; EXIF metadata (including GPS) is not retained.
Do I need an account?: Appraisals require signing in with a Google account. Your images and codex are visible only to you, except cards you explicitly share.
Can other people see my codex?: No. Your codex is private. Only cards you explicitly share appear in the public gallery, and you can unpublish them at any time.
What is 八百万の神 (Yaoyorozu no Kami)?: Literally “eight million gods” — an ancient Japanese idea that the divine dwells in all things. “Eight million” means “countless”: in Shinto, kami reside in mountains, rivers, stones and even a fallen stick. Each card's name, special move and enshrined kami (宿神) are themed on these myriad gods.

Safety & privacy

Sign-in is required, and your images and appraisal data are visible only to you (except certificates you choose to share). Public certificates carry a report link; inappropriate content is unpublished pending review. See the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (Japanese is the governing text).

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