The board is 21 squares long, and the aim is to checkmate the enemy King. Captured pieces become the property of the captor and can be dropped back into play as in standard Shogi. Ito Shogi uses the promotion rules of Micro-Shogi: pieces are flipped back and forth between their promoted value and their original value each time they make a capture.

With no room to move sideways and with the threat of enemy pieces being dropped into play, tight tactics are important in this game. Seizing the initiative is often more important than material gain in order to win. It is all too easy to find yourself trapped in a zugzwang position, from which your only available move will lead to defeat.

The pieces are adapted from familiar Shogi variants:
- from Modern Shogi: the King, the Bishop, the Lance, the Knight, the Silver General and the Pawn;
- from Chu Shogi: the Phoenix and the Go-Between;
- from Dai Shogi: the Iron General;
- from DaiDai Shogi: the Howling Dog;
- from Tai Shogi: the Ramshead Soldier;
- from Wa Shogi: the Heavenly Horse;
- from Tori Shogi: the Goose;
- from Cannon Shogi (used with permission): the Silver Cannon and the Gold Cannon.

This game includes both a Kanji piece set and a Western piece set; the western piece-set illustrates the movement capabilities of the pieces they represent. Because of the length of the board, you will need to set your screen resolution to maximum to see the whole board.