So I am curious about your thoughts. What would you suggest changing for once this game is done? I had suggested a positional change, one I'm still interested in. But I am not certain how well I like the cannons. They seem a bit too powerful for a game like this. What's more, they are not truly native to Japanese Chess. They come from Chinese Chess (gold cannon) and Korean Chess (silver cannon), and were adopted by a Westerner and given their present names for Cannon Shogi. But there is no actual Japanese heritage for them, so I've always felt a bit like a cheater for including them. On the other hand, they make the game exciting and faster paced, in what otherwise might take ages to complete. The silver cannon in particular is especially effective on a one dimensional board, and when a game can get so easily cluttered, it's nice to have a mobile piece. So I'm not sure.
I also think the first four pieces could use some more rearrangement. When we started this game, I couldn't see a way to initiate a trade without coming out behind. You did a good job starting the trades and getting our armies to clash, but it took some doing. With enough study, it would probably be too easy to identify the best opening moves to make. I want this game to be more complex than that. Now that we're in the thick of it, I think the number of options has increased and thus made it more interesting and complex. But the opening is too narrow. I think it would be better to include more long-range pieces towards the front (especially the somewhat offensively useless lance/reverse chariot, which is always stuck behind its own pieces unless captured and dropped by the enemy), while tucking a couple of steppers or leapers (perhaps the silver, knight, or goose) closer to the back to act as defense.
I'm not entirely sure I want to shrink the board anymore. Though it's rough for some of my pieces stuck way at my end, it's also good that the pieces in play have plenty of room to maneuver.
Anyway, these are my thoughts.