diff --git a/pgx/animal_shogi.py b/pgx/animal_shogi.py
index 0cbe788a7..19ab477d1 100644
--- a/pgx/animal_shogi.py
+++ b/pgx/animal_shogi.py
@@ -341,32 +341,36 @@ def _flip(state):
     )
 
 
-def _can_move(piece, from_, to):
-    def can_move(piece, from_, to):
-        """Can <piece> move from <from_> to <to>?"""
-        x0, y0 = from_ // 4, from_ % 4
-        x1, y1 = to // 4, to % 4
-        dx = x1 - x0
-        dy = y1 - y0
-        is_neighbour = ((dx != 0) | (dy != 0)) & (jnp.abs(dx) <= 1) & (jnp.abs(dy) <= 1)
-        return jax.lax.switch(
-            piece,
-            [
-                lambda: (dx == 0) & (dy == -1),  # PAWN
-                lambda: is_neighbour & ((dx == dy) | (dx == -dy)),  # BISHOP
-                lambda: is_neighbour & ((dx == 0) | (dy == 0)),  # ROOK
-                lambda: is_neighbour,  # KING
-                lambda: is_neighbour & ((dx == 0) | (dy != +1)),  # GOLD
-            ],
-        )
+def _can_move_geometry(piece, from_, to):
+    """Can <piece> move from <from_> to <to>? (movement geometry only)"""
+    x0, y0 = from_ // 4, from_ % 4
+    x1, y1 = to // 4, to % 4
+    dx = x1 - x0
+    dy = y1 - y0
+    is_neighbour = ((dx != 0) | (dy != 0)) & (jnp.abs(dx) <= 1) & (jnp.abs(dy) <= 1)
+    return jax.lax.switch(
+        piece,
+        [
+            lambda: (dx == 0) & (dy == -1),  # PAWN
+            lambda: is_neighbour & ((dx == dy) | (dx == -dy)),  # BISHOP
+            lambda: is_neighbour & ((dx == 0) | (dy == 0)),  # ROOK
+            lambda: is_neighbour,  # KING
+            lambda: is_neighbour & ((dx == 0) | (dy != +1)),  # GOLD
+        ],
+    )
 
-    # fmt: off
-    # CAN_MOVE[piece, from_, to] = Can <piece> move from <from_> to <to>?
-    CAN_MOVE = jax.vmap(jax.vmap(jax.vmap(
-        can_move, (None, None, 0)), (None, 0, None)), (0, None, None)
-    )(jnp.arange(5), jnp.arange(12), jnp.arange(12))
-    # fmt: on
 
+# CAN_MOVE[piece, from_, to] = Can <piece> move from <from_> to <to>? It depends only on the
+# movement geometry, so it is precomputed once here rather than rebuilt on every _can_move call
+# (which runs ~1700x per _legal_action_mask).
+# fmt: off
+CAN_MOVE = jax.vmap(jax.vmap(jax.vmap(
+    _can_move_geometry, (None, None, 0)), (None, 0, None)), (0, None, None)
+)(jnp.arange(5), jnp.arange(12), jnp.arange(12))
+# fmt: on
+
+
+def _can_move(piece, from_, to):
     return CAN_MOVE[piece, from_, to]