jadarite: Normally, you're "just supposed to remember" which is the left and which is the right. For those of us who prefer not to be so vague, look at the following image: http://www.chessvariants.com/shogivariants.dir/toripieces.gif

You will notice a (very) small character in red above each of the quails, which differy very slightly. The left has a serif'ed "I" part on the bottom, while the right has a box.

Also, you can see that only the swallow and falcon promote (to goose and eagle, respectively).

This is a very different shogi variant, with most piece movements not found in any other variants (L/R quail, pheasant, eagle, & goose).

http://www.chessvariants.com/shogivariants.dir/tori.html provides a run-down of the rough rules; at least, what their differences are compared to normal shogi.