/jp/ Mahjong Thread

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Mahjong Live Pastebin v1.2

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What exactly is Mahjong?
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Mahjong is a tile-based game most similar to a cross between Gin Rummy and Poker.  It was originally created in China, but the popularity spread quickly, and nearly every single area in Asia has its own variant.  This pastebin is focused solely on the Japanese variation, most commonly known as "Riichi" or "Reach" Mahjong.

Contact information is down below.  If there is a mistake in this guide, feel free to contact the email.  The author is not always present in the Mahjong threads.



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How do I play?  What are the rules?
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Here was some various links to the rules.


A Beginner's Guide to Riichi Mahjong:
https://mahjong.guide/a-beginners-guide-to-riichi-mahjong/
A web guide to learning Riichi Mahjong.  Includes handy links and pictures as well.  Generally an all around good resource.  It is not fully comprehensive, though, and is essentially a very brief "how to play video games/online".  Once you brush up over those, if you find your knowledge lacking, or you really really like the game, you should definitely read up on the other rulesets there.


Fast and dirty guide to playing video game Mahjong from a /v/-anon
https://pastebin.com/22TD79vN
This is an incredibly short read and should teach you just enough to be a threat to someone while playing in a video game version, such as in Yakuza.  You shouldn't rely on this as there is a lot, lot more to learn, but this isn't bad for a fast method.

Riichi Mahjong Guide (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZxwAxlqexY&list=PLPBLBlC-7G3s92GyGOprSmZ1mqgh0U0DI
Video series teaching the basics of Mahjong.  The author of the videos also has more advanced videos as well, talking about things like defense.


Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Mahjong
The wikipedia entry and it's sub-entries are actually very surprisingly robust on the amount of rules it covers.  It is a dry and formal way to learn the game, but possible.


European Mahjong Association (EMA):
http://mahjong-europe.org/portal/
The EMA is the official tournament rules for Riichi Mahjong in the Europe area.  They also tend to be the most popular ruleset to reference when people translate the game due to various factors.  The rules here are more focused on tournament play, and thus will skip over various rules that you may see in other games.


World Riichi Competition (WRC):
https://worldriichi.org/
The WRC is an attempt to standardize the English-speaker rules for Riichi Mahjong in tournament settings.  It is not usually as popular as EMA, but will sometimes be referenced.  The rules here are more focused on tournament play, and thus will skip over various rules that you may see in other games.


Riichi Rules around the World:
http://ooyamaneko.net/mahjong/rratw/index.php
This is a chart of all of the various different Riichi leagues and their viewpoints on the many optional rule points.  This is meant for more advanced players who just want a quick list of differences between their chosen variant versus other official leagues.  Please note, even if you are advanced, it is still best to view the most updated rules before playing.




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Strategy and News
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Once you learn the rules, here are some good resources to start you on the battle to become a better player


Daina Chiba's Riichi Book 1:
https://dainachiba.github.io/RiichiBooks/index.html
Most high rank players agree that this should take you to a stable competitive level known as "Tokujou", a higher ranked table in the browser client Tenhou.  There currently is no Book 2.


Osamuko's Mahjong Blog:
https://osamuko.com/
This is a great site for news, articles, and other Mahjong related reading material.  It has more than just strategy, but a lot of high level players will contribute to here.


Riichi Reporter
https://riichireporter.com/
Various articles about the growing English Riichi scene.  Also has various articles relating to tile-buying and playing in parlors.


Just another Japanese Mahjong blog
http://justanotherjapanesemahjongblog.blogspot.com
Exactly what the label on the tin says.  Has a lot of defense articles and strategy.


Mahjong Guide:
https://mahjong.guide
True to its name, it has more than just a beginner's guide.  It also features other, more full-fledged guides and additionally has articles about fundamentals and strategy.



If you have any more articles, sites, or guides you would like to suggest, feel free to contact the author down at the bottom.




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Where to play the game solo and practice?
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Browser:

"That flash game":
http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html
Best place to practice for beginners.  Very simple.  Has a list of Yaku on the page as well.


Bamboo:
http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/bamboo/bamboo.html
This is a single-suit variant.  This will give your brain a very intense workout.  Definitely not recommended for beginners still learning the game, but included for advanced players looking to become better.


Efficiency trainer
https://euophrys.itch.io/mahjong-efficiency-trainer
A simple app to help you work on your efficiency in discards.  The app is simplistic and doesn't take a holistic view of the table.  Rather, it merely measures how efficient your discard is by how many tiles it believes would improve your hand to tenpai, and nothing else.  You have great efficiency if you can consistently score 95% or higher on this over several attempts.


PC:

Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/338060/Mahjong_Pretty_Girls_Battle/
Don't laugh.  While the prettyness of the girls is debatable, as well as the translation choices, this is a full Mahjong variant and a good way to practice.  Comes with a billion rules which can be adjusted as well.


Mahjong Riichi Multiplayer:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/791500/Mahjong_Riichi_Multiplayer/
Mentioned only for completeness sake, it had a big ambition, but was rather buggy, of low quality, and has no players for online.  The tutorial included in it was so-so.  However, it seems to have had several updates that reportedly fixed many bugs.  Not sure if recommended or not.


Saikyo no Mahjong 3D:
http://www.unbalance.co.jp/honkaku/smahjong3d/
A very cute but effective solo game for the PC that will run on toasters.  You can select the different AI who will operate slightly differently.  There IS an English version available to download SOMEWHERE, but it's patched, pirated, and easy to find.  Downloading the old 2007 software would be illegal, anon.



Nintendo Switch:

Japanese Mah Jongg:
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/japanese-mah-jongg-switch
While they use the very questionable choice of the American variant's spelling, Japanese Mah Jongg is Riichi Mahjong, and while very simple and barebones, is an excellent way to practice against computers.  Additionally, it features a two-player split screen mode, with amusing and cute instructions to cut out a piece of cardboard to prevent screen-looking.




PS4:

Yakuza 0:
The English version of Yakuza 0 retains it's Mahjong side game that used to be taken out in previous editions of the series.  It is a likely place where some new comers may join in from.  The rest of the game has little to do with Mahjong, though it does come recommended.





Android (Some of these may be available on iOS, but this author doesn't have any.  Screenshots would be nice):


Maujong!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ishihata_tech.android.mj2&hl=en_US
Very simple, free, in english, and has bots.  Supposedly is efficient on the battery.  Somewhat small though.


麻雀 天極牌 (Mahjong Tenkyokupai):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.hangame.s_mahjong
Really fun multiplayer mahjong that has offline and online, as well as a special 2 player mode where you can connect online with one other person and the other two positions are filled with bots.  However, despite being offered on the English play story, the game is fully 100% in Japanese, and there seem to be no English guides.



If you have any recommendations for games, feel free to contact the author down at the bottom.



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Where to play the game online?
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Tenhou
https://tenhou.net/
This is generally where most of the serious players tend to wind up.  There is a "Tenhou English UI" extension that can be installed for Chrome and Firefox.  The English UI only works for the HTML5 version of the game which can be found at tenhou.net/3/.  A guide for the general interface and rules can be found here: [Placeholder]

Most of the English speaking communities have agreed to use a specific room for friendly games.  If you wish to play with other English speakers, you can go to lobby 7447:
https://tenhou.net/3/?L7447


Mahjong Soul
https://mahjongsoul.game.yo-star.com/ - English Rooms
https://game.mahjongsoul.com/ - Japanese rooms
A Chinese-made Riichi Mahjong game that recently came out for English and Japanese as well.  The interface is fairly stylish, the music is pretty good, and it allows you to spam emotes from kawaii waifus.  There is a gacha game attached to it so you can change out the waifus and their outfits, but everything relating to Mahjong itself is free and is working fairly well.

For those wondering, the game seems to be set up so that China and English versions play together in the beginner rooms, while Japanese play separate.  After you rank up to the Gold room or higher, all nations play together.

There is a Chinese app for the phone.  Supposedly this is coming out in English as well, but no ETA and this may just be heresay.


SegaMJ.net
Also a flashy game made by Sega.  Requires a client install.  Also has a phone version, but may require side-loading an app.  Game is fully in Japanese.
Guide for install here: https://sites.google.com/site/mjnetguide/


Janryuumon - DEFUNCT
An old client-based online app.  It was free-to-play, but then turned into pay-to-play during an update and almost all of the playerbase dried up overnight.  Only mentioning because the P2P version can still be found in a search for Mahjong.  DO NOT RECOMMEND.




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Where to play the game in real life?
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https://www.nariichi.org/clubs-in-north-america/
A link to most of the major Japanese Mahjong clubs for North America.  This list is probably not fully complete, so you can always Google your town name + Mahjong for any results.  Be sure to also check out any hobby or board game stores in your local area.  If there aren't any groups looking, it probably wouldn't be hard to start one up.


https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1f1LC7j8_BfJDNcVvJ7PyxrJKqBo&z=4&ll=45.9178095706337%2C18.928606804296805
This is a link to the list of clubs world wide.  Which includes Europe and some parts of Asia, as well as the little lone club that exists in Sydney, Australia.  Gambatte, Australia-kouhai.


https://riichireporter.com/parlor-abroad/
Japan has parlors where you can go in and play pickup games of Mahjong, but the Japanese are not foreigner/otaku friendly.  Be sure to read the above link for more information, and in fact you should probably spend at least 16 hours researching before heading in.




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Equipment buying guide
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https://pastebin.com/Vb2QNR71




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Media about Mahjong
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Anime:
Legend of Akagi: The Genius who Descended into Darkness
Saki
Legendary Gambler Tetsuya


Manga
Legend of Akagi: The Genius who Descended into Darkness (the Anime ends at around Chapter 220).
Saki
Tetsunaki no Kirinji
Ten
Aki (Biographical story about a female professional Mahjong player by the same name)



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Other links
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The Tibet Mahjong Teaching method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFgmQ0yaaBQ
This is a method to teach new players how to play Mahjong.  It has wildly successful results reported by the LAPOM who go and teach Mahjong at many anime cons, as well as reports from other people around the world, this author included.  The link above is a very brief tutorial, but there are longer videos on the subject available.


Regular Expression:
/mah.*jong|riichi/i
You're addicted, right?  You want ALL of the Mahjong threads now?  Put in that regular expression into the filter rules and set it to "top".  Anything with the word Mahjong or Riichi in it should float to the top.


Abema live Mahjong Matches:
https://abema.tv/now-on-air/mahjong
Every so often, they will stream live Mahjong games from professionals in Japan.  According to some users, you need to have Japanese VPNs to actually watch this.  Also please note that this is all in Japanese, so you should be able to understand Japanese Mahjong terms at bare minimum to really follow along.


[Anything else would be nice, really]



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FAQ
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"I'm in tenpai, and my opponent discarded my winning tile, but I couldn't win.  Why not?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Mahjong#Sacred_discard

"I'm in tenpai, and I'm definitely NOT in furiten, and I cannot win even if I draw the tile myself.  What happened?"
In all variations of Japanese Mahjong, you MUST have at least 1 yaku in your hand in order to go out.





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Contact
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If something needs to be updated, I occasionally grace the /jp/ threads and will probably scroll through it at some point, but if you for some reason need to contact me, you can riichi me at kaitengiri@gmail.com

I remembered the joke that time, Anon.