Riichi-ing Out in Shibuya on a Saturday Night

October, 2002. I was in Tokyo for the World Championship in Mah-Jongg. After the closing ceremony, Martin Rep, captain of my mah-jongg team, wanted to go to a real Japanese mah-jongg parlor (a jansou, as they call them). We went to Takeo Kojima's JANKOU in Shibuya. I had been there when it was a new jansou, back in June of 1999. You can see pictures at my mah-jongg friends page. But anyway, we played one game together... and I won! Ask Martin about the green dragon he threw to Dicky.

After leaving Jankou, we went through Shibuya Station to get to the subway and come back to the hotel. In Hachiko Square, we saw that a lot of the folks hanging out there were engaging in cosplay - "costume play."

Here where I live, we have a saying. "All the loose marbles in the U.S. roll to California. All the loose marbles in California roll to Los Angeles. All the loose marbles in Los Angeles roll to Venice Beach Boardwalk." I think there's a parallel here. All the loose marbles in Japan roll to Tokyo. All the loose marbles in Tokyo roll to Shibuya's Hachiko Square! (^_^)

Click here to see pictures of the World Championship in Mah-Jongg...

Or click here to see other pictures of my mah-jongg friends...

Or click here to see other pictures of mah-jongg friends in Japan...

Or click here to see more pictures from Japan.