NOT-WEEKLY MAHJONG

Japanese Modern (riichi/dora). I finally got my own copy of Jenn Barr's book, Reach Mahjong; The Only Way to Play (Huntington Press).

This is the only book in English that delves exclusively and in depth into the modern Japanese game. Mah Jongg For Beginners, by Kanai and Farrell (Tuttle), the only other English book devoted solely to the Japanese game, is outdated. Japanese rules are touched upon in Jelte Rep's The Great Mahjong Book (Tuttle) aka Het Groot Mahjong Boek (Tirion), David Pritchard's Teach Yourself Mahjong (Teach Yourself Books), and of course Eleanor Noss Whitney's A Mah Jong Handbook (Tuttle). But Barr's new oeuvre is the seminal work on the variant.

I was honored to preview an early draft, but I really wanted a printed copy I could hold in my hands, and it's here at last. I first met Jenn at the 2007 OEMC in Copenhagen, and have mentioned her in columns 330, 367, 371, 376, 378, 394, 422, and 429.

In the package with the book was a mahjong set, the Take Pro Quality Mahjong Set T0102, a prize I'd won in Jenn's 2009 Ron2 tournaments. The set was autographed by Jenn and pro player Takeo Kojima, Mr. Mahjong himself, who I met back in 1999 when I was still producing Shanghai at Activision.

It's like Christmas came back because it forgot something!

Click the entries in the header frame, above, to read other columns.

Question or comment about this column? Email and the discussion will be posted on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board.

Links about Japanese-style mah-jongg:

• Tom's 1st Mah-Jongg Adventure in Japan
• Vega Mah-Jongg Parlor - in ENGLISH
• Vega Mah-Jongg Parlor - in JAPANESE
• Riichi-ing out in Shibuya, 2002
• More Adventures in Japan
• Little Tokyo no tomodachi
• Janyou no tomodachi
• Tokyo Kaikan Tournament, 2009.
• Japanese Mah-Jongg is usually played on automatic dealing machines.
• A downloadable English-language booklet has been made which describes the standard Japanese riichi/dora majan rules of the European Mahjong Association. http://mahjong-europe.org/rules.htm. Direct links to the 24 page booklet and the 2 page summary: http://mahjong-europe.org/rules/downloads/riichirules_EN.pdf ; http://mahjong-europe.org/rules/downloads/riichisheet_EN.pdf .
• http://www.japanesemahjong.com/ - Ryan Morris' excellent English-language guide to Japanese mahjong is finally back online! Ryan Morris is a representative for the Mahjong Museum in Japan, and a columnist for Japan's manga, Kindai Majan.
• Reach Mahjong ( http://reachmahjong.com/) features columns by Jenn Barr and others about Japanese majan.
• Osamuko's Mahjong Blog offers strategy tips for Japanese riichi/dora majan. http://www.osamuko.com/index.php/category/mahjong/

Want to play riichi/dora majan on your computer?

• MahjongLogic went online in 2009. It supports Chinese Classical, International (MCR), and Japanese riichi/dora majan.
• Ron2.jp Japanese rules, Japanese language. One of the top "reach" ("riichi") sites for those who've graduated to playing online versus other human players. And of course, make sure you've read FAQ 25 and understand the furiten and iihan shibari rules so you don't frustrate yourself. English language instructions are available at reachmahjong.com.
• http://www.tenhou.net - Japanese game, Japanese language. Another of the top riichi sites favored by the ReachMahjong crowd (former YakitoriOnline crowd, at their new gathering place - at ReachMahjong, click the pink "Forums" tab). Thanks to Robert Lozyniak for the link.
• Wortex's Bamboo Majan wait-training exercises are very useful for learning some hard truths about majan: http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/bamboo/bamboo.html

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  © 2010 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.