Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan (Japanese: 麻雀, Hepburn: Mājan), also known as riichi mahjong, is a variation of mahjong. While the basic rules to the game are retained, the variation features a unique set of rules such as riichi and the use of dora. The variant is one of a few styles where discarded tiles are ordered rather than placed in a disorganized pile. This is primarily due to the furiten rule, which takes player discards into account. The variant has grown popularity due to anime, manga, and online platforms.

History – Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

In 1924, a soldier named Saburo Hirayama brought the game to Japan.^[1] In Tokyo, he started a mahjong club, parlor, and school.^[1] In the years after, the game dramatically increased in popularity. In this process, the game itself was simplified from the Chinese version. Then later, additional rules were adopted to increase the complexity.^[2] Mahjong, as of 2010, is the most popular table game in Japan.^[3] 

As of 2008, there were approximately 7.6 million mahjong players and about 8,900 mahjong parlors in the country. The parlors did 300 billion yen in sales in 2008.^[4] There are several manga and anime devoted to dramatic and comic situations involving mahjong (see Media).^[5] Japanese video arcades have introduced mahjong arcade machines that can be connected to others over the Internet. There are also video game versions of strip mahjong.

Game ending conditions – Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

A game ends after the last hand of the last round, which is usually the South (prevailing wind) round.

Bankruptcy – Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

A game ends when a player’s score becomes negative (below zero), or in some rare local rules, at zero points or less. Some rules may allow continued gameplay with a player having a negative point value.

Runaway victory – Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

Some rule sets allow for the last dealer to decide whether to continue playing extra hands in the final round or stop. A runaway victory (agari-yame, あがりやめ, “win and stop”) is when the last dealer decides to exercise this option after winning a hand, for instance when they are the top player at the time.^[19] In some cases, a stop may be allowed simply for playing a hand and ending with a ready hand (tenpai-yame, 聴牌やめ), or in very rare cases, allow the last dealer to end the game regardless of position.

Continuing into West – Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

If the score of the top player is less than 30,000 points after the last hand of the last round, the game continues into the West round (西場) in some rules. This situation is called shānyū (西入; entering West). The prevailing wind becomes West. A North round (北場) may come next in the same way. Depending on the rules, it can be followed by an East round again or instead White dragon, Green dragon, Red dragon and East rounds.^[19] Any extra round ends as soon as one player has 30,000 points or more.

Settling the score – Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

At the end of a match, players are often given bonus points or penalties depending on their placement (see final points and place).

Yakitori – Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan

In an optional rule called yakitori (焼き鳥), if one did not win a hand in a match, that player pays a penalty. At the start of a match, each player has a marker called yakitori māku (mark) (焼き鳥マーク) on the table, and a player flips their own after winning a hand.^[20] Chips or coins are also used as substitutes, and they are often removed instead of being flipped.

Mahjong Pachinko Monogatari Japan Soundtracks

1. Track 1

2. Track 2

3. Track 3

4. Track 4

5. Track 5