Reach is becoming bigger and bigger and ReachMahjong.com is helping to lead the way! Coming up on our 1st Birthday (sometime in December), Reach Mahjong: The Only Way to Play has been part of lots of great new plans and is working on more as we speak!
First, I'd like to announce the opening of MahjongMart.com: Your 'jong Experts. Andy from Yakitori Online and I have teamed together to bring you a brand new online store offering Mahjong goods at reasonable prices. We already have a variety of tiles including an affordable version of tiles inspired by the character Washizu in the popular Manga/Anime: Akagi and an easy to use, easy to carry Junk Mat, which includes a place to keep your scoring sticks in plain site. Each tile set purchased on our site comes with a 12-page English rule booklet that covers the basics of the game and explains scoring. The book includes 4 reference cards with tile explanations on the front for your friends who can't read the Chinese characters on the tiles and a list of the Hand Points on the back for quick score-counting and help while you play. A score card is also included with the Dealer's score-chart on one side and Non-Dealer's on the other. Reach Mahjong was never so easy to teach and play!
Check out our Press Release!
Next, ReachMajong.com has been working on a new design and we will be ready to open next month. The new format will make it easier to get news to you faster and update our columns in a more timely manner. We will include an interview link system with our partner-site Yakitori Online as well as a new strategy section to compliment our rules section. There will also be an official Ron2 tutorial to help non-Japanese speakers navigate the site. This is a temporary solution until the full English version is ready to go. We have a million ideas and our excellent staff is growing, so look forward to a fully-functioning Mahjong portal, bringing you all the latest in Reach Mahjong.
In other news, our second season at JPML started this month and we have lots of tournaments going on! Our League tournament happens on the first weekend of each month. I'm happy to report that both Garthe and I did well in the first session (there are 5 sessions in each season) of D2 league and are both ahead in the point count. Garthe currently up 16.7 points in 15th place and I am up 81.7 points in 4th place. Each season the top players in each level move up to the next level, so cheer us on!
A new season of Champions League started as well and Garthe made an appearance the first weekend. Champs League is a league open to all JPML members with no predetermined ranking system. There are 15 sessions of 4 games each and each player must play in at least 5 sessions. The games are timed: 50 minutes for each East/South round. JPML A-Rules are used, so no First-Turn Wins for Reach and no Quad-Drags (Kan-dora) or Hidden Drags (Hidden-dora). All players are matched up against each other regardless of experience, ability or ranking. I'll be joining this season from November, so cheer us on there too!
And finally, one of JPML's biggest tournaments, open to pro's and amateurs alike throughout Japan in its entirety, OUI, has already started. Qualifiers are currently taking plays throughout Japan and Garthe and I will try to qualify the 2nd weekend of November. Unlike the Masters tournament in April (also open to the entire country), OUI uses A-Rules, meaning no first-turn wins or extra drags (dora). The current defending champion is Takki. The year before that, Takaharu Oui (no pun on the name) won the tournament. Wish us luck on that one as well! And if you are in Japan, there may still be time to qualify, so send me an e-mail if you’re interested.
For now, I'm busy, busy, busy! Lots of stuff to work on and I'm running good in poker so trying to make the money while I can. Keep in touch all!
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11 comments:
I read in an earlier post about how you don't want players confused with too much Japanese terminology. That being the case, why not sell mahjong sets with Arabic numerals on the character tiles?
I think it would be a good idea to make a set with Arabic numerals in place of the Chinese numerals, rather than in addition to them.
I see two reasons :
1) It's not too much asking beginners to learn very basic numerals. It's completely different thing than asking them to distinguish "isshou sanjun" from "ishou suushun".
2) A vendor can only sell what's available. There is no Arabic numerals's set made.
And if you are so lazy or ethnocentric that you are unwilling to learn such basic things as simple shapes drawn on tiles, I think, you are not fit to play an exotic game.
I managed to buy a set for my parents with arabic numbers in the corners. The thing is I think half my family are just too old to have to deal with strange symbols along with learning Mahjong at the same time. Plus, their eyesight isn't good enough to count the numbers on the bamboo tiles anyway. So the addition of numbers on those tiles would be great too, in my opinion.
I'd find it useful to have a set with only Western symbols on it in these cases, and I'd encourage them to use a Chinese set later if they have the motivation. I just want to get them hooked first!
I think it would be nice if we could have Mahjong reach a wide variety of people and if having arabic numerals instead means that it's easier and less daunting for slightly older people (and easier to see with those who's eyesight is no longer as amazing as it was!) then I think that can be very positive.
There are so many different types of playing cards, there should be a Mahjong set out there for everyone too!
But as Walter points out... no such set exists yet so it's all academic.
My two cents...
You might want to see some of the sets at the Mahjong Museum (www.mahjongmuseum.com), notably the OXI mahjong set and "electrical mahjong".
By the way, I can't log in to my account at Yakitori Online now. Could you help me?
Good luck on the OUI qualifiers this weekend!
As for the European riichi championship in 2008: what they have up at this site does not make it clear whether it will be kuitan ari or kuitan nashi. (One of the links on the rules page is to a kuitan nashi rulesheet, and another link on the same page is to an explanation of mahjong that specifies kuitan ari.)
By the way, I still can't log in to Yakitori Online.
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