Mah Jong was imported to Japan in 1907 for the first time, and received a high reputation towards 1929. There were many Mah Jong Clubs in every urban center and competitive games were held between Japan and China. After the out-break of the Sino-Japanese War, Mah Jong was suppressed in due course, but on finishing the war it again caught the public fancy, multiplying by many times its former popularity.
CHAPTER II.
KIND NUMBER OF TILES
Tiles are usually made of bone and bamboo, but in the best quality ivory replaces the bone portion. Bone is generally derived from cattle and is imported from the U.S. and China. Bones from cattle in Japan are too small to be used in the manufacture. Plastic tiles are now being moulded to take the place of the imported bone.
There are 136 tiles in a Set. However, every Set contains another set of 4 Blanks. These are kept in reserve in case some of the tiles are lost.
There are two kinds of Letter tiles and three kinds of Numeral tiles, making up five general kinds of tiles.
Color tiles
Wind tiles
(1) Color Tiles
4- Red Letter, or Red Dragon, tiles
4- Green Letter, or Green Dragon, tiles
4 - Blanks (neither letter. nor picture),
called White Dragon tiles
Total Color Tiles.............................. 12
(2) Wind Tiles
4 - East Wind tiles
4 - South Wind tiles
4 - West Wind tiles
4 - North Wind tiles
Total Wind Tiles ........................... 16
The Numeral Tiles are Won, Bamboo and Ball Tiles.
Won tiles
(3) Won Tiles (Won is the Chinese word for 10,000)
1 - Won to 9 - Won, 4 of each
Total Won Tiles ........................... 36
(4) Bamboo Tiles
1 - Bamboo to 9 - Bamboo, 4 of each
Total Bamboo Tiles ........................ 36
(1 - Bamboo is shown with the carving of a picture of a bird or a bamboo shoot)
Bambo tiles
Ball tiles
(5) Ball Tiles
1 - Ball to 9 - Ball, 4 of each
Total Ball Tiles.............................. 36
(Ball tiles are indicated by double circles)
There are other classifications
a. Old Head Tiles
1 - Won and 9- Won
1 - Bamboo and 9 - Bamboo
1 - Ball and 9 - Ball
Old Head tiles
Middle tiles
b. Middle Tiles
2- Won to 8 - Won
2 - Bamboo to 8 - Bamboo
2 - Balls to 8 - Balls
c. Letter Tiles
Color, or Dragon tiles, are often called the Three Original Tiles.
Wind Tiles - East, South, West, North.
See Illustration No.1
CHAPTER III.
DETERMINATION OF SEATS
Mah Jong is generally played by four persons. In the beginning the four players each take a seat at random. The table for playing must be square and covered with cloth having enough thickness to prevent noise.
Among the accessories of Mah Jong there are four small round discs made of bone. These have the letters of the four directions-East, South, West and North. If there are no discs, one of each of the four Wind tiles, contained in the Set, are placed upside down on the table. Then, arbitrarily, one of the players casts two dice (they also, are accessories), and counts, to the right, the number indicated by the spots on the dice, starting with himself. The seat, designated by the spots on the dice, is temporarily named the East seat.
Next, the person, in the assumed East position, throws the dice and the one, indicated by the spots, picks up the right end tile from the four reversely placed tiles (the one who made the row deciding which is the right end). Then the one who sits on the right, picks up the adjoining tile and the next does likewise.
Thus, the four players pick up the four tiles and their seats are decided by the letters on the tiles - namely, the one who picked up the East tile sits in the temporary East seat, and the one who picked up the South tile sits in the South seat and so on. In this case, the four directions are in reverse to the natural directions.
CHAPTER IV.
TO DECIDE THE ELDEST HAND
When the players’ seats are decided, the Eldest Hand should be determined, The Eldest Hand is said to be the EAST HAND.
The person who took the East tile casts the dice and counts the number indicated by the spots from East (starting with himself), to the right. If the spots add up to 7, then West casts the dice next. The person, indicated by the second casting of dice, counting to the right (starting with himself) is the Eldest Hand, or East.
We can simplify the throwing of dice from twice to once, but it is more formal to throw twice.
The right hand of East is South, the opposite hand is West and the left hand is North.
When one game is over, the Eldest Hand passes to the right and South becomes East, or the Eldest Hand; West becomes South, North becomes West and East becomes North.
CHAPTER V.
DEAL AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE TILES
Now to go ahead with the game. There are 136 tiles and they should be well mixed. Each player gathers 34 tiles to form two rows of 17 each, placing one row on top of the other. For ease in assembling the tiles it is well to remember to pick up three upside down tiles in each hand twice, then three in one hand and two in the other. This makes a row of 17. Thereafter, we can speedily pick up the other 17 tiles (All of the tiles are assembled face down).
Arrangement of tiles
On finishing the arrangement, East casts the two dice to decide from where to commence to pick up the tiles. Counting the number or spots, starting with East and counting to the right, the person thus nominated casts the dice again. Adding the number of spots from both castings, and counting off that number from