The Most Ecologically Sound Japanese Mahjong Set?

Is this the world's first recycled mahjong set? It's made of PET (actually, R-PET, the "R" standing for "recycled"), the kind of plastic that soft drinks bottles are made of here in Japan.

It is produced by Taiyo Chemicals, the Japanese chemicals and plastics company.

I just added the set to my listings over at http://japanese-games-shop, and blogged about it on the same site. See:

 the-white-tiger-recyled-pet-japanese-mahjong-set

Green Tile Back Japanese Mahjong Set Now Available on TripleClicks!

 

The popular green-tile-back Japanese mahjong set is once again available over on http://tripleclicks.com/bargains.

At the moment only one is available. I only get hold of one set at a time so I offer them on a one-off basis on Tripleclicks rather than on my website, http://japanese-mahjong.com.

The tiles in this set are a bit heavier than the Standard Japanese Mahjong Set available on my site, but apart from that, and the colour of the tile backs, the specs are similar.

Anyway, now that the winter backlog of orders has been cleared I hope to be able to keep a small stock of green-backed sets available. I'm also hoping to add some new sets to my range later this month...

One more thing... I'm currently reading Jenn Barr's book, Reach Mahjong and will be reviewing it on my site shortly. Suffice it to say here that it is an entertaining read and a good introduction to Japanese Mahjong.

David Hurley
Japanese-Mahjong.com

Japanese Games & Stuff Backlog Management!

A belated "Happy New Year" to Japanese games lovers around the world!

I was away for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year holiday and on my return to Japan I was faced with a backlog of orders which I am still dealing with...

I hope to clear the backlog by the end of next week and also to turn around new orders at something like the usual pace...

What is the usual pace for turning orders around at Japanese-Games-Shop.com?

It really depends on what you order because I don't keep large stocks of goods and usually have to obtain the items from one or other of my suppliers as orders come in.

I then have to fit packing and posting into my regular schedule. Please bear in mind when ordering from my website that Japanese-Games-Shop.com is a one-man show... When not packing and posting, I am usually gadding about fulfilling my duties as a freelance English teacher, English language consultant, article writer, independent and part-time academic, father, husband, mahjong player, and superannuated footballer... When it comes to football, I'm going for the double record of (1) longest serving player in the Hiroshima City League and (2) the oldest player ever. I still have several years to go before I break the second record, which is held by a Japanese player who retired at the age of 56 or something...

Ideally, if the item is in stock and I have a light schedule, I can ship the item within 24 hours of receiving the order. If not, then 2-4 days if all goes well, but if you order on a Tuesday, then the order can be delayed simply because Wed-Fri is the busy end of my week...

Of course, things can also be slowed down when my suppliers are slow or when things are out of stock or simply "unavailable". In those cases I email customers to see whether they are willing to wait or want a refund.

I had a backlog of over 30 items to ship...

Yesterday I shipped 13 items, today another five items. If I have time I hope to ship another three or four items tomorrow... In the meantime, several new orders have come in, so there is still a backlog to deal with.

Feel free to drop me a line before your order if you want to know the state of play... But do bear in mind that time spent responding to inquiries means less time for packing and shipping!

Cheers!

David H
Japanese-Games-Shop.com

Japanese Mahjong Clipboard and Calculator on TripleClicks

When you play mahjong in a Japanese mahjong parlour you are provided with a clipboard that comes with a build-in electronic calculator and a score pad so that you can keep track of the scores over the course of the game.

I recently got hold of a few of these nifty numbers and last night I posted one of them on the Tripleclicks garage sale site.

The clipboard is made of robust plastic and has a large clip, a pen holder and a built-in calculator Canon solar powered electronic calculator... so your computations will not contribute to global warming.

The clipboard comes complete with a mahjong score pad and also has a score chart to help you work out the score of the winning hand.

No serious Japanese mahjong circle should be without a Japanese mahjong clipboard with built-in calculator!

David Hurley
Japanese-Mahjong.com

Saki 2.0 Anime Mahjong Set now on Tripleclicks!

Yesterday I uploaded a Saki 2.0 mahjong set to Tripleclicks. These sets are suddenly in demand in the wake of the popularity of the "Saki" mahjong anime series.

In case all this is new to you, "Saki" is about a high school girl who is an expert mahjong player because her family forced her to play, but would get angry if she won and punish her if she lost. She therefore developed enough expertise to deliberately keep her score at zero, neither winning nor losing.

When she joins her high school mahjong club she plays to win instead of breaking and her school team begins to make progress in the national mahjong championships of Japan...

Last month I posted a Saki 1.5 set on Tripleclicks, and now I am able to offer the Saki 2.0 set.

So what's the difference between these two sets?

1. The Saki 2.0 tile backs are dark blue, not pink.

2. The Saki 2.0 does not have the cute "Red-5-Coin" tile with keychain.

The design of the tile faces look similar to the 1.5. Check out the photos below (they are better quality than the ones on the Tripleclicks Saki Mahjong Set page:

Saki 2.0 Mahjong Set

Saki 2.0 Mahjong Tiles

Click here to find out more about the Saki 2.0 Mahjong Set.

David Hurley
Japanese Mahjong

Unusual Nintendo "Sparkling Diamond" Mahjong Set on Tripleclicks...

Here are some photos of an unusual Japanese mahjong set that used to be produced by Nintendo, called the "Sparkling Diamond" set, or "houpai" in Japanese.

The unique feature of this set is the tile after which it takes its name, a single tile with an embedded "jewel" at the center of a four-pointed star with a red aurora around it.



Note also the "Nintendo turtle" hiding in the design of the 1-Coins ("ii-pin") tile.



The tiles in this set are still in their wrappers. Nintendo tiles are always good quality. However, this set has NO Red Fives. Actually, Japanese sets did not use to include Red Fives. Instead, if you wanted Red Fives you could ask your supplier to have some of the Fives in your set painted red.

The case is the original Nintendo case. The hinges and locks work and the interior is in good condition. However, it has suffered some wear and tear on the surface and edges.



I have posted the Nintendo Sparkling Diamond Japanese Mahjong Set on the Tripleclicks garage sale site. Click the link to view the set on Tripleclicks.

Please note that there is ONLY ONE SPARKLING DIAMOND SET AVAILABLE...

David Hurley
Japanese Mahjong

More Japanese Mahjong Sets on TripleClicks

I have been adding more mahjong special offers and one-off mahjong sets to the Tripleclicks garage sale site.

Today I have 5 different mahjong sets featured on the site, which either (a) are not featured on my main site at Japanese-Mahjong.com or (b) are available on my website but I am running a special offer on Tripleclicks.

Note, I am only offering one of each type of mahjong set at a time on Tripleclicks. So far the most popular item is the $35 Classic Japanese Mahjong Set.



This set is a real bargain because the Classic Japanese Mahjong Set costs $45 on my site, and the tiles are indistinguishable from the Sango set that goes for $55.

I am also offering a similar quality Japanese Mahjong set with GREEN TILE BACKS for $45.

I have a spare set of new "Classic" Japanese mahjong tiles that I posted on TripleClicks for just $25. Note, they are literally just "Japanese mahjong tiles", wrapped in their original wrapper, with no case, trays, game accessories etc.

Then there are the novelty sets...

1. Sushi Mahjong!

This is a great party version of mahjong and not to be taken too seriously... It is available on Tripleclicks for just $55.

2. Saki 1.5 Mahjong Set

This is a real collector's item for fans of the Saki manga series and of Japanese mahjong. This set came out in 2008 and cost about $100 at the time (i.e. around 10,000 Japanese yen) but has been featured on Amazon.co.jp and Yahoo.co.jp for prices of $500 and $1,000... So I don't think the set I am offering will be around for too long as it is going for just $175, despite being in excellent condition and complete.



I have already received several enquiries about this set and the later Saki 2.0 so if I can find some more sets and good prices I will certainly post them on Tripleclicks...

The best thing to do is to check this link from time to time and type "mahjong" into the search field:

http://www.tripleclicks.com/bargains

David Hurley
Japanese-Games-Shop.com

Japanese Akagi Mahjong Set on TripleClicks

A full-sized Japanese Akagi Mahjong Set is currently available on TripleClicks.com.

Three quarters of the tiles of an Akagi Mahjong Set are completely transparent, the remaining quarter being standard white/bamboo style. The tiles are pulled out of a hole in the table and the players each wear a glove so they can't cheat by reading the tile face with their thumb.

Akagi Mahjong Sets became popular in Japan after the success of the Japanese manga comic series "Akagi" and the exploits of its eponymous hero.

Check out the Japanese Akagi Mahjong Set by clicking this link! There is only one set available on the site, so if you are looking to buy a set, hurry over there and secure it right away!

David Hurley
Japanese-Games-Shop.com

Japanese Games Shop Has Changed Webhost!

A few days ago I completed the first stage of moving Japanese-Games-Shop.com and Japanese-Mahjong.com to a new web host, Bluehost.com. They offer unlimited hosting and domain names on a single account, have a great track record, and their control panel is very easy to work with.

I moved my sites myself, and in the process some links and graphics are no longer working so I'm now going over the sites and replacing and updating the links and pics...

David H
Japanese-Games-Shop.com

Japanese Sushi Mahjong Set Available on TripleClicks!

The unique Japanese Sushi Mahjong set is back (again!). This time I am featuring it on http://tripleclicks.com. Simple click the link and type "mahjong" into the search field at the top of the TripleClicks site.

I used to sell this set on my website, http://japanese-mahjong.com but it was unavailable for a long time and I have only just found a new supply.

Full details are available on the http://tripleclicks.com site.

David Hurley