Crazy Red Sweating Sparrow Yakitori Tesserae Are BACK!!

Yosh! A long out-of-stock item returns!

The crazy red sweating sparrow Yakitori tesserae are back with a vengeance and available at: Japanese-Games-Shop.com .



In Japanese mahjong, the Yakitori tile is an optional extra. You have to keep your Yakitori on the table until you complete a hand. If at the end of a game you still have your Yakitori on the table, you have to pay the other players a fine! That is what makes the red sparrow look so miserable... it has been skewered!

The Vinyl Hanafuda Deck Is Back!

Just a quick post to inform Hanafuda fans that the popular "Vinyl Hanafuda Deck" is once again available on Japanese-Games-Shop.com.



I was able to get hold of a few decks on Monday evening and updated my site on Thursday morning. Not sure how many more of these decks are going to be available, but FOR NOW, they are back!

Best wishes,

David Hurley
Japanese-Games-Shop.com

TAKE Mahjong Key Chain Note

The TAKE Japanese Mahjong set that I sell on my site comes with a free "black tile Mahjong key chain".

Please note, however, that the character on the key chain varies from set to set. The set that I photographed for my website had a West key chain.

When I first uploaded the details I assumed EVERY set came with a West key chain, but this is not the case, so I have modified the description of the set.

See:

http://japanese-mahjong.com/takemjset.html

David Hurley

Cheap Shogi Sets: Shogi Price Reductions

Good news for Shogi players!

I have found a way to lower the price of two of the shogi sets available on my site so I can now offer two cheap shogi sets...

The "Shogi In A Box" set is now $16.50, down from $19.50...



The "Hanayama Honkaku Shogi" set is now $19.50, down from $28.50!!



David Hurley
Cheap Shogi Sets

New Combination: Japanese Mahjong Set AND Junk Mat!

I just added another new product to the listings on Japanese-Mahjong.com...

Introducing, the Japanese Standard MJ set AND JUNK Mat combination!



Now you can get standard Japanese mahjong tiles, score sticks, wind marker and dice together with one of the popular "JUNK mats".

The bag that holds the JUNK mat has pockets in the sides where you store the mahjong tiles and score sticks etc.

It makes for a very convenient set, which can be carried easily.

For more details go to: http://japanese-mahjong.com/mahjong-tiles-and-mat.html.

David Hurley
Japanese-Mahjong.com

Black Mahjong Set & JUNK Mat Combi Offer is BACK!!

Black Mahjong and Mahjong JUNK Playing Mat Combi Set

A while ago I ran a nice combination offer of a complete set of black mahjong tiles plus a mahjong JUNK mat for just $99 plus S&H.

The good news is that the offer is back, at exactly the same price as before.

For more details go to: http://japanese-mahjong.com/blackmjcombi.html

The mahjong tiles are stored in trays that slip inside specially designed pockets on the JUNK mat bag so the whole combi-set is easy to carry with you whenever you want to play away.

Shipping: Express Mail Service worldwide, direct from Japan.

David Hurley
Japanese-mahjong.com

New Matsuoka Mahjong Wind Marker

The classic Matsuoka Wind marker for Japanese Mahjong has changed!

Out with the orange-black-white and in with the white-red-black!

The new design makes it very easy to see at a glance the presiding wind.

The katakana script on the tile reads "Matsuoka", "Century NEXT".

The Matsuoka Mahjong Wind marker is available at http://japanese-mahjong.com

Back from my Holidays! The JGS Spring Clean Is Now Underway!

Blore Hall, Peak District, February 2009: Heading for our early morning swim...

Bodiam Castle, Sussex, England, March 2nd 2009

Two and a half weeks in England and hardly any time spent on a computer!

The upper photo shows my daughter in front of Blore Hall, where we stayed for a week. It is about 7am and we are off to have a swim and a sauna.

The lower photo is of Bodiam Castle in Sussex. We spent the last few days of our holiday in the Weald of Kent close to the sussex border and as my daughter had told me she wanted to visit a castle in England (in search of Prince Charming, I think), Bodiam was the ideal choice.

It is now two and a half weeks since we returned to Japan and I have only just got around to updating Japanese-Games-Shop.com. It was in dire need of a spring clean!

Here is what I did to the site yesterday evening, this afternoon and this evening:

• Added a 23-rod and a 27-rod Tomoe abacus to the Japanese Soroban page.
  
• Updated the manga pages: Some of Kodansha's bilingual manga are difficult to get hold of now, so I have replaced my own listings with Amazon.com listings.
• Posted new photos of the Nintendo New Ivory Mahjong Set on Japanese-Mahjong.com and updated the product page.
• Put in some major renovation work on the Hanafuda page. One link on that page directed people to a former website of mine that died more than two years ago!! All is spick and span now, dead links have been cropped, new Amazon listings have been added and the Hanafuda-Style Playing Cards are available again.
• The Shogi pages had gradually degenerated as stocks ran out towards the end of last year. Also, for some reason, one of the new sets was not showing. I have now re-listed the Hanayama Honkaku Shogi Set and added a new full-sized economy set, Shogi In A Box, which I think will prove popular. The Shogi pages are a work in progress at present.

Shogi In A Box

Tomoe 23-Rod Soroban - Get your head round that!

There will be several more announcements coming shortly... New shogi koma and possibly boards too... New mahjong accessories... and some completely new lines of goods too...

Watch this space!

Holiday Notice

I'm taking my daughter to England for a couple of weeks, 15th February until 6th March.

We'll be staying at my mother's place. One of my jobs is to clear her attic of my books and other stuff. 26 boxes of books, many of them hardbacks collected over the last 30 years, will be on their way to Japan!

Then we are taking mother to the Peak District where we'll stay for a week in a 600 y.o. property. My daughter is excited at the thought of sleeping in a four-poster bed!

After that, off to Kent to see more relatives.

Did I call it a holiday?? :-)

Anyway, the website is "open for business" while I am away, BUT the next shipment of goods will not be until Monday 9th March at the earliest.

After I return I want to overhaul the site and add some new lines, but I will talk more about that in an upcoming post.

Genki de, ne!

DH
Japanese Games Shop

Hanayama Honkaku Shogi Set

Hanayama produce some excellent games sets. They are always well designed and attractively packaged.

Recently, Hanayama added a new shogi game to their listings: The Honkaku Shogi set.



The board and pieces are made of plastic and the board has two built in drawers where the pieces are stored. The neat thing about the drawers is that they are set in each side of the board and you can pull them out and use them as trays to hold the pieces that you capture during the course of the game. (In shogi, when you capture a piece you can use it later as one of your own pieces and "parachute" it onto the board.)

If you are looking for an unusual and attractive Christmas present for a youngster, this would be ideal!

All orders will be shipped from Japan by Express Mail Service, so if you order before 10th December, you'll get it in time for Christmas!

To find out more and order a set, go to http://japanese-games-shop.com/shogi.html