Nintendo's Yakuman "New Ivory" Mahjong Set now available at Hirohurl!

Nintendo's deluxe Yakuman "New Ivory" mahjong set must surely be the best modern Japanese mahjong set on the market today.

Most modern mahjong tiles are made using some sort of nylon or plastic polymer, but the difference in quality between the cheapest and the most expensive sets is immense.

When looking for a quality mahjong set careful consideration should be given to the tiles. How substantial do they feel in the hand? Usually, the more substantial the tiles feel, the better their value. Cheap tiles have a light toy-like feel to them.

Colour quality is another important consideration. Good quality mahjong sets do not have a the bright sheen of cheap plastics. Good tiles tend to be creamier of hue rather than gloss white. Standard mahjong sets recreate the ivory-and-bamboo combination of antique sets through the use of white or cream plastic for the main body of the tile and a bamboo colour for the back. More expensive sets reproduce the off-white shade of ivory. The very best sets, such as Nintendo's "New Ivory" set, shown above, recreate the striations that run through ivory. It goes without saying that to achieve this effect on, or in, a plastic tile while at the same time reproducing the tile character on top is a complex procedure.

Another key point is the design of the characters on the face of the tiles. How clearly delineated are they? How accurately has the paint or dye been applied? Many of the more exclusive sets also use original designs. If you are familiar with standard Japanese mahjong sets you may notice a certain amount of effort has been put into giving the Nintendo sets featured on my website a certain distinctive style - such work is usually most evident in the cursive quality of the Character suit.

Some mid-range sets go in for quite flashy detailing to point up their uniqueness. The Nintendo sets occupy a classier cachet; the detail on the tiles is distinctive but understated.

To find out more about the Nintendo Yakuman "New Ivory" set as well as the other Japanese mahjong sets now in stock at the Hirohurl Jshop, click here. You can view close up photos of the "New Ivory" set here.

Backlog Cleared! Mahjong Shop Expanded!

Backlog
Good news folks! The backlog that accumulated while I was away for a couple of weeks has now been cleared. The last big batch went out this afternoon...

Mahjong Shop
I have just added several Japanese mahjong sets to the range over at http://japanese-mahjong.com/mjgoods.html.

So now, as well as the classy "all black" mahjong set, the quirky "Sushi mahjong" set and the popular "bog-standard" Japanese set there is also a range of premium and deluxe mahjong sets to choose from.

The new sets are all made in Japan to Japanese specifications and a variety of styles.

Here is a selection of what is on offer:

• "Family" Mahjong Set - a well-finished standard set.
  
• "Bara" Black-Backed Mahjong Set - a set with black backs and white faces.
  
• "Yamato" Mahjong Set - a classic mid-range set
  
• "Hikari" Mahjong Set - a stylish green-backed set with a special "diamond bonus" tile.
  
• "Ran" Mahjong Set - a deluxe set with a high quality finish in a special calligraphic style.
  
• Two deluxe sets in baize cases by NINTENDO.
  
• Big Tile Mahjong Set.
  

Back from my hols...

I have just got back to Japan after spending a couple of weeks on holiday in England. Inevitably, another backlog of orders has accumulated and I shall spend the rest of this week clearing it...

If you have purchased anything from the shop in February...

Taihen omataseshimashita! (Sorry to have kept you waiting!)

Then, in March, hirohurl.net is set to expand, with new products being added to the existing range and also a couple of new sections which will take us into uncharted territory!

Among other things, the existing range of Japanese games and gaming accessories will be expanded to include:

• a series of exclusive high-quality Japanese mahjong sets.
  
• more shogi sets.
  
• cloth and leatherette roll-up shogi boards.
  

Two new sections are to be added to hirohurl.net. They will feature original works of Japanese art and craftsmanship:

• Japanese pottery: traditional and modern handmade items from the workshop of Eisen Nishimoto and Eisen Naofumi.
  
• Original Japanese woodblock prints.
  

As well as those projects, I am hoping to be able to add several other items to the existing range of products, so keep your eyes glued to hirohurl.net for the new and exciting developments in spring 2007 folks!

Kodansha Bilingual Manga Updates

The Japanese publisher Kodansha offers a range of bilingual (Japanese and English) titles of famous Japanese manga and from time to time I have offered them on the manga page of my website, particularly "Ribbon no Kishi" and "Genji Monogatari"...

Ribbon no Kishi
I temporarily removed the manga series "Ribbon no Kishi" (or "Princess Knight" in English) from my site as it had disappeared from the shelves, but now I am pleased to be able to announce that Princess Knight is back and available once again at http://www.japanese-games-shop.com/manga.html!


Genji Monogatari
Kodansha used to publish a four-volume "Tale of Genji" manga series that made Murasaki Shikibu's famous Japanese classic accessible to English speaking readers. That series disappeared from suppliers' shelves recently. However, spurred on by a customer I went out and discovered that Kodansha reissued the manga in a new two-volume edition in July of this year and so I have just updated the manga page of my website to offer this new edition.

A Note on the Kodansha Bilingual Editions Offered on My Site
The Kodansha Bilingual series offered on my website are all purchased NEW. I do not keep a stock of these manga but order each one as orders come in.

This "special order service" requires a slightly higher "shipping and handling" price than for the other volumes on offer on my site, but if you compare it to what is on offer on the second-hand market on Amazon.com, for example, you will see that you are actually getting better value for money. For example, a second hand copy of Kodansha's Princess Knight is currently available for the "low price" of $51.92 plus postage!

Japanese Mahjong Yakitori Tiles - New!! "Sweating Sparrow"

If you play the Japanese version of mahjong you may be accustomed to the familiar site of a tile with a picture of a skewered sparrow on it! It is a flat tile, similar in size to the Wind Marker and it sits to the right of each player until he has completed a hand. Any player who fails to complete a hand through the course of a game is said to be "Yakitori" - skewered and grilled sparrow!

I offer a couple of styles of Yakitori tile on the Japanese mahjong goods section of my site. Just recently I have been able to add a third design to my range of tiles. This one is a sweating sparrow. A set of four costs just $15 (plus S&H) and can be purchased via Paypal at Japanese-Games-Shop.com.

Ultraman Hanafuda is Back too!!

The unique Ultraman Hanafuda deck disappeared from the shelves of Japanese-Games-Shop.com some time ago never to be seen again - or so we thought!

HOWEVER, I think I have just located a new source of this hard-to-get hanafuda set so as of today I am once again making it available. Go to http://japanese-games-shop.com/ultrahana.html and this is what you will see:



You'll find Ultraman or one of the other characters from the animation either fully represented on each hanafuda card or lurking somewhere in the background!

This collector's set is made by Bandai.

Sushi Mahjong Is Back!

Good news folks! Sushi mahjong is back!!

The Japanese sushi mahjong set is a neat combination of mahjong... and... sushi! The three mahjong suits have been transformed into sushi, wrapped sushi, and shellfish, each in nine variations!

The set is very entertaining and colourful to use but until recently it has been impossible to get hold of... but I have found a source... at least for the time being... so if you are looking for an unusual variation on the game of mahjong, or for a way to learn about sushi (or ideally, both!) then check out the set and snap one up while it is available. You can check out the set and get further info about it here.

Tomy Pocketmate Games Make Great Stocking-Fillers!

With the Christmas shopping season looming the desperate search for inspiration - or simply for a range of quick and easy stocking fillers - is looming. Japanese toy company Tomy's range of "Pocketmate" games brilliantly fills the void - and the stocking!!



Most of the games in the Tomy Pocketmate series make use of ball bearings but each one has a novel kind of twist that takes them beyond most pocket games of a similar size.

A typical game is self-contained and usually features some kind of shooting action, such as "Baseball Game" or "Crazy Machine Gun." A couple of others require you to negotiate a maze either avoiding traps, or getting through within a limited time.

Games such as "The Tennis" and "Golf Game" are played "outside the box" - in the first case the box opens up to form a miniature tennis court, while in the second you can take a plastic golf "player" with a metal golf "club" around a 9-hole golf course which you construct by putting three parts of a golf green together in different combinations!

At the moment six of these games are available on my site:

1. Baseball Game
2. Shogi - Japanese chess; the only game that does not feature a ball!
3. Maze Game
5. Crazy Machine Gun Game
10. Golf Game
11. Smartball Game

In the next few days I will be adding six more games from the Pocketmate range to my site:

4. Hole In Golf Game
6. Combat Tank Game
7. Clean Tennis Game
8. Time Trap Game　
9. Target Range Game
12. Marble Catch Game

After that there will be just one more game to go for the whole range to be covered!

New Japanese Mahjong Sets & Accessories...

It has been a hot busy summer here in Hiroshima, but not fruitless as I have been able to expand the range of mahjong sets and accessories available on my website.

As well as the leading hirohurl product - the dead cool all-black tile mahjong set - there is now a more traditional white and bamboo coloured set available. Apart from the colour of the tiles, the set is made to a similar high quality as the black set.

A new novelty mini set has recently appeared on the Japanese scene. Three quarters of the tiles are made of acrylic and are transparent. The remaining quarter are standard white and bamboo plastic so you get to be able to peek at a part of the other player's hands. I guess the standard tiles can be arranged to fool the other players about the structure of your hand...

Every mj set on my site is made to Japanese specs with none of those annoying Arabic numerals that you see on western sets!

Apart from mj sets, I have added a range of accessories such as a nice chunky Japanese Wind Marker and a range of Japanese style dice - the "1" spot on white dice is larger than the rest, and painted red.


There are also some novely spherical dice - and yes, they always come to rest with a number upwards!