Reachmahjong.com

Some Mahjong iOS games are only available in the Japan iTunes store. Many are free - and I don't have a Japanese credit card to register with iTunes Japan. But I've had success! I read a number of tutorials but these were the steps:

1. On your iOS device, go to Settings and log out of iTunes/AppStore
2. Click on any link that takes you to a free Japanese only product. For example, any of the Japan Exclusive games listed here (there are more as this site is dated now): http://www.dipching.com/iOSmj.html
3. Most of the menus are still in English even though you are switched to the Japan iTunes store. Click FREE/INSTALL and you will be prompted to create an account. You must use a different email address than your primary iOS account.
4. Create the account. I used the postal code for Apple in Tokyo when asked.
5. Choose a payment of "None" so you don't have to enter any credit card. If you want to buy anything, you can always get a Japanese iTunes gift card (http://www.jbox.com/product/ITUNESCARD or similar). Free stuff is always free to get.
6. Once the account is confirmed you're ready to download a wealth of free Japanese iOS games. I got a number of fun dungeon crawl puzzle games and another half-dozen free Mahjong games and scoring apps which were not available in the US Apple store.
7. When you're done, go back to Settings and log out of iTunes/AppStore and re-log in with your normal account. You can switch back and forth anytime. Updates are easy - it asks you for the password for the other account as needed when updates are available.

Good luck. I take no responsibility for the reliability or appropriateness of these instructions

Hmm. What's a good search query to find a bunch of these? I haven't run a search via my iPod in a long while, 'cause that thing is getting old. Sucks paying $5 for JanRyuMon, only for it not to work on the thing. It's not an iPhone or iPad after all; so, not enough power on the thing. Sad. Long time ago, I had used "mahjong", but it'll lead to the Mahjong solitaire games. "Japanese Mahjong" would bring up Nagomi. If the search is updated to locate the rest of these, that's great.

Janryumon is now free - it has been for a while. I think they may have charged for it a long time ago (I got it about a year ago and paid 99 cents for the full HD version which has now gone free). And yes, sadly 1st generation iPad and 1st-2nd generation iTouch devices are sadly not well supported by apps anymore (mostly because they won't run OS4.3, 5 or 6).

Anyway, I tend to search on all these terms: 麻雀, 麻将 マージャン mājan and, of course, Mahjong. Once I went through all of the apps once, I now only sort by 'release date' to see the newest ones.

Most of the true Mahjong games are available in the US iTunes store but some are exclusive to the Japanese store.

Has anyone done this lately? Are the above instructions still valid? Do they need to be updated?
Are there any negatives, drawbacks, or problems associated with this process?
Can you get back to your original settings quickly and easily? Is this legal?
Is there anything else one should be aware of before attempting this?

I am having some difficulty understanding #2 below.

2. Click on any link that takes you to a free Japanese only product.

If it's a japanese only product, that means it's not available, or even listed, in the US apple store.
So how can you click on a link that takes you to it. What link?
I get the feeling I'm missing something here.

If anyone can add some clarity to all of this, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!

1) you can go to any store you wish to choose unless restricted by clicking at the round flag at the bottom of the itunes store page on your computer.( it might freeze and if it does leave it for a few min and reset itunes and it should have changed stores) For iphones, you need to make a Japanese account first and it will take you there automatically
2) you can click on external links outside of itunes store listed in other website to take you there directly

either of the two can take you there I think