Review of Japanese-Mahjong.com's Game Set

[burke]

David Hurley (hirohurl on this board) who runs Japanese-Mahjong.com sells a game set consisting of a \"Standard Japanese Mahjong Set\" and JUNK MAT. At the time of writing this set costs $95 plus $75 for shipping via express airmail. I bought one of these sets and thought I\'d share my experience.

Ordering

I also wanted a set of Yakitori Tesserae (Crazy Red Bird), but as I set out to order via PayPal the system tacked on an extra $15 of shipping for these. I contacted David about it and he kindly refunded the $15.

The order took a few days to fulfill and arrived four days after shipping. The parcel got caught in the Finnish customs and I had to wait a couple of days before I could claim it (and pay the Finnish VAT). The products were securely packaged and in excellent condition.

The Tiles

The mahjong tiles are of very good quality compared to my other (Chinese) plastic tiles. They are totally clean and seem to have no defects whatsoever. The engravings are well done and the colors are applied well. I much prefer the muted, darker colors of the Japanese tiles to the bright, gaudy colors of traditional sets.

The tiles measure 26 mm (H) x 19 mm (W) x 16 mm (D) and weigh a shade over 10 grams each. The ones I ordered are white with a \"bamboo\" colored back. They also have a little white notch on each side of the back as an homage to the dove-tailed bamboo and bone tiles of old.

On his site, David Hurley writes that the tiles are of similar quality to the slightly more expensive \"Sango\" set that he also sells. Judging from the pictures on his site, these are the exact same tiles, only without the plastic \"Snap-Shut Carrying Case\".

Four sturdy, black plastic trays are provided for the tiles and a fifth for the white, scoring sticks, four tiny dice and a red wind marker. All of the trays fit snugly into the pouches on the JUNK MAT bag.

The scoring sticks are the only let down of the set. They are all unevenly moulded and many are shoddily colored. The won\'t diminish my gaming enjoyment, but they also do not exhude the same sense of quality as the rest of the set

The JUNK MAT

The JUNK MAT is a light-weight, green, neoprene mat designed to be placed on a table. It has a black frame of hard plastic that helps keep the mat flat. I guess the frame is also the reason for the name, since it has small trays moulded into the plastic where you can store your \"junk\" (scoring sticks, etc).

The JUNK MAT measures 69 cm x 69 cm and can be rolled up to fit inside its handy, green, carrying bag, which also has pouches for your mahjong tiles and accessories.

The JUNK MAT is truly something else and it is probably the next best thing to a dedicated Mahjong table. Many people, including Jenn Barr (who even included pictures of it in her book), swear by this product and I can easily see why.

Crazy Red Bird Yakitori Tesserae

These small, white markers feature a \"crazy\" red chicken on a spit. They are a humorous addition to the game and seem to be a step up in production quality to the normal orange Yakitori markers.

Long Story Short

I\'m really happy with my purchase and can easily recommend this set and David\'s store to anyone else. The price is quite steep, because of the shipping from Japan, but in the end I found it was worth it. After all, these things will provide me with countless hours of enjoyment.

Links

Japanse-Mahjong.com Shop:
http://japanese-mahjong.com/mjgoods.html

Japanese Mahjong Game Set:
http://japanese-mahjong.com/mahjong-tiles-and-mat.html

\"Sango\" Mahjong Set:
http://japanese-mahjong.com/sangomjset.html

[Gamegrunt]

Nice review, Mattias! Since many of us have zero access to these sets except via images on the internet, it is useful to have reviews of this sort. The Junk Mat is an intriguing accessory, but the durability of it would be a concern - hopefully it will wear very well and give many years of service. It seems the Sango gets another thumbs up!

What country manufactured the items in your order from David?

Gg

[burke]

Nice review, Mattias! Since many of us have zero access to these sets except via images on the internet, it is useful to have reviews of this sort.

Thanks! I was inspired by your review of the Take-set. Hopefully other buyers will follow suit.

The Junk Mat is an intriguing accessory, but the durability of it would be a concern

Why? I have no concerns about it. The mat seems very durable and well made. It sure beats a normal table cloth. B)

What country manufactured the items in your order from David?

Both the tiles and mat are made by Taiyo Chemicals. Even though it is a Japanese company, I\'m pretty sure their manufacturing plants are located in China. But as David Hurley writes on his site the products are made to Japanese specifications (which I take it are demanding of quality).

[hirohurl]

@burke

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and fair review. I\'m glad you like the set!

@Gg

The simple answer is that I don\'t know for certain where the tiles are made because there is seldom any information on the boxes and I get a variety of sets from a variety of sources.

My guess is China because Japanese manufacturers are heavily invested in China nowadays and Taiyo Chemicals has at least one manufacturing plant in China which makes mahjong equipment:

http://www.taiyopl.com/about-en.asp

I don\'t base my decision to offer mahjong sets on where they are manufactured but on (1) quality of the set and (2) Japanese specs such as size, style, finish.

Cheers!

DH

[hirohurl]

Aha, I just found the source:

http://www.taiyopl.com/showProDetail-en.asp?ProID=1850

[Johnstonjamese]

If I was originally considering going for the Sango set, but wanted to upgrade my junk mat at the same time, would I be perfectly happy with that combo set that you mentioned was similar quality to the sango set? Are there any noticeable differences?

[Gamegrunt]

Thanks for the link to the Taiyo Plastic website, David!

Not to change the subject, but the tiles that appear in the videos of Japanese Riichi contests utilizing mechanical tables appear to have tiles that are a bit thicker than standard. Since these tiles have embedded magnets, the reason for their greater size could be explained for that reason. This set appears to be thicker and is a mechanical table set:

http://www.taiyopl.com/showProDetail.asp?ProID=1849

How might someone obtain one of these sets short of purchasing the table?

Gg

[hirohurl]

If I was originally considering going for the Sango set, but wanted to upgrade my junk mat at the same time, would I be perfectly happy with that combo set that you mentioned was similar quality to the sango set? Are there any noticeable differences?

The tiles used in the game set reviewed on this thread are in fact the same as those used in the Sango set.

@Gg It is certainly possible to order mj sets with larger tiles. There are several size grades. I will have to remember to take a Sango tile with me to the mahjong parlour on Friday to check out the sizes...

[Johnstonjamese]

You can buy the automatica table sets from this site. They have very good prices but the site is all in japanese and i\'m not sure about international shipping.

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/auc-e-mahjong/c/0000000103/

I can research it a bit more for you if you like.

[burke]

This set appears to be thicker and is a mechanical table set:

http://www.taiyopl.com/showProDetail.asp?ProID=1849

How might someone obtain one of these sets short of purchasing the table?

Sorry, but that image is distorted horizontally. If you open the image directly it shows in the right proportions:

http://www.taiyopl.com/UploadFile/2009518193617.jpg

In the English version of the site it is named "26mm MAJIANG" and I believe it is the Sango set. Certainly the proportions of the tiles are the same.

The Sango set is quite thick as it is, as each tile is almost as thick as it is wide.

[hirohurl]

Thanks for the new link. The tiles aren\'t Sango as they don\'t have the \"notch\" on the side.

[Gamegrunt]

I\'m perfectly content with my Take set and have no need for another, at least at this time. But if others in my circle decide to obtain a Japanese set I would consider going in on an order since this reduces the shipping cost dramatically.

Johnston, thanks for the link! Very interesting - its a shame that these items are limited to Japanese sources - no offense, David or Jenn!

David, I have no trouble with the standard size of riichi sets - I\'ve gone through the jumbo tile stage of the Chinese sets (which are easy to obtain - I bought my first set at an Asian supermarket. The damn thing weighs in at about 15kg!)

Those of you who have played riichi on the mechanical tables of Japan might comment on the size and heft of the tiles designed for those tables.

Gg

[hirohurl]

Hi Gg,

I took this photos to compare two tiles from two of my mj sets with a tile from a mechanical table in our regular mahjong parlour:

[center][/center]

The 7-Bamboo is the machine tile. The 7-Character is from the Japanese Mahjong Museum special set and the 7-Coin is from an old standard set of about 25 years ago.

As you can see, there is not much difference in the size. The Japanese MJ Museum tile is thicker. We couldn\'t really feel much difference in heft.

[hirohurl]

Here\'s a view of the backs of the tiles.

[center] [/center]

As you can see, the purple mechanical table tile lacks the notch - that\'s typical of tiles made for mechanical tables, at least in my experience.

The tile closest to the camera is the old standard tile, with a very thin notch and a slightly grainy back as if in imitation of bamoo.

[Gamegrunt]

Thanks for the pictures of the tiles, David. It appears on my screen at least, that the blue (purple) backed machine tile is the thickest...certainly noticeably thicker than the tile next to it - a standard-sized tile. Perhaps at least 3/64\" - got a micrometer handy? ;)

Gg