Male and female contestants clad in uniforms clash in televised matches. 

Fans cheer for their favorite players with related goods in their hands like at sports events. 

In this new era, the traditional mah-jongg tile game has undergone a stunning transformation and gained widespread acceptance as a competitive sport under the M.League tag. 

It's a far cry from the board game’s once shady image where gamblers in smoke-filled rooms played mah-jongg deep into the night. 

Billing mah-jongg as an intellectual sport, the M.League has been increasing in popularity so much that children and other individuals unfamiliar with the game have started enjoying playing. 

“It is great that many people grow fond of mah-jongg once they play it correctly and become aware of its appeal,” said Momo Matsushima, a pro mah-jongg competitor who also serves as an official play-by-play commentator for the M.League.

“I still see firsthand that the deep-rooted traditional negative image of mah-jongg persists. We will be putting in even more efforts from now via activities at the M.League and elsewhere.”

Mah-jongg is expected to bring about educational benefits. It has been winning over new fans, likely because many chose mah-jongg as “a form of indoor amusement that could be played by more than one person” during the long COVID-19 pandemic.

KIDS’ MANGA, STUDENTS’ EVENTS

The M.League was founded in 2018, declaring its separation from involvement in illegal betting.

The average viewership of online broadcaster Abema for the league’s show has risen 3.7 times over the course of five years since its founding. Up to more than 3 million viewers view Abema’s broadcast.

In addition to the airing, a manga adaptation of a mah-jongg-themed TV anime scheduled for airing next year was serialized in the September issue of the Nakayoshi magazine for young female readers.

“Pon no Michi” (Way of pong) was released in the popular girls’ comic anthology, with the aim of depicting heartwarming scenes where high school girls gather at the former site of a mah-jongg parlor.

Marking a sharp contrast with “Pon no Michi,” earlier mah-jongg comics, such as “Akagi: The Genius who Descended into Darkness” and “The Legend of the Gambler: Tetsuya,” depicted an outlaws’ world for male readers.

“Mah-jongg is open to both adults and children,” said an editor for “Pon no Michi,” recounting the reason behind the title’s serialization. “With the recent surge in its popularity in mind, our hope is that the manga will help mah-jongg to be counted among entertainment options for readers to play with family members and friends.”

A mah-jongg competition for young players was organized with the special assistance of the publisher of the children’s magazine CoroCoro Comic.

The Summer Vacation Mah-jongg Tournament for Elementary School Students was held in Tokyo and Osaka Prefecture in August.

A quota of 32 players was set for each venue. Upward of triple the number applied for the opportunity.

Children are believed to be learning to play mah-jongg in many households, after their fathers recommend it as “a kind of brainwork” among leisure programs at home that increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mothers were often initially reluctant but said they are now happy about their children playing mah-jongg. One such mother described the game as “enjoyable while exercising the brain with others.”

The mah-jongg clubs and circles from 17 colleges in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including Waseda University and Keio University, have competed recently in the Satsukisai championships.

A total of 250 students participated in the freshman welcome event. The number of participants increased dramatically from about 100 before the novel coronavirus crisis.

Clubs and circles at universities are reportedly seeing their membership numbers rise dramatically due to the high profile of the M.League and mah-jongg video game apps.

Takumi Benno, a senior at Tokyo City University, who heads the school’s competitive mah-jongg club, said there were only five members two years ago but the figure has now spiked to 120.

“Many freshmen have never played mah-jongg,” he said. “They apparently want to belong to an intra-college community through mah-jongg.”

EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS

One motivation for playing may be players’ desire to improve their mental skills.

Matsushima, 39, said she found her mathematical performance improved as soon as she started playing mah-jongg at age 6.

“Calculating points is important in this game,” she said.

Logical thinking is another factor Matsushima cited as a benefit.

“Which tile to discard must be determined on a well-thought-out basis, not instinctively,” she explained.

However, mah-jongg has little correlation with academic ability because strong players are not necessarily high performers at school. But excellent mah-jongg players are mentally tough in many cases, she said.

(This article was written by Yusuke Kato and Kenta Maeda.)