Top products from r/Mahjong

Edit: Album contains three pics comparing height width and depth

When I bought my first riichi mahjong set back in around June/July, I didn't know where I might find a high quality set to play with. I searched on Amazon US and Yellow Mountain Imports had a good looking set that was priced around 64 USD. I bought it, and along with shipping + tax it came out to 80 USD.


I was happy with the tiles at first, but soon something stood out to me as odd. The YMI tiles which I had looked about the same size as regular Japanese mahjong tiles, but they felt...slightly smaller than one would expect. At the time I did not have a Japanese set to compare, so I dismissed the thought.

Then one day while I was visiting family back home in Shanghai, I decided to order the 竹 (also known as Take or Bamboo) riichi mahjong set which I had seen people recommend online. I looked around and found that Amazon JP (amazon.co.jp) had lots of sellers which shipped internationally. The set was priced around 4500 yen, and with shipping came out to 7271 yen (~68 USD).

When I got the tiles I was shocked to see how wonderfully sized they were. I don't know how to describe it but the Take tiles felt the perfect size in my hand. There's just something about the dimensions that felt right. I did a size comparison between the YMI tiles and the Take tiles and immediately saw the difference.

The YMI tiles were shorter and thinner by roughly 1mm

The listed dimensions for the YMI set was 25mm x 20mm x 16mm.

The listed dimensions for the Take set was 26mm x 19mm x 16mm.

BUT, as you can see from the pictures I linked, the YMI set is clearly shorter by 1mm, which is expected. But the Take set is still clearly wider, even if just by a thin margin. I reckon that the YMI set is probably around 18 - 18.5mm in width. The depth of the two tiles seems to be exactly the same at 16mm.

For those of you who are thinking of buying a riichi mahjong set online, keep this post in mind if you plan on buying the YMI set. Buying the Take set off of Amazon JP and having it shipped to the US will come out to around 85-90 USD, a bit more expensive than the YMI but the tiles are properly sized. The selection on Amazon JP is also wider.

A good set, for me, must be resistant (bamboo sets are nice as a collectible, but I'm too afraid to damage them), stand easily without a support, and lightly sticky to help building walls.

We all prefer non-marked sets (without the number of the tile in the corner), if he's into it make sure to avoid marked ones ^^

Sets are slightly different as the rule played, I suppose it's the japanese one he plays. You'll need a set with red fives, and flowers are optional.

For the box, it's not as much as important of course, but light suitcases in plastic and cloth are not very durable... A suitcase in wood or metal is better. But it's really optional

I couldn't find sets on amazon Brazil, but some on amazon.com. This one seems interesting for a first set, with all the additionnal components, given the reports and its price - I think 70$ is a minimum for a good set :

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Riichi-Mahjong-White-Tiles/dp/B003UU129U/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1511260892&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=riichi+mahjong+set&psc=1

It really depends on what you mean by "ground" and "outdoors". If you intend to play on something like a level porch your solution will work fine.
Stability of the playing surface is very important. A wobbly table can absolutely ruin the mahjong experience (at least it does for me). I use sturdy wooden tables with detachable legs (takes like 30 sec to set them up), but they are difficult to transport.
If you intend to play on uneven ground, like when going camping, I suggest to use mahjong cards instead. Now I know that they don't offer the same level of fun as tiles, but they are so much easier to transport and you can play even without chairs as long as it not too windy. The cards are better suited for Chinese Mahjong, since the order of discards doesn't matter and you can just place them in one stack but I'm sure you can make it work. They certainly require less space than a regular mahjong table.
Maybe a smaller travel set like this might work as well, but I have absolutely no experience with that. (Apparently they are tough to come by and are not really worth the trouble, according to some reviews I found)

https://www.amazon.com/AOTOMO-foldable-automatic-mahjong-table/dp/B004TGQBZ4

We're playing riichi rules here. There's a switch on the inside if you wanna take out bonus tiles. I love the table, honestly. It makes playing mahjong not an all night thing. Knock out a hanchan in like 45 minutes if you're not fuckin around!

Riichi Mahjong: The Ultimate Guide to the Japanese Game Taking the World By By Scott D. Miller, link: http://www.amazon.com/Riichi-Mahjong-Ultimate-Japanese-Taking/dp/1329493044

and from the same author, Mahjong From A To Zhú, link: http://www.amazon.com/Mahjong-From-A-To-Zh%C3%BA/dp/1105654982/ref=pd_sim_sbs_14_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=51drRf07%2BSL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=08FA924E7YVY3N4SDJVP

credit goes for daina chiba in his free book about mahjong: riichi book I, you can get it for free here: http://riichi.dynaman.net/

I think you might find even more good resource if you just searched the web by yourself.

I literally bought my first mahjong set on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UU129U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I got it in the mail literally the next day, and it's an awesome set! It was only $70 including the shipping, and definitely worth it!

I sure wish I got a hand like that.

Yellow Mountain Imports! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UU129U/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_8reiub0XA5A8E

I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but Junk mat is awesome. I play almost all my games on it, and on tournaments everyone who brings a set seems to have it.

While not the exact tiles you are looking for, I found this set's tiles to be of satisfying heft:

[Yellow Mountain Imports Professional Chinese Mahjong Set with Aluminum Case - Large Tiles Size: 1.6 x 1.1 x 0.8 inches (40mm x 29mm x 20mm) - For Chinese Style Gameplay Only] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RJQX34/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_deTzCb3ESBDQE)


Its a Chinese set with large tiles with good weight to them. I hope you find what you're looking for.

This is what I bought to do exactly what you are talking about.

Yellow Mountain Imports Chinese Mahjong (Mah Jong, Mahjongg, Mah-Jongg, Mah Jongg, Majiang) Set with Numbered Tiles, Accessories, and Wood Veneer Case, Champagne Gold https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002Q8UR3Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_q1RSBbT22MC2Q

The tiles are huge compared to the YMI Riichi sets, but they are beautiful.

That's what a junk mat is. A plastic ridge fitted onto a mat so that you can make a table lip with a nice padded surface for playing on. When you buy one it comes with both.

Also, they sell specific tables with the lip built in. You can find both on Amazon.

Edit: Here's the link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017KHW3A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_a32FDbPMCHBG0

I bought this since I only play riichi online but Filipino, SBR, and HKOS with friends and family in real life. They need numerals to read the tiles:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07792WM5V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/Mahjong-mat-junk-japan/dp/B0017KHW3A/ Sukiyaki Japan (via Amazon) is offering free shipping to the US. Not sure if they're doing the same for New Zealanders but if they are this is a pretty good price.

Sorry for the late answers, was away and didn't check reddit.

Okay, mats: they are called "junk" mats.

Two kinds: mat between two borders that you roll out and then put the other two edges on, and 4-puzzle-piece mat.

roll pro: nice and flat

roll con: will eventually 'stretch out'.

puzzle pro: cheap and cheap to ship

puzzle con: eventually gets fray-y on the piece edges.



Roll: http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%A4%A7%E6%B4%8B%E5%8C%96%E5%AD%A6-%E9%BA%BB%E9%9B%80%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%83%88-%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%83%88/dp/B0017KHW3A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462492513&sr=8-1&keywords=junk+mat

Puzzle: http://www.amazon.co.jp/Jean-easy-mat-japan-import/dp/B000QUHCEQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1462492539&sr=8-4&keywords=%E9%BA%BB%E9%9B%80%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%83%88

I definitely suggest the roll. just don't lift it with tiles on it.

I quite often play all four hands solitaire. I use a wind dice to track winds+current player (I sometimes get lost on calls or interruptions.) Someone else recommended Michelle Frizzell's youtube channel, you can see how it works there. I've also found I take up a lot less room if I play using Mahjong playing cards, like these.

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Pete

I have this set from yellow mountain. Tiles are tri-color, have English numbers/Letters in the upper right. The box is nice and it comes with betting sticks dice and other minor accessories. Note that it doesn't include the tiles for Western style mahjong (i.e. joker's). 148 tiles.

I recently bought these Alban ones from Amazon.co.jp. There's also some others on there that ship internationally and have decent color range.

Side note: At first I bought some YMI black sticks -- I just wanted to sub in colored 100s as 500s -- and those are bad. Avoid. (Surprising since I like YMI okay overall.)

This set is on Amazon for $40 too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSVCYP1/?coliid=I3VZN5KB9B4C4C&colid=3V8RFSMY7ZJUW&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I've recently bought a Riichi set from YMI on Amazon. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UU129U/ref=cfb_at_prodpg

Note: Take into consideration I'm a new player too.

I got this set which includes the flowers shinkiii mentions, and it's relatively cheap (I think I paid 70€ for getting it in Spain, I imagine in US it would be cheaper). I've played like 10 games with it without a mat and so far no problems. Sizewise they are in the Japanese range but are of the smaller ones.

Jenn Barr describes this (including a points list) in her book, translating it as “wild white dragon”

http://www.amazon.com/Mahjong-mat-junk-japan/dp/B0017KHW3A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462114529&sr=8-1&keywords=junk+mat

Probably the cheapest, that you can get for these.

Here is the link. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RJTVX6M

'Light mats' are available on Amazon JP and are cheaper than Junk mats. They are very similar for the lower price, except that they don't have the little pockets to hold points sticks in the sides.

I use this table: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOZTLOO/

It's cheaper, still large enough for most-to-all mahjong junk mats (though you could even go without thanks to the vinyl inset) and it can be folded for compact storage when not in use.

I also bought 4 matching chairs but regular foldable pipe chairs will be cheaper if you don't care about the chairs matching the table.