リーチ麻雀、Japanese style Mahjong. We pronounce it "ma-jyan"and bet.

in English below

麻雀は中国で生まれた組み合わせゲームです。国によってルールが違い同じ国でも地方によって少し違ってくるようです。中国だけでも地方によって何通りかのルールがあるようで、香港、台湾、韓国、ベトナム、シンガポール、タイ日本などで違うルールで遊ばれているようです。アメリカにも独自のルール（ジョーカーがあるらしい）と競技団体があるそうですが、アメリカ人に麻雀やるか？と聞かれたことはないです。ウィキペディアによればオーストラリア、南アフリカ等にもあるらしい。（＊１）統一ルールで世界大会も行われるらしく私も知りませんでした。（＊２）　日本ルールの麻雀はリーチとドラに特徴があるようです。（個人的に面前リーチと鳴きの差、裏ドラが得点に現れないルールではなんともやってられない気持ちになります。）日本ではもちろん麻雀を題材にした漫画もたくさんあり麻雀がプロ競技化されてもいます。プロ競技化については次回書きたいと思います。

私は９０年代に中国の雲南省へ旅した時に欧米人の旅行者が中国の麻雀を覚えてみんなで遊んでいたのに混ざってやっていると、どうも役がなく、なんでも速く上がれば勝ちという全く面白みの薄いゲームをみんな真剣な顔してやっていたのを覚えています。（もちろんお金など賭けていませんでした。）また中国の地方の公園で樹齢数千年に見える巨木の木陰で老人たちが何卓も麻雀を打っている姿を見て何世代も同じところで麻雀を打っているんだと、中国の悠久の歴史を肌で感じたのはとても印象に残っています。私が高校生だった頃同じバイト先の大学生に混ざってやっていた撤マンがやはり日本の麻雀で覚えてることで、母親と弟、家族とも何回もやりました。18才で日本を出てから麻雀をやる機会は全くなく何度か日本に一時帰国した際に数回家族や友達とやったぐらいです。

日本では賭け事がとても人気です。パチンコや競馬を筆頭に多くの日本人は賭け事に時間とお金をかけます。欧米ではカジノ、ビンゴ、スポーツでの賭け事やオンラインポーカーなどありますが日本ほど一般的に人々の日常生活に根差している印象はありません。カジノ（ラスベガスとかは別として）やビンゴといえば高齢者のボケ予防の遊びという印象ではないでしょうか。ビンゴやカジノが老人の健康にいいという研究結果があるという事を読んだ覚えがありますが実際のところはどうでしょうか？老人が家に籠っているよりかはビンゴやカジノに行って知り合いを作って社交的になり、賭け事によるドキドキをしたほうがいいというのは直感的には納得できますが。欧米の賭け事を含め日本のパチンコ、競馬、競輪や競艇などは胴元がいて（公営競技）一般人がカジノや競技にお金を賭けます。しかしながら麻雀は雀荘でやったとしても個人のプレイヤーが個人のお金を張って賭け事を行います。実際日本で個人のお金を賭けるのは違法で犯罪です。ですがお金を賭けない麻雀など日本では個人で誰もやりません。(建前上誰も個人で賭け事はしていません。犯罪者ではありません。）ルール上お金が賭かっているから張り合いがあるのです。次回の記事に書くプロ麻雀は別にして、建前では違法ですが麻雀は市民の一般的な娯楽です。日本で麻雀の賭け事が問題になって事件が起きたなどの報道はかなりまれであるように感じます。友達や家族と持ち合わせのお金の範囲で楽しく自宅などで行う賭け事である麻雀は少なくとも日本では（違法とはいえ、）一般庶民が遊ぶ娯楽です。夫が家事を手伝わないで一晩中帰ってこないでその妻が怒るとか、たばこの副流煙や飲酒，徹夜による健康問題、騒音などはありますが友達同士で行う社交的娯楽として独特のものがあるのではないでしょうか。欧米にも友達の家に集まってポーカーなどをする社交はあるのでしょうが、日本の麻雀ほど一般的なのでしょうか？メキシコで知り合い同士で賭け事などすぐ事件になってしまいそうです。また麻雀は運と確率論、集中力と読みによって勝ち負けが決まる賭博としてとても複雑です。賭けポーカーを一晩中できる人たちがいるのでしょうか？（もちろん中にはいるのでしょうが。）一晩中しても飽きないほどの複雑さ、実力と運両方に左右される賭博性も麻雀の特徴ではないでしょうか（だからいやだという人がいるにしても）。今回私は日本の麻雀が独特の文化だと思うので知らない人に紹介したいと思いました。欧米では友達同士でお金を賭けることはあまりないような気がします。またアジアの諸国の麻雀は日本の文化と似ているのでしょうか？

（＊１）https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

（＊２）https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Mahjong_Championship

　Mahjong is a tile-based game originating from China. Its rules vary across different countries and even within regions of the same country. There are numerous regional rule variations in China alone, along with distinct rules in countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. It seems there is a unique American ruleset involving jokers and are competitive organizations. but I've never been asked by Americans if I play mahjong. According to Wikipedia, Mahjong is played in Australia, South Africa, and other places as well. (*1) I found it surprising to learn about the existence of international tournaments with unified rules. (*2) Japanese Mahjong is characterized by elements such as 'riichi' (declaring one tile short to win to earn more points, but you can't change your hand anymore) and 'dora' (scoring bonus tiles). Personally, I can't imagine playing without features like 'riichi', 'concealed dora', and 'naki' (declaring that one of the other players' discarded tile is part of your hand and open the part of your tiles to show them). In Japan, there are many Mahjong-themed manga, off course, and there are some professional competitive leagues, and tournaments, which I plan to discuss in a future post.

　During a trip to Yunnan, China, in the 1990s, I remember joining some Western travelers in a game of Chinese Mahjong. However, it seemed to lack any specific hands or scoring points - everyone just tried to complete their hands as quickly as possible with serious looks on their faces ,no money was wagered, of course. I also vividly recall giving me a tangible sense of China's long history when I saw elderly people playing mahjong under the shade of giant ancient trees in local parks, as this scene seemed to have been repeated across many generations.

I remember as a high school student, I used to play Japanese Mahjong all night long with university students who were my coworkers at my part time job. I also played Mahjong with my family on a few occasions. After leaving Japan at 18, I had no opportunity to play Mahjong elsewhere, except for a couple of times during brief visits to Japan and played with my family and friends. Gambling is prevalent in Japan, many people spending significant time and money on activities like Pachinko(pinball/slot machine) and horse racing and so on. While gambling like casinos, bingo, sports betting, and online poker exist in the West, it doesn't seem as integrated into daily life for the general public as it does in Japan. Don't casinos (apart from Vegas) and bingo halls give the impression of being activities for preventing dementia in the elderly? I remember reading research suggesting that bingo and casinos can benefit senior health, but I wonder about the reality. It seems better for the elderly to socialize at bingo halls or casinos, get that gambling thrill, and avoid isolation at home. Including Western gambling like casinos, as well as pachinko, horse racing, keirin, (bicycle race) and kyoutei (boat racing) in Japan, these are public gambling that always involves a house or operator that people bet against. With Mahjong, even if played at a parlor, individual players bet their own money against each other. Technically, betting personal money is illegal and a crime in Japan. But nobody in Japan plays mahjong without betting (in theory, nobody is doing this illegal activity). This betting aspect creates the tension that makes the game compelling. Aside from the legal professional mahjong,it is a popular recreational activity despite the illegal betting aspect. Reports of Mahjong gambling leading to problems or incidents seem rare in Japan. Among friends and family, betting within one's spending money in informal home games is seen as a recreational form of gambling. There can be issues like neglecting household responsibilities, health effects of secondhand smoke, drinking and sleep deprivation, noise, etc. but it retains a unique social dynamic among friends. The West has home poker games, but are they as culturally widespread as Japanese Mahjong? In Mexico, a casual gambling game among acquaintances would likely lead to problems very quickly. Mahjong is a uniquely complex form of gambling, where winning and losing are determined by a combination of luck, probability calculation, and concentrated reading ability. I question whether many people could really play high-stakes poker intensively all night without getting bored. (Of course some can, but still.) The depth that allows playing for hours without tiring, combined with blending luck and skill, is also part of what defines Mahjong as a distinctive gambling experience.(for better or worse depending on one's view.) This time, I wanted to highlight the unique cultural status of Japanese Mahjong, as casual gambling among friends doesn't seem as common in the West. I also wonder how similar the Mahjong cultures of other Asian countries are to Japan's.

（＊１）https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

（＊２）https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Mahjong_Championship

I would like to put some links about the rules of the Japanese style mahjong. As I described above even Japanese style has some local rules and local hands(yaku). There are slight differences between different professional leagues and tournaments, so players play differently depending on the leagues’ rules to win. I will put some link for a standard ruleset.

https://mahjong.guide/a-beginners-guide-to-riichi-mahjong/ This is a beginner's guide, and more content is available on the site.

https://mahjong.guide/list-of-articles/ The same site mentioned above also features articles that discuss various situations and tactics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_mahjong_yaku An complete description about hands(yaku) in English and Japanese name