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Mahjong Fights for New Image
"Mahjong is a family game," says Hiroaki Kinoshita, Chairman of Zensouren, a nationwide federation for owners of mahjong parlors. The stocky Chairman tries hard to make this image stick. The federation has a cute new mascotte, a beautiful Mahjong Queen, and organizes annual mahjong competitions among university students.
The ultimate in image building is now afoot. Later this year the very first Mahjong World Championships are planned. Right now it doesn't look good. The championships were scheduled to take place in Ningbo in rural China. Apparently Beijing was unhappy with the image of China this rural setting would give to the outside world and called the competition off last month. Shanghai is now rumored to be in talks as replacement. But Japanese officials, wary of unexpected surprises, have already reserved a hotel in Tokyo, close to the head office of Takeshobo Co., Ltd., the largest publisher of mahjong magazines and owner of one of only two mahjong museums in the world. A well-informed source tells iKjeld.com that it is "90 percent certain" that the world championships will take place in Japan.
Regardless of these championships taking place at all, Chairman Kinoshita is walking a rocky road. Mahjong, which was introduced to Japan about a hundred years ago, is strongly associated among the general populace with crime and gambling. An association that was strengthened in September 2001 when a terrible explosion ripped through a Tokyo mahjong parlor. The resulting fire killed 44 visitors in the building, many of them mahjong players. The police was unable to finger the cause of the explosion, but arson was strongly suspected and rumors spoke of crime syndicate connections.
Clearly some mahjong parlors are shady. Managers become unpleasant the moment a reporter asks questions or pulls out a camera. But the thousands of members of Kinoshita's federation dare to differ. They follow strict guidelines that prohibit gambling and often offer classes that attract even young women and housewives. Clearly the federation is on to something.
Japan's modernization since WWII has created cities full of anonymous inhabitants. The 'shita-machi' areas with narrow streets and two storey houses where everybody knows each other have been torn down to make room for huge housing estates where people don't even know their own neighbors. Many feel lonely and lost, bereft of social interaction. Chairman Kinoshita believes mahjong offers hope to these people: "Mahjong is a very social game. Four people sit around a table and have a common subject to talk about. Games can last for hours."
An older businessman at mahjong parlor Four You in Kyoto exemplifies Kinoshita's words: "I always come here when I feel lonely or want to meet someone." He smiles happily when the manager calls him to guide him to a table where he can play. Four You is one of an increasing number of parlors where players can come by themselves. These single players are matched up by the club. Traditionally people visited clubs in groups of four, but that has left out an increasing number of players and mahjong parlors saw their visitor count dive since the eighties.
Some mahjong players just want a cheap place to meet. Japanese restaurants are expensive and customers feel a strong obligation to leave as soon as the plates have been cleared away. At Yotsubashi Club in Osaka a group of five friends meets weekly to play. They are almost all retired managers of large companies who discovered mahjong when they were stationed abroad. "I lived abroad without my wife and children. Mahjong kept me sane," explains one of the players. "It also keeps you on your toes in old age," adds another player. "Mahjong is very good at keeping the brains working."
Mahjong as a means to meet people and to stay mentally fit. With Japan's rapidly aging population, lonely and worried about their faculties, Chairman Kinoshita may soon have more players than he can handle.
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