How to Play Japanese Three-Player Mahjong

June 16th 2003 - Introducing Mochizuki-San After a Session at the Gran Via Hotel Beer Garden

Passing over the details of the football match in which seven goals were scored and the game ended "not necessarily to our advantage", as the Emperor of Japan put it in August 1945, we arrive with some celerity at the Lang School party held at the beer garden on the roof of the Gran Via Hotel.

David, in his capacity as once-a-week Assistant Language Teacher at a Junior High School somewhere near Miyajima had invited the Japanese staff to join him and the rest of Lang School at the beer garden. At least, he had invited those members of staff who had expressed an interest in playing mahjong, particularly the ones who had not played it for a couple of decades...

He was therefore delighted when Mr Mochizuki, the senior English teacher, and Mr Naito arrived at the beer garden. Mr Mochizuki said that whether or not he played mahjong depended on how much booze he had drunk by the end of the party. Mr Naito merely chuckled. Nevertheless, by the end of the party it was Mr Naito who made his excuses and headed for the exit and Mr Mochizuki who was keen and eager to play.

There was a brief interlude of doubt when Mrs Mochizuki telephoned to say that a geriatric had escaped from the care home where she works and that she and the rest of the staff were out hunting her down. It looked as if Mr M would have to go home and look after the kids... But then a second phone call brought relief to all when Mrs M reported that the escapee had been apprehended. One person's freedom is another's imprisonment it seems, or vice versa.

Thus it was that Ray, Tim, David and Mr Mochizuki headed off to Yokogawa to join Jaime at his apartment for a game of mahjong. Paul was coming along too but became tangled up in an affair with Mei-the-secretary's red hat and with Mei-Chan in hot pursuit he fell out of our party.

Just one game was played tonight. Mr Mochizuki was not familiar with the three-player game and attempted an illegal Chi for which he was forgiven. He went Tenpai several times and won a hand or two but fell asleep on the tatami half way through so Tim gamely looked after his tiles for him.

After it was all over Mr M was down -30, Jaime -17, while Ray was up +1 and David on +47. In short, Mr Mochizuki was down but neither out nor disgraced and went home cheerfully anticipating the next encounter.

For his part, Tim led David back into town towards Cat Girl's bar and from there to the fag-end of Jamming Bar's anniversary party, where they encountered Yasu.. But what happened after that has no business appearing on this page which is, after all, supposed to be all about mahjong.

June 15th 2003 - Paul Bradbury Turns Skinhead and Plays Mahjong at Rakurakuen

Then at a suitable moment, i.e. after about six beers had gone down the hatch, David produced his set of clippers and set about Paul's statuesque bonce with a certain cheerful gusto. Until this evening far too many people had noticed a certain resemblence between Paul with his ginger curls and a certain other fellow whom it would be meet to leave unnamed.

An attempt was made to cut all the curls away save a bushy swastika in the middle, but David's technique was all awry and Paul was left for a while with a sort of lopsided stick man instead, until a more comprehensive sally with the clippers revealed Paul to be that skinhead lager-lout football hooligan we had always suspected him to be beneath the bespectacled curly-haired choristor look that he had hitherto sported...

But I digress. After David had also administered the clippers to his own poll the mahjong set was ceremoniously produced, the baby dispensed with and more beer served up.

As this was merely a practice game no gambling took place. This also allowed David to scoot round to inspect Paul's hand from time to time to see what was going on, and administer some vague advice, but not too much and not too often for the old boy pretty soon got the idea and completed several hands without any further assistance.

Mrs H sort of played along quiety by herself, neither giving much away nor claiming much from the others.

The game over, Mrs H retired, and the hooligans pulled the remaining cans from the bulk-buy box and saw in the morning with them, by which time the Hiroden tram that would take Paul back into town and home to bed had started running again.

June 14th 2003 - David Driven to Distraction

This week there were four players, namely Noda, Ray, Yasu and David. Jaime was also present but as an observer rather than a player.

All began quietly enough, with Noda, Ray and Yasu playing a game while awaiting David (who was busy with a bowl of Yasai Ramen in Bizenya, the noodle shop on the corner close to Akadenawa).

In the second game, with Noda as boss and already having racked up a couple of Tenbou, David got to Tenpai on a 1-Bamboo or 4-Bamboo wait and went Riichi. Meanwhile, Jaime was enlarging upon the latest gossip and David found himself taking more note of that than of the table. Yasu, sat to David's right, had thrown out the 1-Bamboo previous to David's going Riichi. After David had gone Riichi Yasu tossed out a tile and nothing much seemed to have changed. Noda swiftly drew a 9-Character and discarded it. David then went to draw a tile, while still following the line of Jaime's gossip, but noticed that the tile Yasu had thrown out was ANOTHER 1-Bamboo and that he had missed his chance to go Ron and put an end to Noda's turn as Oya and had commited a major Chombo...

DOH!!!!

Needless to say loss was compounded upon loss as Noda then proceeded to rack up several more Tenbou and was one away from Parenchan when he was finally knocked off his perch.

Somewhere along the line Yasu also managed a superbly inept Chombo by mistaking the 6-Bamboo for the 7-Bamboo and going Riichi before he had reached Tenpai, which helped cheer up the still fuming David. Were these two fat-heads drunk? Not at all, my good Sir. You presume too much; neither had had more than a small bottle of Asahi Dry by this stage of the evening in the jansou and the case suggests that they would have been the better for it if they had.

For a while Yasu, who was tanking, offered his seat to Jaime who played for him for a while while Yasu looked on and commented upon his apparently unorthodox methods. Unorthodox they may have been, but they seemed to work. Another case of Jammy Jaime perhaps? Yasu said "You should have done such and such." To which Jaime offered the unanswerable reply, "But I didn't and it worked."

Anyway, David ended the second game way down in score and spirits, on -79, handing most of his losses to Noda, who followed a comfortable +36 in the first game with a hefty +73 win in the second. By now, Ray was wallowing in the mire, but Yasu had hauled himself onto dry land (was that his boot that David felt on his head, somewhere beneath the surface?)...

After that Noda gave back over forty points over the next two games, Yasu also shed 21 points and Ray got himself out of the mire, at one stage almost giving himself a boost with one of his famous Suuanko hands, except that he was pipped at the post. David also sought a way back, reaching Tenpai with Kokushimusou, but he had to throw a 4-coins out to stay in contention - just what Noda was waiting for! Then on David's last turn as Oya he began to rack up the Tenbou, but once again gave away the winning tile when Tenpai - the 9-Bamboo to Yasu who had a hidden Honitsu hand that chewed into David's winnings for the last game and ensured that he ended the evening the only loser.

June 11th 2003 - Like Crusoe, We Are Not Alone On This Island...

I'm here doing the English teaching thing. And there were two other ALTs who were interested in playing mahjong. Finding a fourth person is always a pain. So we ended up playing a 3 player game. Your page was quite helpful!

May 30th 2003 - Jaime's 28th Birthday...

It turns out that Ray has been practising (his mahjong, I mean). He has recently signed up to a Japanese 3-player mahjong website called mj.giganet.net. However, all his illicit practice appeared to have been in vain tonight because he reached last Oya without winning a single hand while Master and Jaime seemed to be sitting pretty.

BUT then Ray struck! He completed his first hand of the evening, tossed aside his Yakitori tessera and promptly completed five more hands in a row, turning the tables on Master and Jaime to finish on +49. Jaime ended the game on -12, Master on -27. Thus it was that Ray was able to subsidise his adventures at the izakaya with the cash that he had won at the jansou.

Meanwhile, at the other table, David racked up a win of +41 against Yasu and Noda, with Yasu bearing the brunt of the punishment. In the next game, however, Noda-san replied with a win of +44, with Yasu once again bearing the brunt of the damage.

Jaime joined them for the third and fourth game. In the third game Jaime came top on +39, but this time there was only one loser - David dived to a miserable -53, which put him firmly in the red.

But the heaviest loss of the evening was yet to come. In the fourth and final game David recovered with a win of +48 and Noda came in second on +27. This time it was Jaime who suffered, ending up (or rather, down) on -69, with his Yakitori tessera still stuck on the table.

Earlier in the day David had bought a present for Jaime on behalf of his mates; a mahjong mat for the times when we play mahjong at Jaime's flat. Ray brought the mat to the parlour, where we left it for the night. The mat was in a box so although Jaime saw the box he did not immediately twig that it was his present. Master agreed to keep the mat at Akadenwa for David to pick up that evening (Saturday) to present to Jaime at his birthday dinner.

Anyway, we broke up at about 1:30 a.m., leaving Master and a couple of his pals who were playing a game around the middle table. David and Jaime set their faces towards the Nagarekawa to celebrate Jaime's being 28. The party got under way at Cat Girl's bar (Chew Me) and continued later that morning in Mac, with Cat Girl herself attaching herself to us and also the remnants of her bar, including a well endowed Chinese girl of uncertain virtue and over whom it perhaps behoveth me to cast a veil. Suffice it to say that the dancing was frenetic and Jaime's birthday was already one third through by the time Jaime himself conked out back at his flat in Yokogawa.

Twelve hours later and the lads were gathering at the teppan-yaki restaurant on the second floor of Shocking City, a yatai-mura near Akadenwa; a party of nine, all but two of whom play, or have played, mahjong:

• Jaime (UK) - a mahjong regular, noted for his sneaky play.
• Noda-san (Japan) - our exalted mahjong teacher.
• Tim (USA) - an occasional player who, when he does play, is always relieved when he stops.
• Ray (Ireland) - a mahjong regular, currently on a winning streak, who sometimes plays in secret.
• Don (UK) - a retired player.
• Oliver (UK) - an occasional observer rather than a player; a commentator upon life's rich pageant.
• Simon (UK) - an occasional player when circumstances permit.
• John (UK) - I cannot categorically state that he does not play, but I have not seen him play mahjong.
• David (UK) - a mahjong regular who plays as much as he can.

After dining at Shokkin City, Jaime led Tim, Ray, Don, John and David to Kulcha. He then led Tim, Ray and David to Alcoholiday to cash in some drink coupons that were about to expire. He then led the said party to Mac where John was found again losing himself in the corner. Next stop? The inevitable pop-across to Cat Girl's where Tim engaged himself with the company of a certain lady and Jaime went on a trip to Cathay or somewhere.

May 23rd 2003 - Ray's Run Stays Running

However, Ray recovered in the second game to wipe out most of his losses in the first game. David also finished ahead and Yasu bore the brunt of the losses.

Noda collected his winnings and went home after the second game as he had to get up even earlier the next morning than he usually gets up.

Ray, Yasu and David played two more games and Ray was top dog in both games, confounding Noda's advice by going Riichi on Kanchanmachi waits (i.e. waiting for the middle tile of a run-of-three).

Yasu seemed to have caught a cold as he erupted in sneezes every couple of minutes, which must have been a severe distraction to his game.

David abstained from beer and ploughed through the evening on a diet of cola, which didn't do him much good.

In one hand the Mekuri Pai was Haku (White Dragon), making the bonus tile Hatsu (Green Dragon). David had held on to one Hatsu tile for much of the hand, but needed to get rid of it and the 3-Coins to make his hand Tenpai. He got rid of the Hatsu and Ray promptly claimed it by declaring Pon! to gain three Dora, a set of Green Dragons and (unbeknown to the other two) a Tenpai hand. David then picked a tile from the wall that made his hand Tenpai and so he tossed the 3-Coins, only to hear Ray cry"Ron!". With the benefit of hindsight David realized that had he thrown the two tiles in reverse order, i.e. 3-coins followed by Hatsu he would have avoided getting stung, although Ray would have still claimed the Pon and been Tenpai too...

It was only in the last game that Yasu finished in the black, and then a mere three points to the good, not enough to compensate for four games in the red. If you look closely at the score sheet you will notice that it is somewhat creased as if angry hands had crumpled it up in disgust at the end of the evening; those hands were Yasu's.

Meanwhile Ray took his winnings and was able to walk home with some of it jangling in his pocket even after squaring his accounts with Master. So Ray emerges as top dog for the second Friday running, and we note that he ended the last mid-week session in the black, and the Friday before that he broke dead even.

Could this be a dawning of a new era? Are the hours spent watching mahjong on t.v. beginning to pay off?

Noda left after the second game; Yasu paid Noda ¥1,530 and struck 51 points off his tally to begin the 3rd game on -10.
However, by the end of the evening his score stood at -27 (i.e. a total of -78).
Yasu crumpled up the score sheet in disgust.

May 16th 2003 - Jaime's Wallet Shipwrecked

Master relinquished the table and Jaime, despite saying that he was broke and would have a "quiet night" sailed in just in time to slot into the fourth seat for the second game, although I understand that it was WOMAN and not Mahjong that had lured him siren-like into town and onto the rocks of wallet-emptying loss at the gaming table.

Apparently Jaime was Tenpai on numerous occasions but pipped at the post each time. David also got clobbered by Noda who had anticipated that his throwing of a 6-Bamboo, then a 5-Bamboo would be followed by a 4-Bamboo (which was indeed the case). By discarding the 4-Bamboo David got himself to Tenpai on a Honitsu hand, but it signified nothing because Noda, on seeing him discard the 4-Bamboo, declared "Ron!".

A while later Jaime went Riichi. Noda discarded safely. David found his hand was Tenpai with a 4-Coins " Kanchanmachi wait (i.e. waiting for the middle tile of a run-of-three). However, since Jaime had already discarded the 1-Coins and 7-Coins it seemed a reasonable bet that Noda would at some point discard the 4-Coins. Whether he would do so before Jaime completed his hand was a moot point. But as luck was not with Jaime tonight the gamble seemed worthwhile and so David declared Riichi. Jaime did not complete his hand on the next tile, and Noda promptly threw out the 4-Coins and David nearly jumped off his chair in declaring Ron!! The cunning ruse had worked.

The evening ended when Ray went Riichi and David, thinking he was playing safe but actually misreading the tiles, threw out just the tile that Ray was waiting for (5-Bamboo) and had to hand him over 20,000 points worth of Tenbou score sticks. As a result Ray was top for the evening, pipping David to the post by one point.

The party broke up and Jaime and David whiled away the rest of the night watching Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

May 14th 2003 - The Clatter of Tiles

As there is no obligation to participate in the game Tim and Paul abstained therefrom, and sat themselves upon the couch, presiding over the evening like a couple of cherubs in a Rubinesque tableau, or perhaps after the very manner of Bacchus himself and his consort.

The game was accompanied by the noise of tiles clattering on the bare kotatsu top because Jaime has not yet acquired a new mahjong mat. There is much debate as to what happened to the mat that the late, lamented Allan Jenkins bequeathed him. It seems that Jaime left it at his former apartment when he departed Hiroshima in the Year of Grace 2001. It was one of a number of portable properties that were left for the edification of the new tenant, Oliver, who occasionally graces these pages himself, and who was returning, as many do, to Hiroshima for a second innings at Lang Education Centre. However, Oliver does not know anything about the said mahjong mat and tells us that it is not among the rest of Jaime's former properties that still, two year's later, sit in a big pile on Oliver's kitchen floor. It is a mystery.

Hence the noise. Mind you, in his day Allan was quite capable of making more noise banging tiles down on mock-baize mahjong mats, or the tables of Akadenwa, than we could do on the bare surface of Jaime's kotatsu. Nevertheless, to bring a tile down with a crash on a bare table top affords a pleasing release to the frustration that this game often induces. David spent much of the evening banging the tiles.

David was sat with his back to the television. Jaime put on his James Bond DVD, "You Only Live Twice". At one point David was confident of finishing, especially if he could go Pon with Hatsu (Green Dragons). Then somebody passed an appreciative comment about Karin Dor, who was busy torturing Sean Connery behind David's back. So David screwed his head around to have a look until somebody told him it was his turn to play. When he turned back to the game he found that Jaime had discarded a Hatsu tile and Ray had played on and discarded a tile from his hand too, leaving David high and dry.

The clattering continued for a while longer, and the final results were:

May 9th 2003 - From Outrageous Chombo to Outstanding Oya

David turned up a while later and joined in the second game. It started badly for him as he, seeking to get rid of his Yakitori, executed a most foolish Chombo. Having got himself into a nice position with two sets of Dragons he went Kan on another set of three and YET AGAIN forgot, somehow, to take the extra tile from the back of the wall. Still engaged with his bowl of Yasai Ramen he did not notice that his hand now consisted of THREE heads! So he declared Ron! when Yasu supplied one of the tiles he thought he was waiting for, only for the sordid truth to be revealed when he attempted to calculate his score.

However, there was a dramatic reversal of fortune when David became Oya in the South round. He managed to survive nine hands. The game stretched itself out interminably; sometimes David completed another hand, sometimes nobody completed a hand at all. Eventually David, seeking to complete a hand with the Red Dragons and Coins gave away the 8-bamboo, which was just what Ray was waiting for to go out on a Honitsu hand of his own. It was agreed that the 20,000 points that Yasu owed David be transferred to Ray to cover David's fine.

Once again Ray was Tenpai on a Suuanko hand, but Yasu pipped him to the post.

By now, Jaime had arrived, so he and Yasu made up a second table with Master. They whipped through three games while Ray, Noda and David played at a more sedate pace and completed just one game.

Yasu and Master won and lost alternate games, but both won more than they lost. Ray did well in the first two games he played and then gave it away in the second to end back on zero. Noda went in the other direction to do likewise. David shed a large chunk of his earlier winnings in the final game, but still came out top dog for the evening. Only Jaime attained any consistency, but not of a desirable sort for he found himself to be at the bottom of the pile by the end of the evening.

May 2nd 2003 - Noda and Yasu Seesaw; Ray Pivots

So, at the end of the evening, Noda was way up, Yasu way down, Ray fair-to-middling, giving up just a few yen to Noda at the end of the evening.

There were no other players present tonight and Master did not play.

April 29th 2003 - 2nd Game of Mahjong at Rakurakuen

Andy Lightfoot Wins a Hand!

It was agreed that there would be no gambling in this game because there was a distinct home advantage. Nevertheless, despite numerous enquiries from Andy about the "Pon rule, it cannot be said that he was totally at sea at all times and in every instance. Beered up to some extent and a little merry, maybe, but not so far off shore as to notice that he was Tenpai with a hidden set of three White Dragons which gave him the right to go Ron without having to declare Riichi. Nor, when David threw out the 8-coins, did Andy fail to notice that that was one of the two possible tiles he needed to complete his hand. He let out some sort of strangled yell to announce to the Hurleys that something had happened.

Before

After

Mrs. H. Wins the Game

The third game was abandoned to allow Andy to get home before it got very dark and thus he was able to sneak out before Mrs. H. had thoroughly emptied his tray.

Both the Hurleys finished the game ahead, with Mrs. H. taking first place. Andy Lightfoot finished down but chipper, and since he swiped a brolly on his way out he was, in one sense, the only one to finish the evening with anything to show for it!

April 28th 2003 - Unscheduled Tetsuman Training for Richard at Akadenwa

Anyway, for old times' sake, and also because they were starving, David and Jaime headed to Kemby's for a plate of pasta and a quiet beer.

However, as the night was yet young it would have been rude not to have popped into Kulcha for a quick refresher, so off they went, David in his LUFC shirt and Jaime in his MUFC shirt, only to find that it was shut. Onwards lads! As long as we don't end up in Mac or ChewMe all will not be lost!

David suggested they try The Shack as he had not been there yet. Who should be propping up the bar in there but Richard. You can't go to any bar in this city these days without bumping into Richard. There he was, engaged in pleasant conversation with a Japanese couple until he came over to make up a party with LUFC and MUFC.

David and Jaime took him to Molly Malone's where the waitress failed to get the drinks orders right, twice in succession. Richard was very nice to a group of girls but, as Jaime pointed out, still failed to get their phone numbers. They didn't seem too keen on joining us in a cosy game of mahjong around Jaime's kotatsu either. The serve-all-purposes excuse of "We must work tomorrow" was wheeled out. Come to think of it now, so did Richard have to "work tomorrow" as part of his punishment for failing to turn up to work the morning after our last night out on town, but that is another story.

Anyway, we were heading back to Yokogawa with the intention of a quiet evening of mahjong, further training for Richard as it were, when we popped into Akadenwa for a quiet beer to see us home with. However, the "quiet beer" swiftly turned into a matter of "Now we're here we might as well have a game". It just so happened that Master had finished a game with some departing customers and he seemed eager to join us. We agreed to gamble at a nominal rate of 10 yen per 1000 as the game was to all intents and purposes a "training session" for Richard. That was perhaps the most insightful decision we made all evening. I forget the details of the game, which involved some sort of huffing and puffing on Jaime's part on account of Richard's luck or banter or something or other, but anyway, by six o'clock in the morning it involved each of us paying Master 500 yen on top of the bill although I believe Master gamely returned Richard's coin to him.

Jaime and David strolled back to Yokogawa along the river where they were passed by African joggers and locals out with their dogs who all seemed to assume that LUFC and MUFC were up early for a bit of sport.

April 27th 2003 - 1st Game of Mahjong at Rakurakuen

Jaime came over to David and Mrs. David Hurley's place today and played a quiet game of 3-player mahjong. The perfect moment to introduce Little Eileen Lois to the game, although the sound of the mahjong tiles being shuffled is probably familiar to her since Mrs. H. joined in several games during her pregnancy.

Little E Learns Mahjong

The only concession to the ladies' inexperience was that we played without the Yakitori.

Two games were played. David finished top in both games. In one game Mrs. H. was Tenpai on Kokushimusou but in a bit of a pickle because the tile she needed was North and she had set aside her only North tile as a Dora. Jaime won that particular hand and finished ahead in both games.

However, despite there being two people ahead at the end of play, the only person to walk away with cash in hand was Jaime. It would appear that gambling debts owed to Mr. H. by Mrs. H. are automatically cancelled. It is not clear whether this arrangement is applicable in the opposite direction.

April 25th 2003 - Barnstorming Ray Wins on the Double; Yasu in Double Trouble; Jaime Top.

Ray and Jaime played the first game with Yasu. Ray finished well ahead on +39, Yasu taking the brunt of the attack by finishing on -38. In the second game Ray was again the only winner, +32, with both Yasu and Jaime ending on -16, giving Ray a nice +71 cushion after the two games.

David and Tetsuya hurried over from Kanayamacho where they had had a several beers and a few sticks of kushiyaki. Master joined in and two tables were made up, with Ray, Yasu and Master at one and Jaime, David and Tetsuya at the other...

Once again, Ray was the only winner on his table, this time taking most of his +54 off Tetsuya. Tetsuya had announced that he had come out with just a single 10,000 yen note to his name, a state of affairs which the gods of mahjong take a delight in punishing; Tetsuya didn't finish a single game ahead this evening.

Meanwhile, on the second table Jaime, aiming to reverse his losses on previous evenings at Akadenwa, finished the game the only winner on +56, with David on -25 and Master on -31. However, during the game Master had had a near miss on a very cunning Tanki wait (one tile only). Master had accumulated three sets of winds: E, E, E, S, S, S, and W, W, W. It was an open hand with two sets of winds and another "Pon" showing, with four tiles remaining in his hand. At the end of the game (I forget how it ended!) Master revealed the third set of winds AND a single NORTH tile. He was waiting for a North tile to appear, knowing that if either David or Jaime had taken it from the wall they would have set it to one side as a "Dora", which Master would have claimed by going "Ron!" It was a lucky escape indeed as Shosuushi is a Yakuman hand on the score sheet.

However, the best finish of the evening came from Ray in the fifth round of play against Jaime and Tetsuya. Ray was Oya and promptly declared "Double Riichi" (i.e. declaring Riichi on the first tile played). Jaime discarded safely. Tetsuya attempted to play safely by discarding West, only for Ray to declare "RON!!.

But despite that, Jaime came through to be the only winner on that table in both the fourth and fifth games. He was also the only winner in the sixth game against Ray, Yasu and David. So Jaime was top dog for the evening for the first time since his return to Hiroshima.

Master was the only Japanese player to finish ahead.

Yasu's Yakitori tessera was still on the table at the end of the night's last hand . David was the only player to benefit from BOTH Yasu's misadventures that night, which brought him back up into the money along with Jaime and Ray.

David and Jaime headed down to Kulcha just in time to catch Big Dave Edwards² et al disgorging themselves therefrom, in light of which they found themselves in Mac tripping over Richard who was gazing longingly at a parade of baubled tarts jiggling on the dance floor - until the light metaphorical gave way to the light literal by which time they found themselves to be taking an early morning's repast of ramen and a cleansing beer for the road in a nearby hostelry.

March 28th 2003 - Introducing Richard

He did so she did so. We also think that she did desire so to do too, but at the last moment she looked back, so she didn't.

David was entertaining a few friends at his soon-to-be-relinquished flat as has been his wont to do of a Thursday evening for the past year or so. The new teacher, Richard joined the party.

Jaime had already set up the mahjong table, so he, David and Tim set about teaching Richard the essentials of the game. Richard then went on to win the game.

The party broke up at 7am when David finally conked out on the sofa to the droning sound of Tim giving Richard advice about the old "Eikaiwa" (English language teaching) racket.

Friday
Jaime and Noda were the first to arrive at Akadenwa tonight. That committed Jaime to playing against Noda and Master while David went and collected Richard who was keen to see a bit more of the game.

Jaime found himself being pipped at the post by either Master or Noda every time he went Riichi but managed to claw his way back to finish a few points down. He headed off after the first game to meet his colleagues for beer and karaoke.

Yasu arrived in time for the second game, as did David's Yasai Ramen (vegetables in noodle soup). David therefore suggested that Richard look after his hand while he tucked into his noodles and gave directions as to which tile to discard and so forth. After the bowl had been drained David took over his hand and endeavoured to display the air of a master-player who is about to demonstrate the art of winning against three Japanese players. Indeed, the hand developed rather well, reaching the point of a hidden Dragon and Honitsu Tenpai. Richard's observation that perhaps the hand had been completed just a while back was brushed aside. David then went on the assault with an aggressive Riichi, followed by a victorious declaration of Tsumo, which was followed by a prompt notice from Noda-san that at least one Chombo had been committed - TWO of the tiles David was waiting for had already been discarded.

The Japanese players merrily left David in a hole for a couple of games. But in the third he sprang back into contention by winning several hands through the course of the game, notably by going Ron on a single-tile wait (Jaime style) twice in a row, each time waiting for the three-of-bamboo. He then built a Sho-Sangen Honitsu hand, with Shiro (White Dragon) and a bamboo set open. His constant refrain to Yasu, who was looking over his shoulder during this hand, was

"You've got to believe, Yasu, you've got to believe..."

This was followed up with a Toitoi hand among others that saw David win back the losses he had incurred in the first two games that he played in the evening and walk away from the table with a little cash in hand to subsidize his evening...

The Japanese players stayed on to continue the game, but David joined Jaime in Kemby's and spent the rest of the evening with Dave Edwards¹ trawling the bars down town (Kulcha... Mac... Alcoholiday).

March 21st 2003 - Japanese Spring Victory

Just four of us played on Friday after David was unable to recover from the previous night's/morning's drinking. Due to Friday being a national holiday the other usual suspects had all turned up by 7pm for what turned out to be a topsy-turvey and very long evening.

Three games were played, the first being completed in under an hour ended with a surprised Noda-san realising that Jaime had snatched top-dog status with a sneaky last hand resulting in a Mangan payment (I forget the actual hand). Jaime finishing top for the first time since his return to Hiroshima.

The second of the night proved to be an epic of Homer-esque magnitude. Lasting three and a half hours, it ended with Ray bottom and Yasu taking the bragging rights by some margin. The game`s highlights revolved around a Chombo made by Jaime (who went Riichi but threw the wrong tile out) that resulted in Yasu racking up 11 hakyu tenbo and Jaime at one point staring at a very empty tray and down -110 points. He then recovered with a few one-tile waits [aka a "Jaime Wait" - Ed.] and was very happy to end the game down by only minus 36 points.

At this point, with the witching hour gone the sensible idea would have been to have gone home.... Of course a final game was played. The Japanese again led the points table and Yasu crowned an enriching evening by again finishing top. Ray completed an unwanted hat-trick by finishing bottom for the third time.

A cameo to the evening was being played out on the only other table in play. Master and some associates The loser on that table went home after paying out Y41,000.... Ray suddenly felt bit better at having to pay out only Y2,940.

March 7th 2003 - Jaime Returns and Burns

Welcome back to Akadenwa, Jaime - and thanks for the cash!

Undaunted by the effects of yesterday's party, Jaime, Ray and David met up with Noda-san at Akadenwa. The Johnny-Foreigner Old Guard (David and Ray) finished the first game ahead, while the Johnny-Foreigner-Come-Back-Lately (Jaime) went down to an early loss of minus 27, which turned out to be his best score of the evening... Ray finished ahead dispite committing the very same Chombo that David had committed the previous evening (see Thursday 6th March 2003); Jaime's turn as Oya came to an end and David, sat to his right, got up and made for the drink-cooler. When he came back it emerged that Ray had assumed that he was Oya and taken 14 tiles instead of 13... Perhaps demanding the penalty was a bit harsh, but a clear precedent had only recently been set!

It seems that Tetsuya's snooze did him good because he emerged as the only winner at the middle table. Then again, David also emerged from the realms of Knackeredom to finish top in every game. It must be admitted, however, that Jaime, who hasn't played for a while, was rather generous in giving away tiles. He was especially galled by his very last giveaway, in the last hand of the final game. Jaime went Riichi with the 3-Bamboo - and David went Ron! on an open Haku (White Dragon) and Bamboo Honitsu hand; naturally, the 3-Bamboo was the only tile he was waiting for to finish... In the second game, with David as Oya and four Hyaku-Tenbou racked up, the stakes were getting higher. David was Tenpai when Ray cried Tsumo!... Got you, you *#@@*￣#!!" or words to that effect, and turned over his tiles to reveal that, yet again, he had completed Suuanko.

Ray gets rid of his Yakitori with Suuanko.

Thursday 6th March 2003 - Double Champagne Celebration

Tim and Don were also present. Half way through the game we paused to open some champagne and toast the birth of Don Fowler's baby, Nathaniel, and Jaime's return...

The party broke up several hours after sunrise.

February 28th 2003 - Regression to the Mean (Noda Wins)

This was an evening free of Chombo and Yakitori penalties.

David came top in the first game, quite remarkable since he spent much of it slurping on Ramen in the short intervals between his turns. His best hand was a combination of double Iipeko with Tanyao.

Then Noda broke through in the second game, after which we changed seats for the third game.

That was Ray's game. In the most notable hand of the game Noda was threatening to go out on an open Toitoi hand. Having gone Pon three times, Noda discarded a 7-Coins. Ray declared "Ron!" and revealed a Chinitsu hand (all one suit, with no Winds or Dragons).

Ray's Chinitsu - "Ron!" pips Noda's Toitoi Pon attack...

Noda pays Ray.

February 21st 2003 - Ray's Day

Something happened. Ray broke his own record by amassing 207 points by the end of the evening (see 21st September 2001 for the report of Ray's previous record victory).

Even after paying for dinner and the parlour fee, Ray still had some winnings in his pocket as he walked home.

February 14th 2003 - David and Yasu Both Get Suuanko; Noda's Second Yakitori of the Month

Yasu, who's presence tonight was in doubt, especially after a typically enigmatic telephone conversation between him and David, rolled up for the second game, which he proceeded to dominate, coming out the only winner on +59. Noda ended bottom, with his Yakitori on the table. It is the second week running that Noda has failed to win a single hand in a game. Tonight's Yakitori mitigated the pain for Ray and David who were both by now navigating the Red Sea.

However, towards the end of the second game Tetsuya made a sudden appearance. Master agreed to join us and so we made up two tables for the third and final game. Tetsuya, Ray and David took their seats at the middle table. Ray and David relieved not to be at the same table as Master after his recent winning form.

David was the starting Oya and ended the opening hand by going Tsumo and revealing Suuanko. Despite Tetsuya challenging every hand by going Riichi, David managed to keep racking up the Tenbou. When Tetsuya went out in the fifth game it turned out that he had committed a Chombo by neglecting to collect two Yaku necessary for Ryanshi. (Two Yaku are needed to finish after four hands have been played with no change of Oya.)

Finally, in the first Oya's seventh hand Tetsuya went Riichi and David, himself Tenpai, gave away the winning tile.

By this time Yasu had claimed Suuanko on the other table and they had almost finished their first game (game no. 3 on the score sheet).

No sooner had Ray become Oya than David completed another hand. Play continued pretty much in this manner until the end of the game. To cap it all for Ray, he ended with his Yakitori on the table.

7th February 2003: Ray Discovers "Up, Down, Up" Is Better Than "Down, Up, Down"!

However, it was an inauspicious start for David. As first Oya he was keen to make the early running, went Riichi and then claimed Tsumo on the 2-bamboo only to discover that the tile he had claimed was NOT the one he needed. It had been, but it was not now! So David racks up his second early evening Chombo ot the year.

Ray then went on a winning run and ended the first game well ahead.

Unable to believe his luck, Ray prophecied disaster for himself and in the second game his good form deserted him.

Yasu joined us for the second game and he proceeded to go off at a gallop again, just as he had done the previous week, and finished the game with a commanding lead.

Noda ended the game with his Yakitori still on the table.

However, in the third game Ray's and Yasu's fortunes reversed. Ray came storming back into contention and finished the evening as top dog, winning more than enough cash to cover his jansou bill. David crept into the black and claimed second place, his position bolstered by Noda's Yakitori fine.

Yasu Goes for Shosuushi

David wants to claim hidden Chun-kan and set aside his Dora-pai, but...

...Yasu isTenpai on Shosuushi.

The problem for Ray and David was that IF the hidden tile were the North Wind Yasu would be able to go Ron should either Ray or David set it aside as a bonus tile (North Wind is a bonus tile in the 3-player game). Yasu would then score Yakuman (32,000 points) plus a 50% Oya bonus - 48,000 points in total.

Despite their doubts as to whether Yasu was actually waiting for the North Wind, neither Ray nor David set aside a North Wind bonus tile (Dora). David wanted to claim a hidden Chun-kan and set aside a North Wind Dora on a hand that was set up for completion - but he did not take the risk.

Then, with just a few tiles remaining in the wall, Yasu discarded his remaining tile and kept the one he took from the wall... Ray and David continued to discard safe tiles, played out the game and happily paid Yasu 1,000 points each for No-Ten. Yasu revealed his remaining hidden tile - it was indeed the North Wind Dora! Yasu was held at bay.

Here is the score sheet for the evening:

As there were four of us at one table, Master did not play tonight.

31st January 2003 - Master is Top Dog on His First Anniversary

Yasu rolled in half way through the game and sat chortling at David's blunders, particularly the "unnecessary Riichi blunder" whereby you go Riichi even though you have sufficient Yaku to reach Mangan without going Riichi. The other players then proceeded to play safe and safely played out the hand.

The jansou was quite busy tonight, with two other tables in play. Nevertheless, Master joined Yasu and David at the bog-side table, while Ray, Noda and Tetsuya continued playing at the middle table.

Within about 20 minutes of play Master and Yasu had completed several hands leaving David down and out with his Yakitori tessera still on the table. He fared little better in the next two games, with Master seldom declaring Riichi but often going out. David only recovered some pride in the final game, ending top, but on -54 for the whole evening (five games). Yasu held his own, ending marginally ahead in his first, second and fourth game, but he ended on -30 in the third game and so ended up on -24 for the evening. Master ended the evening on +96 and so was the evening's overall winner.

Meanwhile on Ray's table, Noda, who had gone down -15 in the first game, forged ahead to finish top in the second and fourth game. He was also up +10 in the third game that was won by Ray. Noda finished on +66.

So only Master and Noda finished the evening ahead. The final results were:

In short, senior Japanese players won, junior Japanese players lost a little and Johnny Foreigner came bottom of the heap.

24th January 2003 - Yasu Gets Tenhoo

After three games Ray was up about +50 and gunning for the top spot. However, in the fourth game Yasu racked up 12 100 tenbou. Then, at the beginning of the 13th game with Yasu as Oya, Yasu set began by setting aside a dora-pai from his hand, drew a tile off the back of the wall to replace it - and then announced "Tsumo!".

When the Oya goes "Tsumo!" without having discarded a single tile, he scores triple Yakuman. The Yaku is called "Tenhoo". This is the first time Tenhol has been claimed by anybody in our circle.

Yasu's total income from the table for that one hand amounted to:

Triple Yakuman Oya Tsumo = 96,000 points, plus 12,000 points from each player (for the twelve 100-tenbou) = 120,000 points altogether, which I believe is the highest amount any player in our group has ever received for a single hand.

17th January 2003

Yasu came top again. Noda went down. Ray went a long way down and clawed some of it back at the end - but not enough!

10th January 2003 - Gyooza Teishoku Chombo

Tonight, your humble 3pmj news reporter had his first stroke of genius of 2003: Gyooza Teishoku!! (fried dumplings with other dishes included).

Suddenly food and play could be brought into some approximation of beautiful harmony. Pick up a tile; plonk it in your hand; discard a tile; pick up your chopsticks; swipe a gyooza dumpling; stick it in your mouth; put down the chopsticks; "My turn is it?" OK, pick up a tile... etc.

The only small drawback to this strategy was that it earned David the ignominy of committing the first Chombo of the year. All was going well, David was nice and ready to go out, declared Riichi, went Tsumo, didn't know what Noda-san was talking about when he said "Chombo" - until he looked at his discard pile... Damn!

The three of us, Ray, Noda and David, plodded through the game and were joined by Yasu for a second. Yasu began to clean up. David scarpered while he was still ahead after the second.