Jansou

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Jansou 「雀荘」, known in English as "mahjong parlors", are commercial venues where people can play mahjong. Customers may enter these parlors to play the game at a specific rate.

Useful Info

Payment

• Players pay a specific rate in order to play, either a set amount per game or per hour.
• In addition, games are often played for stakes. There are two major variations on this:
  • Rate/"Free": People earn/lose money based on the amount of points gained, e.g. 100 yen = 1000 points. While gambling is illegal in Japan, because these stakes are so small, law enforcement usually doesn't mind. (Due to the table fee, it is very difficult to make a profit in a commercial jansou.)
    • Often, only 1st place has to pay the table fee, and players from 2nd thru 4th place have to pay out to 1st place. Because 2nd thru 4th don't pay the table fee, they are said to have played "for free", giving this setting the name of "free".
  • No rate: No money is earned from points. Instead, placement determines your table fee - placing 1st/2nd/3rd can give you a discount.
  • Alternatively, there are places where you can rent out a table and just pay by the hour/game.

Playing

• Knowledge of Japanese and the rules of Japanese mahjong are obviously important. At the absolute minimum, being fluent at one or the other is critical. If you don't know or aren't fluent in Japanese, try to look for more new player-/foreigner- friendly venues. If you don't know Japanese and don't know mahjong, don't enter.
  • If you have only played mahjong online, note the differences in gameplay. You are expected to take your turn quickly, which may be faster than you are used to. There are no automatic prompts to call chii/pon/riichi, and you'll need to know your winning tiles yourself. Also, unless the place is particularly friendly to new players, you should know how to score hands quickly. If you can't play quickly (online client's 5s/turn is just barely acceptable), then you might not be allowed to play at a jansou.
• As with any place where you can play mahjong physically, you should have good manners. See Etiquette in mahjong for more details.
• For venues with rate mahjong, you can expect an "average" player to be around 5-dan (Master 3 in Majsoul). So don't think you are a mahjong genius just because of your online mahjong ranking.

Game Rules

• Most jansou use ari-ari rules (including 3 red fives), though the rules can obviously vary.

External links

• Tokyo Jansou Experience