Mahjong
I received the following enquiry about some of the Japanese mahjong sets on my website:
I’m interested in buying a Japanese Mahjong set, but I’m not a connoisseur. I would like to know the differences in terms of quality between The Take Mahjong Set, the Standard Japanese Mahjong Set and the Green Tile Mahjong Set, as I’m not fond of the diamond-like little jewel in the Take set, but have read good reviews of it.
I’ve also heard about Sango Mahjong Set but I haven’t seen it in your online shop…
Pierre
My reply:
Hi Pierre,
The key difference between the Take Mahjong Set and the Standard and Green Tile Mahjong sets is the shape of the tile-backs. The Take set has flatter backs for easy wall-stacking. The other sets have more traditional slightly-rounded backs that imitate the shape of the traditional bamboo-backed tiles of yesteryear.
To tell you the truth, “wall stacking” is not a problem with any set, so if you don’t like sets with embedded diamond tiles, I suggest you
choose either the Standard Mahjong Set or the Green Tile Mahjong Set.
The Standard Mahjong set I sell on my site is basically the “Sango” tiles in a cheap box. I can get you a Sango set if you wish, but it
costs about $35 more, and the box is not really much better quality! The TILES are the same.
The faces of the Green tiles are the same design as the Sango/Standard set. The tile backs are green (of course!), and the tiles are a little
heavier.
All sets are shipped by Express Mail Service from Japan.
Hope that helps you make a decision.
Best wishes,
David Hurley
I have just added two more sets of mahjong score sticks to the Mahjong Tenbo listings. So, now, as well as standard white score sticks, multi-coloured and black mahjong tenbo are available. There are 97 sticks in each set.
Multi-Coloured Japanese Mahjong Score Sticks
Black Mahjong Score Sticks
Yes folks, it’s here!
The “White Tiger” Japanese mahjong set, produced by Taiyo Chemicals Japan Inc, is possibly the world’s most environmentally friendly mahjong set because the mahjong tiles are made of recycled PET. PET, or “polyethylene terephthalate”, is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used most notably to produce soft drink bottles.
The White Tiger Mahjong Set
So what is the set like?
The White Tiger tiles (above) compared to a Sango Mahjong tile (below)
The first thing I noticed when I opened the box is that the colour of the tiles is a pleasing pale cream, or restrained off-white, rather than the almost flouescent white of standard Japanese mahjong tiles.
The second thing that struck me was the size of the characters on the tile faces. The tiles themselves are a little larger than standard Sango tiles, and the characters are also very bold, which makes the tiles very easy to read, so good for anybody with weak eyes.
White Tiger Mahjong Tiles: Winds, Dragons, Red 5s
White Tiger tiles are bigger across the face, but a little thinner than standard tiles. They have black backs and no side "notch".
The tiles measure 26 x 19 x 15mm and each tile weighs 16g, which makes them not only wider and higher, but also a little thinner than standard tiles that typically measure 25.5 x 18.6 x 16mm.
The tiles have black backs.
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
$85 (+S&H)
DH
David Hurley
