Riichi Mahjong: The Only Way to Play

by Jenn Barr

Riichi Mahjong—The Only Way To Play introduces the fascinating world of this venerable East Asian game — its background, rules, and strategies. Author Jenn Barr, the first American inducted into the prestigious Japan Professional Mahjong League, turns total beginners into competitors within hours with scores of full-color illustrations, translations of Japanese terms, and personal essays about an American national in Japan and professional Mahjong. Buckle up! Riichi Mahjong is as challenging as it is addictive. Once you start playing, you’ll never want to stop, so you might as well learn from the best.

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 10, 2024

Reviews

[Robert Lugabihl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think there is a lot of good information to be found in the book, especially for beginners. But the books layout especially in digital format seems to be a little jarring. You’ll continually be flipping back and fourth sometimes several pages to reference a chart or something being discussed a couple of pages later. And while something like this would be hard to emulate in a digital format there are some other layout choices that also get in the way. There are several screen shots from several sources used and while I don’t doubt that those clients all have their strengths and weaknesses to go from seeing a screen grab from one and then later another I have to take a second to study what was being shown because each client may look a little different. And lastly the author references things via a personal story quite often but it gets layered around what the chapter was talking about sometimes making it going from a rules centered chapter to a personal chapter and back again and the transition can be jarring. I would have preferred maybe a “quick tip” style hint or comment and then maybe save the story part for afterward or precede each chapter with the story instead. There are a couple of other minor nitpicks which are less of an issue, but on the whole I think the layout and format needed a bit more time in the oven.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really does give you basically everything you would need to build a solid foundation of Riichi mahjong, and I appreciate it for that. I like its accessible terminology and fun tone. I think it's a great entry way for people who aren't as thrilled about the onslaught of Japanese terminology in a lot of English resources.

I need to encourage new players reading this to take it slowly, because if you're going through as quickly as you can read, you're going to be quickly overwhelmed. some of the quizzes are quite difficult, especially if you're new!