Photo: refreshyourstep.com

In the 19th Century it was played with ivory tiles instead of cards, and in this form it is still popular today, although the tiles are plastic.

A mahjong set has three “suits” – circles, bamboo and characters – numbered from 1 to 9. There are four sets of each suit, as well as four sets of four “winds” and three “dragons”. Each player takes a turn selecting and discarding tiles. The aim is to have four “melds” and two “heads”. A meld is three tiles of the same number and suit, and a head is a pair.

Playing the game well relies on skill and strategy, with a degree of chance. The game has travelled widely. It became popular in the USA in the 1920s, and in Japan at about the same time. It is less popular in the USA now, but in 2010 it was found to be the most popular table game in Japan.   

It is not surprising that mahjong is also used for gambling. What might be surprising, according to a report in the South China Morning Post, is that Japanese graduates are using it to gamble for jobs.

Since 2012 mahjong tournaments have been held regularly in Tokyo. Recruiters from six companies in the fitness, education, technology and real estate sectors host the tournaments. The winners get the chance to be recruited into one or another of the companies.

The reasons are simple, but different for the competitors and organisers. Because mahjong demands forward thinking and calculation, good players might also be good at marketing. From the point of view of the recruiters, the playing techniques of the candidates tell more about their skills than their resumes.
Between five and ten students are recruited this way every year.

Span Hanna