Buying Your First Riichi Mahjong Setup!
- pozniakclaire
- 37 minutes ago
- 4 min read
In Riichi Nomi, we get a lot of questions from enthusiastic new fans of the game on how they can purchase their own riichi mahjong setup. This blog post summarizes our club's best advice as you begin your mahjong set collecting journey! Please note that none of this is sponsored- these are just our own best advices, from mahjong players who've been collecting mahjong setups over many years.
Let's begin by assuming you want to purchase a setup for hand-shuffle mahjong - a.k.a., not on an automatic table. Automatic tables range from $1,000 to $10,000, so while they are cool, most collectors begin with a solid hand-shuffle mahjong set, and a mat to play on (to protect the tiles from being scratched on a table).
Buying a Playing Surface (Mat)
For the mat, there's basically only one option that is perfect for Riichi Mahjong, and that's the Junk Mat. The junk mat monopolizes the market because of its smooth playing surface, packability for travel, and perfect sized comparents for scoring sticks or "tenbo" for each player. Junk mats can be purchased individually - but the shipping can be expensive, due to the long length of the package- and can also be purchased as a combination with a mahjong set, which we will discuss more below.
A junk mat purchased by itself should cost around $80 USD.
Some links to places where you can buy Junk Mats:
Or from the USA's trusted reseller of AMOS products, Mahjong Stars: https://www.mjstars.net/product-page/amos-junk-mat
Buying a Riichi Mahjong Set
While there's only one real riichi mat option, the number of choices for mahjong sets are myriad. For riichi mahjong, you're generally wanting a set of tiles that have a length of 25-33mm; that include red fives for play; that come with a set of scoring sticks; and that is portable to your local mahjong meetup. You definitely don't want an American mahjong set (they don't have the right tiles for riichi mahjong), or a Chinese mahjong set (they usually don't have red fives and they are much larger than Japanese Riichi mahjong sets).
For a first-time riichi mahjong set collector, we recommend investing in an AMOS brand hand-shuffle mahjong set. The AMOS brand tile sets (there are a variety in the brand such as AMOS Masters, AMOS Begin, AMOS Smart, AMOS Prime Gear etc.) have a solid weight, don't scuff or chip easily, and are well packaged and portable. AMOS sets come with a full set of scoring sticks, dealer marker, dice, and often also include an AMOS Compass as a guide for gameplay. These sets are available on Amazon Japan, and also from the Mahjong Stars USA. Amazon Japan does ship to the USA with no issues, and we have ordered from there many times, but don't forget that the price listed will usually double with the shipping costs, so it's not quite as cheap as it seems. A decent starter mahjong set by itself will cost you around $80-100.
You can also get a combo with a mat as well as set, which is convenient because you will need both! Those sets you will see sold called "AMOS Prime Gear" or "AMOS Complete Gear" and will often be your most economical way of purchasing your first setup. If you need a set with arabic numerals to mark the character or manzu tiles, AMOS also sells their "Numbers" combo setup that has a mat and a set with arabic numerals, which is great for beginners who aren't familiar with the different riichi mahjong tiles yet. The Numbers set is a bit pricey at $200 for the set and mat; but if you're planning on teaching people who don't already know the mahjong tiles or can't read Japanese/Chinese characters, it could be a worthy investment.
As a note, we recommend avoiding buying your first set on Temu, Amazon USA, or from Yellow Mountain Imports. While the price tag may seem appealing, these sets are very light and prone to scratches and scuffs, so you won't get a very long life out of them. In contrast, an AMOS set will last you for your entire hand-shuffle mahjong career without needing to be replaced.
Some example links of where you can purchase mahjong sets:
In Conclusion
Best of luck in your purchasing journey!! Keep in mind that you can check Ebay for these sets and mats as well, where people will sometimes be offloading their mahjong setups for a discount. Next month we will put out a new post on how to collect fancier or rarer mahjong sets, once you're well established with the basics for hand-shuffle mahjong. And while you consider it, check out our unboxing videos below to see what some of these sets look like coming out of the box.
If you have more questions, join the Riichi Nomi Discord and we would be happy to give more guidance!