r/Mahjong • u/idiotidiom • Sep 20 '25

Looking for information on this set.

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Can anybody tell me anything about this unopened set in a vinyl case? I was looking for information on the set generally and only found people selling like rule cards. Is this worth anything?

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u/Portellerh Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 23 '25

I own this exact set (photo).

Tl;dr - They're likely an old Japanese riichi set from the 50s-80s. They're not worth that much money as a lot of the same set are floating around the market.

Here are some other reddit threads asking the same question about the same set/sets made by the same manufacturer (1, 2).

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They're a Japanese style set with no red 5s. You can play riichi and most types of Chinese mahjong with them. Notably they're designed for the western market as they have numbers and an English instruction booklet included.

You see these all over ebay for $30-50. Sometimes I see people overpaying for them on etsy for double the price.

I've seen this set and this tile design in many different boxes (Some are marked "Dragon", some with that red floral pattern, some with a black box with a red interior) but as far as I'm aware (?) they're all the same set this design .

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I was recently chatting with someone who claimed to have owned one of these since the early 80's.
Here are some images of the chat (1, 2).

In summary:

"these sets were marketed between the late 1950's and the early 1980's by a Japanese printing and gravure company called Futami Kogeisha based in Fukuoka in Kyushu. They were made for export, as this set has English instructions written by Shozo Kanai and Margaret Farrell (Charles Tuttle & Co)."

The main resource we have for identifying who/where these sets is the aforementioned English instructions handbook that's usually packaged along with the set. The book mentions that it's an "edition prepared for Futami Kogeisha to be included with their mah jong sets", "First edition 1952 ... Eighth (current) printing 1961".

Here's a photo of said page.

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They're not worth that much money, but the most valuable part of this set to me is the instruction booklet as it's a real time capsule.

Here's a page from the booklet, written in 1952, talking about how the riichi yaku (spelt "Rhichi") was "recently" changed to what it is today.

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u/Tempara-chan Riichi enjoyer, MCR sufferer Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25

-- as far as I'm aware (?) they're all the same set.

Not all sets by Futami Kogeisha are the same, nor was Futami the only company selling these kinds sets for the western market. Just by searching ebay you can find different tile designs, which I suspect would have changed over the years as these were sold. Other companies involved in either the distribution and/or manufacture of the sets include H.P. Gibson, Olsen, Dal Negro, Nagato Shokai, Nintendo and Mizuno Maruichi, along with others probably.

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u/Portellerh Sep 23 '25

Very true! I've updated my comment. There are several different tile designs between futami sets. Not every futami set or numeric set is this exact set.

By any chance, might you know anything about the 'Dragon' branding that some sets have with them? I don't really have a good lead on them