Up and Running!

ZungJungMahjong.com is up and running! Glad you found us! This is the first time I’ve ever attempted to put together a website, so it’s been a learning experience. It’s not the prettiest site, but it’s functional, it’s cohesive, and with any luck, easy to maintain. I’ve tried to keep the design of the site simple for a few reasons: easier for me to update, easier for you all to navigate (hopefully!), the simpler I keep it the more likely it will be multi-browser and multi-platform friendly. I want to keep it easy to use on desktop and mobile, so I’m not planning on getting too fancy.

Hopefully you all enjoy the site. My goal is to put together all the things I’ve come across as I’ve tried to learn this game, and make it easier for others to find out more about it. If there was more of a nexus or a hub for information about ZJ, it would make it easier to find new players, teach them about the game, build a community and grow the game – that’s the hypothesis, anyway.

Throughout my time trying to learn mahjong, I’ve noticed a few things:
1.In the US it’s hard to find people to play Mahjong with
2.It’s hard to find people who actually want to play by any rules other than making four sets and a pair.
3.If you do manage to find some people to play with who do play with a serious ruleset, it’s probably Riichi mahjong.

As to point 3, it’s not a big surprise why: Mahjong is not a big game in the US, especially among those who didn’t grow up playing it with their family, so it comes down to exposure to the game. Riichi has a few avenues for exposure on its side. Riichi is played in Japan, so people who are interested in Japanese culture may come across it (there are a few animes like Saki and Akagi that are focused on mahjong playing, there are a number of apps and web platforms that support it like Tenhou, Mahjongtime, Kemono Mahjong, the new Final Fantasy even has Riichi mahjong programmed in as a minigame). Riichi has a big following outside of Japan, including European and North American associations (the European Mahjong Association or EMA, and the North American Riichi Mahjong Association or NARMA, respectively).

The problem, for me, is I just don’t like Riichi as much as Zung Jung (though I do still enjoy it – it’s my second favorite ruleset). And I’m admittedly a little jealous of how much more popularity it has. So rather than sit and get bitter, I decided to start this site, and who knows, maybe it’ll help grow ZJ to be just as well known, if not more. That’s the goal. But even if it doesn’t, at least we’ll have a nice collection of Zung Jung stuff, right?

I’m sure I’ll muse on this subject more as time goes on, but leave a comment down below with your experience and let’s continue the discussion!

-ZJMJ