Many pro mahjong organizations have been swamped with new applicants after an important announcement was made at the start of the M-League 2021 season.
On October 4, opening day of M-League 2021, Nissin announced a contest in which the first player who wins a Chiihou will receive a lifetime supply of Nissin U.F.O. Yakisoba.
Lifetime is defined by the point in time the player wins the chiihou until they reach the average Japanese life expectancy
Right after the games finished, all the professional organizations began receiving calls. To join in with the hype, Nihon Pro Mahjong (NPM) has temporarily changed their name to Noodle-Paying Mahjong.
When asked why they decided to become a mahjong pro, one person responded, “With the current housing market and general cost of living, this is probably the easiest way to have food security.”
“These are the only noods that anyone will ever send me,” said another one man from his parents’ basement.
When we asked the company why they created the contest, they sent us this response:
As you can see by our 100% legal winning hand in the Tweet below, we just love mahjong and want to support M-League. It’s totally not because the M-League target audience is the same as ours and that we wanted to market our product to them at virtually no cost.
Doctors are reminding fans and players that too much salt, whether from the yakisoba or from your favourite team getting beat, can lead to high blood pressure.
Ah, the new M-League season is almost upon us! Let’s take a look at some of the changes that are taking place in M-League this year.
New Players
On August 2, 2021, the M-League 2021 Draft took place. Four teams had an opportunity to draft players. All four of these teams drafted players to fill their team roster to 4 players.
JPML rank: 3rd Dan Home Prefecture: Tokyo Pro since: 2013 Highest JPML League: C3 Current JPML League: D3
Gravure idol and one of the pros on the Konami Mahjong Fight Club arcade games, Tojo Rio was the Sega Sammy Phoenix’s choice to fill their roster after dropping Wakutsu Akira from the team at the end of the 2020 Season.
In 2021, she won two tournaments: The Yukan Fuji Cup and the 2021 Winter Ron2 Cup.
She also has a Youtube Channel that she has with fellow Sega Sammy Phoenix player Uotani Yuumi called the RioMin-Channel.
JPML rank: 4th Dan Home Prefecture: Toyama Pro since: 2012 Highest JPML League: B2 Current JPML League: C2
After three straight seasons of poor results and a 3-player roster, Team Raiden decided to get a fourth player and chose Honda Tomohiro for the job.
Honda has been quite successful in recent years. At the EX Furinkazan Audition, he placed 2nd, just narrowly getting beat out because of a yakuman. Prior to that, he won both the 2019 and 2020 edition of the Grand Prix MAX, the 2019 Hokuriku Pro League and 2019 Hokuriku Pro-Amateur League. At the time of writing, he is currently in 1st place in the JPMl Special Promotion League.
Winner of the EX Furinkazan Auditions, Matsugase Takaya becomes the second player from RMU to become an M-Leaguer (The first one being Ooi Takaharu (多井隆晴)). Matsugase has won the RMU Climax League a few times, as well as being RMU’s best player in 2018.
JPML rank: 7th Dan Home Prefecture: Niigata Pro since: 2000 Highest JPML League: A2 Current JPML League: B2
After Takizawa Kazunori left the EX Furinkazan after their championship winning season, many people speculated that he would be chosen as one of the picks for the Konami Mahjong Fight Club. Turn out, the rumours were true! In joining the Konami Mahjong FIght Club, he becomes teammates with his longtime friend and rival, Sasaki Hisato (with the two of them nicknamed TakiHisa).
JPML rank: 5th Dan Home Prefecture: Kanagawa Pro since: 2000 Highest JPML League: B1 Current JPML League: C2
The older sister of the Nikaido sisters Nikaido Rumi joins her younger sister Nikaido Aki on the EX Furinkazan team.
Besides being one half of the Nikaido sisters, she is also known for being the 2013 Pro Queen and the winner of the 2006 Saikyousen.
Uniforms
Every year, each team releases a new uniform featuring new designs and new sponsors.
Akasaka Drivens
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
The Akasaka Drivens inverted their uniform, putting the tartan pattern on the torso and the darker portion on the sleeves.
EX Furinkazan
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
The EX Furinkazan chose to make themselves look more slimming, choosing a vertical black and red design this year, in addition to adding more sponsors.
Kadokawa Sakura Knights
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
Highlighting the cherry blossoms in their name, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights added cherry blossoms to their uniform design.
Konami Mahjong Fight Club
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
To make the dragon at the base of the Konami Mahjong Fight Club uniform more visible, they made the base of the shirt darker. They also changed the sleeves from green to red.
Sega Sammy Phoenix
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
Besides the addition of some more sponsors, the Sega Sammy Phoenix uniform is largely unchanged.
Shibuya Abemas
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
For more contrast, the Sega Sammy Phoenix have chosen to go for a black and white uniform with brown highlights on the sleeve and collar. Unlike last season, they have chosen to remove their logo from the sleeve and opted to have a sponsor there instead.
Team Raiden
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
Team Raiden has chosen to employ a second uniform featuring a new logo design (though they are still keeping the old one). This design features the same grey gradient along with four yellow stripes going along the chest.
U-Next Pirates
Left: 2020 Season | Right: 2021 Season
The U-next Pirates have chosen to go for a more striped approach this year having diagonal blue and white stripes going across, similar to the old design of some other teams. They have also added some new sponsors and removed the two white stripes going down from the collar.
M-League and the Competitive Spirit
M-League has added a new policy to in regards to the competitive spirit. The new policy states that a player or team should try to get as many points as possible, even if the team’s ranking won’t change.
This comes after a controversial situation occurred in the M-League 2020 Final, where Murakami Jun won a cheap hand in South 4 even though it didn’t change the team’s ranking.
The first game of M-League 2021 will start on Monday, October 4 at 1900 JST! I hope to see you there!
Following the excitement that happens every season, there are always those moments that you will never forget. They can be yakuman, incredible comebacks or just really big hands. Today, let’s take a look back at some of the amazing plays that happened in the M-League 2020 Season.
Sasaki Hisato, nicknamed Maou (魔王, “Demon King”), was the MVP of the M-League 2020 Season, garnering the most points during the regular season. But what did he do to claim this title? Today, we will shine a spotlight on a few highlights of his performance in the M-League 2020 Season.
Background
Sasaki Hisato joined the Japan Professional Mahjong League in 2006, the same year as American pros Garthe and Jenn joined. Prior to joining the league, he was well known in the jansou circuit, making 10 million yen via jansou play.
In the inaugural season of M-League, Sasaki Hisato was drafted in the 1st round by the Konami Mahjong Fight Club. Sasaki was a top performer that year, finishing the season with a score of +228.3 and finishing 3rd place.
In the 2019 Season, he continued to do well, getting a score of +80.7 and placing 10th out of 29 players.
M-League has released the schedule for the 2021 season.
The M-League 2021 regular season will start on October 4, 2021 and end on March 11, 2022. Games will be played each week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 1900 JST, with the exception of the last week of December, when there will only be games on the Monday and Tuesday.
For your convenience, I have created a Google Calendar of the schedule (with times in JST), as well as one for each team. There is also an iCalendar (.ics) file that you can download to put the schedule on your computer’s calendar.
Any mistakes are purely my own. If there is any discrepancy between the calendar and the official M-League schedule, the official M-League schedule is correct. For those wondering, the featured image above with the nice format was released in an official M-League press release with the image being found here.
The time is upon us! The M-League Draft Meeting for the 2021 Season is coming this Monday, 2nd of August! After a non-event last year due to no teams changing any members (except for Sakura Knights picking up Hori), this year we have a LOT more going on! A total of 6 picks over 4 teams, and some drama added into the mix, it promises to be an interesting event.
The pick order is decided by reverse placement order from last season. So Sega Sammy has first pick, followed by Team Raiden, and so on. Any players who were dropped from teams after the 2020 Season, are eligible to be picked by other teams, but not by the team that original dropped them.
Teams
Sega Sammy Phoenix
Wakutsu Akira’s contract with Sega Sammy expired at the end of the 2020 season, and they have also changed their manager for the coming season, so we might see a new direction for Sega Sammy. The new manager, Yoshino Shinichi, works as a General Producer for Sega MJ Net, so we might see a pick from a player who appears there, but Yoshino was quite tight lipped in his Kinma interview recently, so we’ll have to wait and see. However, he has mentioned that their plan is to pick a 4th player.
However, from a fan perspective, there are some names floating around as possible picks. The fan sentiment seems to be that Sega Sammy will continue with their female heavy roster, and likely pick another female pro (though Yoshino has stated that all options are on the table, even male pros). Nakata Kana (JPML, four time winner of the Cherry Blossom Cup) is one name that comes up often (and not just for Sega Sammy), though she has been passed up for selection in previous years. Nishijima Chiharu (Saikouisen, three time Women’s Saikoui) is another possible candidate, who comes from the same organisation as Kondo and Kayamori.
Team Raiden
While Raiden has kept all three players from last season, they are one of the only remaining teams with only three players. And after failing to make the finals last year, if they fail again this year, they will be required to make a change. To get out in front of that, it seems as though they are planning on picking up a fourth player at this year’s Draft Meeting. This would “reset” the 2 season counter on needing to finish in the top 4 before forced team changes occur.
In a recent Kinma interview, Raiden Manager Takayanagi mentioned that they were considering a number of pros (though no mention on who exactly). As the average age on Raiden is on the higher end, he expressed a desire to hopefully bring some youth into the team, but things like strength, character, and personality being more important factors. He is also open to picking up players who’s contracts with other teams have expired.
From a fan perspective, there is an expectation that any new picks will come from JPML. While Takayanagi has stated that they don’t make decisions based on pro organisation, the fact that all existing Raiden members are from JPML could mean that a JPML pick would work well with the rest of the team, which is a factor that Takayanagi is looking for.
Nakata Kana’s name has come up a lot in relation to Raiden, with the author of mahjong manga 鉄鳴きの麒麟児 (Tetsunaki no Kirinji – Kirinji of the Iron Calls) being a big fan of her as a potential Raiden player.
Date Arisa (JPML) is another possible name that has been floated, she’s won the Cherry Bud Cup, and is a voice actor who voices Ueshige Suzu in the Saki anime.
Konami Mahjong Fight Club
Konami bid farewell to Maehara and Fujisaki at the end of last season, so we will potentially see two new players in the Mahjong Fight Club uniform in 2021. Team management has mentioned that they are primarily looking at players from JPML, but contrary to popular assumption, appearance in the Mahjong Fight Club arcade games is not a prerequisite. They will be looking at lots of different factors, including how a player can play in the M-League ruleset, which is notably quite different from JPML’s competition ruleset. They are also hoping to pick someone who’s from either Hisato’s Generation (JPML intake year), or more recent, and ideally would like an even gender split. But, skills and ability to communicate effectively with Sasaki and Takamiya are more important.
From a fan perspective, there is an elephant in the room, and his name is Takizawa Kazunori. There is a heavy expectations from fans that Konami will likely pick up Takizawa if they’re able to now that he is a free agent. Sasaki and Takizawa are close friends, and Takizawa even made a guest appearance at Maehara and Fujisaki’s farewell stream. Another name thrown around is Nakada Kana (former Nogizaka46 member, and not to be confused with Nakata Kana mentioned earlier) who has been appearing in a lot of JPML promotional material lately, and also participated in the EX Audition, though did not make it to the finals. A name that has cropped up a few times in the past, but so far has not made a lot of M-League news, is US born Garthe Nelson. He’s cropped up a few times in some fantasy M-League teams built by existing M-Leaguers, and has a style that would likely fit Konami’s.
EX Furinkazan
The final team to get an initial pick, is last year’s winner, and the team that has had the most talk about it in the off season, EX Furinkazan. The dual bombshells of holding an audition to pick their fourth member, and the shock departure of Takizawa from the team, has had EX Furinkazan in the forefront of M-League news in the past few months.
While they have two picks in the Draft Meeting, we know that one of them will be Matsugase Takaya who won the audition they held. If he gets picked by another team first, they will go down the ranks, and pick the next available player in rankings. However, their second pick is a lot less clear. Team management has stated that they have narrowed down a list of players, and are not overly fixed on age or gender. However, they’re not necessarily looking to pick a newer player with the intent on training them up. Even players who didn’t make the finals of the Audition are viable candidates for this second pick.
From a fan perspective, Nikaido Rumi’s (JPML) name always comes up at draft season, as a potential pick. Fans like the idea of the two sisters playing on the same team. Also there is some speculation that maybe they will lean heavily into the audition and pick up Honda Tomohiro who came in second.
Summary
With 6 picks happening across 4 teams, this year’s Draft Meeting is not to be missed! Whether Takizawa joins Konami, or Nakata Kana finally joins M-League, sparks will certainly fly! Let us know what your thoughts are, and who you think will be picked by various teams.
In a tweet on July 1, 2021, the EX Furinkazan announced that Nikaido Aki and Katsumata Kenji have renewed their contracts, while Takizawa Kazunori has decided to not have his contract renewed.
In the tweet, it was indicated that Takizawa had a strong intention to leave, and even with the team trying to sincerely dissuade him from leaving, no agreement was reached and Takizawa became a free agent. The team sincerely apologized to all the fans and supporters who supported them over the past three years.
Takizawa was the Ex Furinkazan’s 2nd draft pick in the M-League 2018 draft. In the 2018 Season, he earned +314.8pts in the regular season and got 2nd in the in the individual overall standings. With his help, he helped the team finish in 2nd place in the 2018 Season. Though the team ended up 8th in the 2019 Season, the team cam back stronger in the 2020 Season, with a very important back-to-back win in the semifinals from Takizawa to help the team get to the finals and eventually helped the EX Furinkazan win the championship.
With Takizawa’s departure, the EX Furinkazan has two picks in the 2020 Draft in August. The team indicates that one of the picks will be the winner of the EX Furinkazan Audition, The other pick, due to the unforeseen circumstances, will be made considering all eligible players.
We would like to wish Takizawa Kazunori good luck in all his future mahjong ventures.
Wakutsu was drafted by the Sega Sammy Phoenix in 2019 when she was the only female player in JPML’s A1 league at the time. However, she got -130.0pts in the 2019 season and -280.9pts in the 2020 season, struggling to adjust to the M-League rules.
In a tweet, Wakutsu thanked everyone for their support.
Both Kondo Seiichi and Uotani Yuumi thanked her for her service to the team over the past two years. Even Ooi Takaharu of the Shibuya Abemas tweeted to thank her for her hard work.
In a tweet on June 25, 2021, Konami Mahjong Fight Club stated that the contracts of Sasaki Hisato and Takamiya Mari have been renewed, while the contracts of both Maehara Yudai (前原雄大) and Fujisaki Satoshi (藤崎智) have been terminated.
— KONAMI麻雀格闘倶楽部＠Mリーグ【公式】 (@mfcmleague1) June 25, 2021
In a reply to the tweet, the team management stated that they are taking serious the fact that they have not been able to win a championship over the past three years. They thanked Maehara and Fujisaki for their contributions and teachings over the past three years.
— KONAMI麻雀格闘倶楽部＠Mリーグ【公式】 (@mfcmleague1) June 25, 2021
Maehara Yudai was drafted in the first M-League draft in 2018 as a 3rd round pick. He had gotten a positive result in both the 2018 and the 2019 season (84.8pt and 80.3pt, respectively), but ended the 2020 season with -251.8pt, placing 26th out of 30.
Maehara told everyone that he doesn’t regret a single moment of being part of the team and that he will continue to be part and support the new family.
Fujisaki was drafted in the 2019 M-League Draft as the team’s 4th player. He got -65.5pt in his first season and -164.8pt in his second season, placing 22nd out of 30.
Fujisaki thanked fans for their support and hopes that they continue to support Konami Mahjong Fight Club
While we wait for the first set of results from the EX Furinkazan Member Audition (hopefully due out Tuesday/Wednesday sometime), we thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the players participating. Today we’re going to be focusing on some of the players who received the coveted Team Recommendation (giving them +50pt to their Phase 2 score), specifically the ones that are members of the Japanese Professional Mahjong League (JPML). JPML has the most recommended players out of all the leagues at 6, all of whom are male. It’s unclear exactly how Team Recommendations come about, other than they’re discussed between EX Furinkazan and the various professional organisations.
Shibata Yoshikazu – 柴田吉和
Rank: 5th Dan Home Prefecture: Yamagata Years as a pro: 10 (28th JPML Generation) Highest JPML League: B1 Current JPML League: B1 Starting Points: +111.5 Twitter Followers: 1,596 (@batabata0113) Nickname: Comeback Shibata
Titles:
28th Newcomer King
32nd 10th Dan
37th 10th Dan (current)
19th Mondo Cup Winner
Shibata is the JPML player with the highest starting points, likely due to his two 10th Dan victories, the second of which is considered current (and therefor worth double points), as the 10th Dan tournament this year is still on going.
Shibata’s comments going into the audition were: “I’m going to face forward and challenge my dreams, on this far off and elusive stage. I look forward to your support!!!”
Rank: 7th Dan Home Prefecture: Kanagawa Years as a pro: 20 (18th JPML Generation) Highest JPML League: A1 Current JPML League: A2 Starting Points: +66.0 Twitter Followers: 3,950 (@dump_ohashi) Real Name: Ohashi Yoshihiro – 大橋良弘
Titles:
9th MAX Grand Prix Winner
34th Oui
18th Newcomer King
6th JPML WRC League Winner
Dump Ohashi has been a pro for nearly 20 years now, and has a number of titles under his belt. His Pro name came from JPML President Moriyama Shigekazu when Ohashi was about to make his debut on the Mahjong Fight Clubs games and wanted a name that would have some impact. Ohashi wasn’t thrilled with the name at the time, but it’s something that he’s quite fond of now.
Ohashi’s comments going into the audition were: “I’ll be participating! It’s been nearly 20 years since I became a pro, so I hope I am able to perform well to mark this milestone.”
Rank: 6th Dan Home Prefecture: Yamaguchi Years as a pro: 20 (18th JPML Generation) Highest JPML League: A2 Current JPML League: B1 Starting Points: +50.0 Twitter Followers: 2,267(@11112233778899)
Titles:
31st 10th Dan
57th Challenge Cup Winner
Sakurai is our first JPML Pro without any bonus points from titles, although he has won some in the past. He runs a Mahjong night class aimed at university students in his free time. He is from the same pro generation as Dump Ohashi.
Sakurai’s comments going into the audition: “While I don’t have a title, I still received the Team Recommendation, so I want win and make it through!”
Rank: 7th Dan Home Prefecture: Ehime Years as a pro: 20 (18th JPML Generation) Highest JPML League: A1 Current JPML League: A1 Starting Points: +50.0 Twitter Followers: 2,389(@2525jun_jun)
Titles:
22nd Champions League Winner
While it might seem like Nishikawa doesn’t have many titles under his belt, he has a number of 2nd-4th placements in tournaments over the years, so he’ll be one to keep an eye on. He’s from the same pro generation as Dump Ohashi and Sakurai.
Hitotsui Shinya – 一井慎也
Rank: 6th Dan Home Prefecture: Tokyo Years as a pro: 21 (17th JPML Generation) Highest JPML League: A2 Current JPML League: A2 Starting Points: +50.0 Twitter Followers: 1,242 (@hitotsui121)
Titles:
None
Hitotsui is the oldest (in terms of times as a pro) player from JPML, and despite not having any titles under his belt, he has still managed to secure a Team Recommendation.
Hitotsui’s comments going into the audition: “I have a lot of thoughts and feelings going in, but for now, I’m going to focus on putting my Mahjong skills to the test.”
Rank: 5th Dan Home Prefecture: Shizuoka Years as a pro: 17 (21st JPML Generation) Highest JPML League: A2 Current JPML League: A2 Starting Points: +50.0 Twitter Followers: 4,936 (@furu_fururu)
Titles:
2016 Cyber Agent Cup Winner
8th Shizuoka League Winner
Furuhashi is our last JPML member who secured a Team Recommendation, and he sits in the middle of the pack in terms of time as a pro. He works a lot at the JPML Studio as a commentator and producer.
Furuhashi’s comments going into the audition: “I’ll do my absolute best to become a member of the championship winning team.”
And so there we have it, the 6 JPML members who managed to secure Team Recommendations. Are there any particular ones you’re rooting for, or want to see do well? Let us know! Also be on the look out for our coverage of the Team Recommended players from the other pro organisations!
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