On June 30, 2025, the M-League 2025-26 Draft took place, where nine players across four teams were chosen to compete on the M-League stage. From young and old, new and returning faces, let’s take a look at the players who will be playing on the M-League stage next season.
Continue reading “Nine Players Drafted At M-League 2025-26 Draft”M-League 2025-26 Draft
The M-League 2025-26 Draft is in just a few days! Today, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about the draft, as well as some potential candidates that we’re keeping an eye on.
The Draft
The M-League 2025-26 Draft will take place on June 30 starting at 17:00 JST. It will be broadcast live on the ABEMA Mahjong Channel. The broadcast is expected to last 90 minutes and is likely to also include interviews from the managers who drafted.
Drafting Order
With the addition of the Earth Jets this season, they will have the opportunity to draft first. Afterwards, the remaining teams that have vacancies in their roster will pick one player each, going in reverse standings order of the 2024-25 season. This process repeats until all vancancies have been filled.
- Earth Jets (1st pick)
- Earth Jets (2nd pick)
- Earth Jets (3rd pick)
- Earth Jets (4th pick)
- Beast X (1st pick)
- EX Furinkazan (1st pick)
- Kadokawa Sakura Knights (1st pick)
- Beast X (2nd pick)
- EX Furinkazan (2nd pick)
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Potential Candidates
Drafting teams have the option to draft from any of the five supporting professional mahjong organizations:
- Japan Professional Mahjong Federation (JPML)
- Nihon Pro Mahjong (NPM)
- Saikouisen Pro Mahjong (SPM)
- Mahjong Union (Mu/μ!)
- Real Mahjong Unit (RMU)
Note: M-League Watch predictions to follow. Teams are not limited to the players listed below, nor are they guarantees of any player being drafted.
Top players from the mahjong circuit are always top contenders for good results. Focus on choosing them is on the Earth Jets, who will have the first four picks in the draft. Some top pros and fan favourites include:
- Ishii Kazuma (石井一馬) (Saikouisen) (Current Saikoui, 2-time Saikouisen Classic winner)
- Hiro Shibata (HIRO柴田) (JPML) (JPML A1 League, 39th JPML Hououi, 2-time Grand Prix MAX winner)
- Kuwada Kenta (桑田憲汰) (JPML) (Back-to-back Saikyousen winner, WRC 2025 Under-29 Team)
- Gao Yunfei (高雲飛) (Saikouisen) (23rd Tenhoui, first non-Japanese Tenhoui)
- Akutsu Shota (阿久津翔太) (JPML) (1st Young Lion Cup winner, WRC 2025 Under-29 Team)
The Earth Jets also have to choose at least one female player. Some top female players include:
- Aikawa Marie (相川まりえ) (Saikouisen) (28th Saikouisen Women’s League Champion)
- Aikawa Megumu (逢川恵夢) (NPM) (current and 5-time NPM Mahjong Queen)
- Asahina Yuri (朝比奈ゆり) (JPML) (9th Cherry Bud Cup, 16th WRC League Champion, WRC 2025 Under-29 Team)
- Nakata Kana (仲田加南) (JPML) (4-time Cherry Blossom Cup winner)
For all teams, there is some new excitement in the possibility of bringing back old faces. With the addition of former M-Leaguers, teams have the opportunity to both give the player a second chance and to bring the player’s fan base to the team. Former M-Leaguers that were dropped or have left in the past three years include:
- Uotani Yuumi (JPML)
- Uchikawa Kotaro (JPML)
- Kondo Seiichi (JPML)
- Murakami Jun (Saikouisen)
- Asakura Koushin (Saikouisen)
- Ishibashi Nobuhiro (Saikouisen)
- Maruyama Kanako (Saikouisen)
- Tojo Rio (JPML)
- Sarukawa Masatoshi (JPML)
- Sugawara Hiroe (JPML)
For the Beast X, Shimoishi Geki (下石戟) (NPM) will fill in one of the two spots for winning the Beast X New Member Audition. For the other spot, other audition player
- Asai Yusuke (浅井裕介) (Saikouisen) (2025 Audition runner up)
- Arai Keibun (新井啓文) (Saikouisen) (2025 Audition 3rd place)
- Tomozoe Toshiyuki (友添敏之) (Saikouisen) (2025 Audition 6th place)
For the EX Furinkazan, Nagai Kousuke (永井孝典) (Saikouisen) will take one of the team’s two vacant spots because he won the EX Furinkazan
- Kouno Naoya (河野直也) (Saikouisen, M-League Colour Commentator) (Dropped out of audition semifinals due to illness)
- Hitotsui Shinya (一井慎也) (JPML, 1st Special Sparring Partner/IKUSA 2023 winner)
- Arai Keibun (新井啓文) (Saikouisen) (Eliminated in 1st round)
- Shinohara Saemi (篠原 冴美) (JPML, 3rd Special Sparring Partner/IKUSA 2025 winner) (Eliminated in 1st round)
M-League 2025-26 Preseason: Late June Update
From contracts to tournaments, a lot of things have happened since our last M-League update! Let’s take a look at what’s new in the world of M-League!
Table of Contents
M-League 2025-26 Preseason: Late May Update
It’s only been 2 weeks since the end of the M-League 2024-25 season and there has been a lot of exciting news released! Today, we’ll go over all the news and the tournaments coming up during the offseason.
Table of Contents
New Team: Earth Jets
On May 26, it was announced that a new team, sponsored by Earth Corporation, would be formed.
On May 28, the team’s name was revealed to be “Earth Jets”. Their logo and social media were also revealed.
Contract Statuses
At the time of writing, only three teams have announced the status of their players.
Beast X
On April 4, 2025, the Beast X announced that they would be renewing the contracts for Suzuki Daisuke and Nakada Kana, but Sarukawa Masatoshi and Sugawara Hiroe will have fight for a spot on the team in the Beast X Member Replacement Audition.
EX Furinkazan
On April 16, 2025, the EX Furinkazan announced that they will be dropping Matsugase Takaya (松ヶ瀬隆弥) and Nikaido Rumi (二階堂瑠美) as players, with Rumi taking on a new role on the team. They also announced that they will hold a draft audition to determine who will fill one of the vacant spots on the team.
Kadokawa Sakura Knights
On May 19, 2025, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights announced that they will be dropping Uchikawa Kotaro from the team. It was also revealed that Uchikawa is the “Mister X” who was teased for the EX Furinkazan Audition.
M-League 2025-26 Outline and Draft Date
On May 26, the league announced that the M-League 2025-26 Draft would be on June 30. They also put out some details about the upcoming season, including an increase to the grand prize from 50 million yen to 70 million yen.
EX Furinkazan New Member Audition 2025
To determine one of the spots to fill in the vacancies left by Matsugase and Rumi, the EX Furinkazan will be holding a player audition.
Semifinals
The audition semifinals will take place on June 15 and June 21 and will involve the following players:
- Shinohara Saemi (篠原 冴美) (JPML, 3rd Special Sparring Partner/IKUSA 2025 winner)
- Nagai Kousuke (永井 孝典) (Saikouisen, 2nd Special Sparring Partner/IKUSA 2024 winner)
As well as six recommended players:
- Arai Keibun (新井啓文) (Saikouisen)
- Uotani Yuumi (魚谷侑未) (JPML, former Sega Sammy Phoenix [2018-2024])
- Kouno Naoya (河野直也) (Saikouisen, M-League Colour Commentator)
- Murakami Jun (村上淳) (Saikouisen, former Akasaka Drivens [2018-2023])
- Shimoishi Geki (下石戟) (NPM)
- Uchikawa Kotaro (内川幸太郎) (JPML, former Kadokawa Sakura Knights [2019-2025]) (Previously known as just “Mister X” [ミスターX])
The first four games will be played on June 15 starting at 12:00 JST and there will be a live broadcast on the EX Furinkazan YouTube channel.
The following eight games will be played on June 21 starting at 10:00 JST and there will be a broadcast on the ABEMA Mahjong Channel.
Finals
The finals will be on June 22 and will involve
- The top 3 players of the semifinals
- Hitotsui Shinya (一井慎也) (JPML, 1st Special Sparring Partner/IKUSA 2023 winner)
The finals will be three games long and will be broadcast on the ABEMA Mahjong Channel starting at 15:00 JST.
Beast X Member Replacement Audition
Starting from May 22, 2025 until June 15, 2025, the Beast X will be holding an audition to determine one of their draft picks for the upcoming M-League 2025-26 Draft.
Six players, including two Beast X members at risk of being dropped, will be competing in the audition.
- Sarukawa Masatoshi (猿川真寿) (JPML, Beast X member [2022-2025?])
- Sugawara Hiroe (菅原千瑛) (JPML, former Beast Japanext Audition winner, Beast X member [2022-2025?])
- Arai Keibun (新井啓文) (Saikouisen) (Previous Beast Japanext Audition runner up)
- Asai Yusuke (浅井裕介) (Saikouisen, former Beast Japanext Audition competitor)
- Shimoishi Geki (下石戟) (NPM)
- Tomozoe Toshiyuki (友添敏之) (Saikouisen)
On May 18, May 25 (going from 2:30PM to 7:00PM on both days) and June 1 (going from 2:30PM to 8:00PM), the six player will play a total of 6 games each (9 games total) across the three days. The top four players will advance to the finals.
Carrying half of their score (rounded up) into the finals, the four finalists will play a total of 5 more games to determine the winner. The first three games will be on June 8 (going from 2:30PM to 7:00PM) , while the final two games will be on June 15 (going from 7:00PM to 11:00PM)
All games will be broadcast on the BS10 channel.
M-Tournament
On June 2, 2025, the third edition of the M-Tournament will begin.
The M-Tournament is a competition lasting around 2 months which will feature the 36 M-Leaguers and 24 selected pros. These competitors will compete individually for the championship.
Games played on Monday can be watched for free on the ABEMA Mahjong channel, while games on Fridays will require ABEMA Premium.
Format
- 1st Round: June 2, June 6, June 9, June 13, June 16, June 20, June 23 (15:00 JST)
- 56 players (14 tables)
- 32 M-Leaguers (all except the four members of the championship-winning Sega Sammy Phoenix [Kayamori Sayaka, Daigo Hiroshi, Takeuchi Genta, Asai Takaki])
- 24 selected pros
- 2 tables per day
- 2 hanchan per table, top 2 advance
- 56 players (14 tables)
- 2nd Round: July 7, July 11, July 14, July 18 (15:00 JST)
- 32 players (8 tables)
- 28 players who advanced from the 1st round
- 4 members of the championship-winning team
- 2 tables per day
- 2 hanchan, top 2 advance
- 32 players (8 tables)
- Quarterfinals: July 21, 25 (15:00 JST)
- 16 players (4 tables)
- 16 players from the 2nd round
- 2 tables per day
- 2 hanchan, top 2 advance
- 16 players (4 tables)
- Semifinals: July 28 (15:00 JST)
- 8 players, (2 tables)
- 8 players from the quarterfinals
- 2 hanchan, top 2 advance
- 8 players, (2 tables)
- Finals: August 1 (19:00 JST)
- 4 players (1 table)
- 4 players who advanced from the semifinals
- 2 hanchan, winner wins it all
- 4 players (1 table)
36 M-Leaguers
2nd Round seeded Sega Sammy Phoenix
24 Selected Pros
- Uotani Yuumi (魚谷侑未) (JPML, former Sega Sammy Phoenix [2018-2024])
- Kondo Seiichi (近藤誠一) (Saikouisen, former Sega Sammy Phoenix [2018-2023])
- Tojo Rio (東城りお) (JPML, former Sega Sammy Phoenix [2021-2024])
- Okamoto Souhei (岡本壮平) (Saikouisen, 12th・15th Tenhoui)
- Akutsu Shouta (阿久津翔太) (JPML)
- Yajima Tooru (矢島亨) (NPM)
- Fukushima Yuichi (福島佑一) (JPML)
- Kanamiya Jun (金宮じゅん) (RMU)
- Oshida Yukio (忍田幸夫) (Mu, M-League Colour Commentator)
- Kouno Takashi (河野高志) (RMU)
- Murakami Jun (村上淳) (Saikouisen, former Akasaka Drivens player [2018-2023])
- Sawazaki Makoto (沢崎誠) (JPML, former Kadokawa Sakura Knights player [2019-2022])
- Fujisaki Satoshi (藤崎智) (JPML, former Konami Mahjong Fight Club player [2019-2021])
- Sakai Hidetaka (坂井秀隆) (Saikouisen)
- Ogawa Kou (小川光) (RMU)
- Aikawa Megumu (逢川恵夢) (NPM)
- Miura Tomohiro (三浦智博) (JPML)
- Aikawa Marie (相川まりえ) (Saikouisen)
- Ishii Kazuma (石井一馬) (Saikouisen)
- Kuwada Kenta (桑田憲汰) (JPML)
- Maeda Naoya (前田直哉) (JPML)
- Shimizu Kaori (清水香織) (JPML)
- Iida Masataka (飯田雅貴) (NPM)
- Gao Yunfei (高雲飛) (Saikouisen) (23rd Tenhoui)
M-League Official Shop Online Store
On May 22, 2025, the M-League Official Shop Online Store was officially launched.
Not to be confused with the M-League Official Online Store (which offers some M-League goods through the M-League website), the M-League Official Shop Online Store sells products that were perviously only available at the in-person M-League Official Shops in Maruken Junkudo Bookstores.
Earth Corporation Team Named “Earth Jets”, Team Logo And Social Media Revealed
On May 28, 2025, the Earth Corporation revealed that the 10th M-League team’s name will be the “Earth Jets” (アースジェッツ). They also revealed their team logo and social media.
The Earth Jets logo is a crest with the main colours of red and green. A grid pattern is featured on the green segments, representing a bug net. The word “EARTH” is written on the top of the crest and “JETS” in the middle of a globe in the centre. A red chamelon with its tongue out lays on the top side, while a green one lays at the bottom of it. The symbols on the crest represent the “flexible offence and defence” that the team aims to play with, as well as “defeating opponents quickly and sharply”.
The team name and colour scheme are borrowed from the Earth Corporation product “Earth Jet” (アースジェット), a “fragrance-free, low-irritation” bug repellent.
On the same day, the team launched their official website. They also revelead their X (Twitter), Instagram and YouTube channel under the handle @EarthJets.
The team will have an opportunity to draft their first players at the M-League 2025-26 Draft on June 30.
M-League Announces Draft Date, Outline For 2025-26 Season
On May 26, 2025, M-League released the outline for the upcoming season, as well as the date for the M-League 2025-26 Draft.
Player Replacement
Maintaining the rule from previous seasons, a team that fails to make the semifinals two years in a row will be forced to change their roster. Players who are dropped will not be able to be drafted by the same team during the draft.
Playoff Structure
With the addition of the new Earth Jets team, there will be 10 teams competing this season. The top 6 teams will advance to the semifinals, with the top 4 teams in the semifinals advancing to the finals.
Prize Money
Starting this upcoming season, the championship-winning team will win 70 million yen, up from 50 million yen in the previous years. 2nd and 3rd place will still win 20 million yen and 10 million yen, respectively.
As with last season, the 1st place team at the end of the regular season will win 3 million yen.
The individual prizes will be announced at a later date.
M-League Off-Season Schedule
- June 16: Deadline to confirm current players’ contract status
- June 30: M-League 2025-26 Draft
- July: Confirming all contracts and team rosters
- September: M-League 2025-26 start date
M-League 2025-26 Draft
The M-League 2025-26 Draft will take place on June 30, 2025, starting at 17:00 JST. The draft will be broadcast on the ABEMA Mahjong Channel.
Being a new team, the Earth Corporation Team will have the opportunity to draft all four of their players first. Afterwards, the remaining teams that have vacancies in their roster will pick one player each, going in reverse standings order of the 2024-25 season. This process repeats until all vancancies have been filled.
Earth Corporation To Sponsor 10th M-League Team
On May 26, 2025, it was announced that Earth Corporation (アース製薬) would be sponsoring the 10th M-League team.
Tentatively called the “Earth Corporation Team”, the company will announce the team’s official name on May 28.
Earth Corporation is a company that manufactures and sells a variety of health and wellness products, from cleaning and hygiene products, to gardening and pest control supplies. This year, the company is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
This will be the 10th M-League team and the league’s third expansion team, after the Kadokawa Sakura Knights in the 2019-20 season and the Beast X (then known as Beast Japanext) in the 2023-24 season.
Uchikawa Kotaro Dropped By Kadokawa Sakura Knights, Will Play In EX Furinkazan Draft Audition
On May 19, 2025, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights announced that they will be dropping Uchikawa Kotaro from the team. It was also revealed that Uchikawa is the “Mister X” who was teased for the EX Furinkazan Audition.
In a post on Twitter and through a video on YouTube coach Morii Takumi explained that the decision was made on April 7th and was related to his performance (as opposed to health or other reasons). The team was not able to use Uchikawa in the way that they wanted, especially in important situations. As a result, the team management decided not to renew his contract.
In a separate post, the team also announced that they will be renewing the contracts for Okada Sayaka, Hori Shingo and Shibukawa Nanba.
In a note, Uchikawa thanked fans and staff for their support over the past six years. Uchikawa explained that he wanted to announce his departure as soon as possible, but he was required to do it after the season ended due to contractual obligations. He also apologized to fans for not being able to answer sincerely to fans that told him to do his best next season.
Uchikawa was drafted by the Kadokawa Sakura Knights as their 1st draft pick when they first joined the league in the 2019-20 season. As team captain, he helped the team advance to the finals in 4 of their 6 years, including a championsip win in the 2021-22 season. However, he has also had negative results in 4 of his 6 seasons, including the most recent one where the team missed the playoffs for the first time.
However, Uchikawa also expressed his desire to continue competing in M-League as a player. At the same time that his contract expiration was announced, he announced that he would be competing in the EX Furinkazan Draft Audition. Previously, the mystery player had only been known as “Mister X”
In a note, it was explained that Uchikawa’s inability to announce his deparutre from the Kadokawa Sakura Knights caused delays in announcing the players for the EX Furinkazan Audition. As a solution, they made him Mister X. Uchikawa expressed his joy and excitement in seeing all the buzz about the true identity of Mister X.
The M-League Watch would like to wish Uchikawa well in his pursuit to become an M-Leaguer once again.
M-League 2024-25 Finals: Games #15-16 and the Awards Ceremony
This is it. This is the final day of the M-League 2024-25 season. It’s the last chance for these players to get the best result for their team. By the end of the day, only one team can be crowned champions.
Everything came down to the last day, the last game, the last hand. I don’t want to spoil too much, but it was truly an exciting finish.
Let’s get right into it, shall we?
Before the Games
For the final day, we had the irreplaceable commentary duo of Hiyoshi Tatsuya and Tsuchida Kousho.
At the Bellesalle Shiodome, fans packed the venue to watch the the final games live on the big screen.
One last time, we looked at the highlights from yesterday and took a look at the standings going into today.
The Sega Sammy Phoenix hold an 87.1pts lead over the 2nd place U-Next Pirates, with the 3rd place Akasaka Drivens not that far behind them. A big 1st place by either the U-Next Pirates or the Akasaka Drivens could put them on top. Team Raiden in 4th place and 268.7pts behind 3rd will need get a big win as well and do some targeting.
Intro | Game #15 | Game #16
Awards Ceremony | Final Thoughts
M-League 2024-25 Finals: Games #13-14
For fans and players alike, adrenaline rushes through the body with every second of the game. Facing fierce opponents and rivals, a big win could mean a big shift in the standings.
In Games #13-14 of the M-League 2024-25 Finals, we witnessed one of the biggest games ever to be played in the finals. As a result, we had that a big shift in the standings.
Let’s get right into it, shall we?
Before the Games
For the penultimate day of games, we had Kobayashi Misa and Saikouisen’s Kouno Naoya doing commentary.
After a recap of Tuesday’s results, we took a look at the standings.
The Akasaka Drivens are in the lead, but it is far from a safe lead. The Sega Sammy Phoenix sit right behind them, just 26.6pts shy. The U-Next Pirates have a lot of work to do at 211.0pts behind, as do Team Raiden in the negatives.
M-League Watch 