Japanese classical / arushiiaru

Assessment

Confidence

documented a published ruleset or rule description exists and is cited

Evidence

corroborated two or more independent sources agree on the facts that define this variant

Cross-comparison

What each source was read to say, set side by side. The numbers are the sources above.

• [2] dead wall 14, length 4 rounds
• [6] in 1929 the first organisation dedicated to mahjong players in Japan was established; the Federation still recognises Arushiiaru as its primary variant and accepted riichi as a second approved variant only in 2016
• [7] in Sloperama's early-forms table, Japanese Classical scores 8 (identical) against the 1920s 'New Method' column and only 4 against 1920s standard Chinese Classical, which places its descent through the new-style line rather than straight from Chinese Classical
• [8] dates mahjong's arrival in Japan to 1909, two decades before the 1929 organisation the chart uses to date this node
• [3] describes Japanese classical as closer to the Chinese classical scoring system but with only the winner scoring, and says it is still used in tournaments
• [4] Four players, one game of four wind rounds. Penalties revised and added 1 January 2016
• [9] Founded on 1 October 1929 by uniting mahjong groups across Japan, with Kikuchi Kan as first president. An amateur body that plays without stakes, drink or smoking. It holds an international-rules (MCR) tournament each year from 2003, and in 2016 adopted riichi as its second ruleset
• [5] Named from the Chinese for 22, the base of the smallest win. Fu rounding changed from round-half to rounding up in 2004; starting points raised from 2,000 to 3,000 on 1 October 2024
• [10] Founded 1929 by Kuga Midori; merged with other groups in 1932 as the 大日本麻雀聯盟; re-founded 1947. Keeps the early-Shōwa arushiiaru rules, without dora, riichi, bazoro or a one-han minimum, with some later adjustment
• [11] Quotes Fujiura Kō in 『太陽』 (May 1974): mahjong 'appeared suddenly' in the Taishō era, after the 1923 earthquake; a man named Kanazawa learned it in Shanghai, set up a tile workshop in Shinagawa and took the first set to Kikuchi Kan at Bungei Shunjū, whose pages then spread the game. A correspondent identifies Kanazawa as Nakamura Tokusaburō
• [12] Home play by returnees from 1909 (Nagawa Hikosaku); the first club, the 雀仙会, in Akasaka in 1920; the Plantin café circle around 1923, whose rules were put in order on a Tianjin basis. Rival Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Cantonese, Manchurian and Korean schools each published manuals in 1917-27, each claiming to be the original; Plantin players used an English pamphlet from the NYK line
• [6] The 1929 Federation 'played a variant known as Arushiiaru', named from the Chinese for 22, the minimum base value; dora did not exist and riichi only as a first-turn declaration

Reading it

The ruleset is well sourced and still played; the chart's date is the Federation's, not the rules'. Arushiiaru is the Japan Mahjong Federation's own ruleset, published on its site: 3,000 points each, a 20-fu base (the self-drawn minimum of 22 gives the name), no riichi, no dora of any kind, no one-han minimum, and a mangan cap. Japanese Wikipedia, the Mahjong Wiki and the Chombo Club agree, and date revisions to 2004 (fu rounding), 2016 (penalties) and 2024 (starting points). 1929 is when the Federation was founded, uniting the clubs of a decade in which rival Chinese rulesets, Tianjin, Shanghai and others, each had their own school (Ebashi). The Mahjong Wiki, the chart's own source, dates the first publication of the standardised rules to 1931; that edition was not found, and the Federation's periodicals of the 1930s are wanted. The Chombo Club's 0-han seven pairs and first-turn riichi are absent from today's rules, so they describe the older game, and the rules have moved since 1929.

Looked for, not found

• Tournament rules The Federation's own rules govern its tournaments; no separate event rules were found.
• Law No law bears on the ruleset. A 1931 newspaper report on taxing mahjong was found and could not be read.
• Commercial No online platform read in the riichi and sanma passes offers arushiiaru.
• Forum Not searched.
• Collection Not searched; the Mahjong Museum's catalogue is wanted under Modern riichi.
• Rulebook Ebashi lists the manuals of 1917-27 that preceded the Federation; none was read.

Known, not yet read

Sources that look worth having but could not be read for this entry. If you can reach one, it can be read and added. Every variant’s list is gathered on Missing sources.

• Historical Japan Mahjong Federation 日本麻雀聯盟, 『麻雀タイムス』 (periodical) — The Federation's own paper, the likeliest place for its first published rules and their date (the Mahjong Wiki says 1931).
  Where: https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000007137421. Tried: NDL Search record read 2026-10-08; print only.
• Historical 大日本麻雀聯盟, 『大日聯タイムス』 (1934-) — The merged federation's paper from 1934: the rules as standardised after the 1932 merger.
  Where: https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I034444131. Tried: NDL Search record read 2026-10-08; print only.
• Journalism 『太陽』 (Heibonsha), May 1974, roundtable 「大正よもやま話」 — The source of Asami's account of mahjong's arrival in Tokyo and Kikuchi Kan.
  Where: Print.. Tried: Print only.
• Journalism Osaka Mainichi, 12 May 1931, 「競技の入場料 課税は認めぬ：ゴルフ、麻雀の課税は許可」 — A Home Ministry decision on taxing mahjong in the Federation's early years.
  Where: https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390025020465776128. Tried: The CiNii record answered 202 with an empty page (2026-10-08).

Where it was searched

Every place the search checklist names for this variant’s languages, and what each gave, including nothing. The last full pass was on 2026-10-08.

Names searched: Japanese アルシーアル麻雀, アルシャル麻雀, 日本麻雀連盟ルール; English Japanese classical mahjong, arushiiaru, Japanese Classical.