The Sendai set

Introduction

The "Sendai set" here refers to off-line meetup of real-life mahjong that was regularly conducted by the Tenhou(online mahjong) player in the Tohoku vicinity, mainly in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture.

The main activity period was about 7 years, from the end of 2010 to about 2017, when the activity is now suspended.

I am the one who launched this meetup, which is none other than myself. I have at hand the records for 3106 games.

Tenhou keeps records even if you don't want to, but I think it is rare to find a meetup with such a large number of records of mahjong played in real life.

It has been a while since they went inactive, so there are probably fewer people who know about them now.

It would be a shame for this activity to be buried, so I have been thinking for several years that I should compile a proper record of it, and now I have finally done so.

It is not an official record, but rather a compilation of my personal history.

Background of establishment

Before I tell you how this meetup came to be, let me tell you a little about myself.

I was originally active on a online mahjong site called Hangame under the name "madarasensei" around 2006.

I started playing Tenhou in December 2007, according to my records, and that's when my handle became "madara(真鱈)".

I was still in Tokyo at that time, but soon after I moved to Sendai, and that is when I gradually moved away from online mahjong. This was in April 2008.

After that, there were months when I played less than 100 games per month, but when my life stabilized in the summer of 2010, I returned to Sanhou(the highest level table of three-player mahjong of Tenhou) in earnest and resumed participating in meetup elsewhere (I was playing a fair amount of Hangame player’s meetup in Tokyo).

At that time, I was approached by Mr.Seishun 18 Ticket(青春18切符), who was Mr.Suzume Crazy(すずめクレイジー)'s second apprentice, to join an one-off meetup since he was coming to Sendai.

Sendai large-scale off-line meetup

It was my friend from Hangame days, Tamanegi Janshi-san who approached me. This was the beginning of the Sendai set.

Although this meetup was called "large-scale," there were only 10 participants and at most two tables.

The participants were Seishun 18 Ticket, Tamanegi Janshi(寂夜霽月), LITHIUM (黒柱勃樹), Lord of the pit(奈落の王), Ritsumisan(リツミサン), HAIHUN, kuro, Kogetsu Dennosai(弧月電脳斎), tacos(鳳南研究所), and me. It is interesting to note that the original form of the meetup has already appeared at this point.

It was an idyllic time when there were four Hououmins(The highest-ranking players of Tenhou.), which was rare at that time, and people were excited to say that a Houou table had been set up in real life.

The fame of the 'Lord of the pit' was so great that at the Chiba Prefecuture off-line meetup I attended shortly before that, Mr.kickchi said to me, "When you think of Sendai, you think of pit-san, right? It seems that was the Ritsumisan was 9th-dan(maximum rank: 11th dan) at this point, but I had no idea.

As a prelude to this offline meetup, it was arranged that LITHIUM and HAIHUN would meet Tamanegi Janshi-san in Iwate Prefecture, with their presence being at the heart of the meetup.

I thought I would feel very uncomfortable with just one acquaintance, but in reality, it was not the case at all. I felt comfortable as if I was at home from the beginning.

That day, we got together in the afternoon and played four-player mahjong and Totenko(a variation of three-player mahjong) all day long, and in the evening we had a drinking party.

By the way, Ritsumi-kun came late that day, but he said he had some business to attend to, and he quickly left after winning the top hand in the last round with a kan 4s tan-yao dora-dora in dama.

Tacos-san had a runny nose and filled the trash can on the side table with tissues while playing his first experience of Totenko, and then he left.

Agreement to hold a regular meetup

Over drinks after the meetup, pit-san and I said, "I had a lot of fun today. We immediately reached an agreement when discussing, "We would like to continue having sets like this regularly in the future." LITHIUM, who had been listening to our conversation and was well-informed about the mahjong halls in Sendai, joined us and we decided to ask tacos, a neighbor of ours, to host a meetup (held on November 28, 2010 at mahjong hall Sakae).

We did not have the spirit of "let's build a golden age with our generation" at all, but it happened naturally.

At the same time, before the first meetup, we set up a circle for the Sendai set (with myself as the administrator and pit-san as the vice administrator) on a website called "Dobon Tengoku," which was a popular SNS among Temhou player at the time, and called out to people we thought might be interested, and for the time being we kept in touch on the bulletin board there.

What happened after that

We expanded the size of the circle and held a Christmas party that year, but the regular meetup was limited to a few mahjong games at the end of the year between LITHIUM, Tamanegi-san, and myself, which gradually became a part of the board after the new year.

In 2011, the meetup started in earnest, and in February, former member Matsu-san (コマツの酒) joined us through an introduction by tacos.

Also, Ritsumi-kun and Mikawaya (spoiled), who had been semi-regular participants, gradually became regulars (from around June 2011).

During that time, the number of members gradually increased, despite the Great East Japan Earthquake and other disasters.

In 2012, it seemed as if the activities of the group would slow down once LITHIUM and tacos, who had been the core of the group, would go away for a while, but the momentum did not wane and new members joined the group, and the group became more active again.

The meetup continued to grow, and by the end of the year at its peak (2014 and 2015), it had enough to hold a year-end party for 30 people.

Everyone had their own personality, and we were a group of powerful families who all had their own views on Tenhou, like a Ryozanpaku (a place where ambitious persons gather).

Around the fall of 2015 I became a bit estranged from the meetup; in April 2016 I got married and became even more estranged, and the administrative focus shifted to other members.

As a result, there was a sense that the meetup was divided into several groups, if not split, but eventually that, combined with our respective circumstances and coronavirus pandemic, is now inactive.

Rules

The rules are a general, it contains one red tile of each type, ariari(anything goes) of hanchan game(half game).

At first the rules were vague, but later they were refined to conform to Tenhou's Jansosen.

Also, the rate is Uma(premiums based on placement) 1-2 with 30 prides will be awarded per 1000 mahjong points and 100 prides per special prize tile.

At the time, I was hearing that the meetups being played in Tokyo were 2-pin(1000 mahjong points/200 prides) hanchan and 3-pin(for the same /300 prides) quarter a game, so my first image was vaguely that it was about a hanchan game of pin (the same /100 prides).　

I even wondered if there was any point in playing 30 prides in the first place, but after discussions, we settled on this.

However, a compromise was reached regarding the ratio of the special prize tile in the rules between 1000 mahjong points/50 prides and 100 prides (pin). The prize tile amount will be based on the standard amount in the 50 prides rule.

This is because setting the point value of each special prize tile to 5000 points will result in the game becoming riichi mahjong, while setting it to 2000 points will result in the prize tiles being disregarded.

The ratio of 3333 mahjong points per special prize tile is considered a balanced ratio in mahjong. This is because if a player win on self-draw a hand with one special prize tile, they would receive a total of three special prize tiles. This is equivalent to earning 10,000 points (≒3333 points × 3), which aligns with the profit gained from one place point.

This scoring system ensures that the last-place player, known as "Danrasu," does not become desperate towards the end of the game. Even when their efforts may seem futile, this system provides a balanced reward that corresponds to the value of one place point, fostering competitiveness among players. The reason for this was that the balance was much better.

Since there were many students participating, it was not feasible to play with 1-pin. In fact, the final outcome was satisfactory, and it is now believed that the result was much better.

It is believed that the students and guests from far away paid less because individuals like Ritsumi-kun and others in the older group paid more for the drinks after the meetup.

Philosophy of the meetup

The concept of the meetup became that people who were able to go to the Houou table(the highest-ranking class of Tenhou.) would play together for a long time at a low rate. As a result, I think there are some people who have stopped coming to the meetup.

However, each member approached new participants on his/her own initiative, and there were no clear standards for this.

As for me, I really liked the stoic atmosphere of the meetup, where we would play 15 rounds of mahjong, and then go out for a drink and talk about mahjong while going back and playing.

I feel that people who play Tenhou to a certain extent are not afraid of this kind of thing.

I don't think there were many activities other than mahjong, except for the drinking sessions, but somehow we all went out to eat Jiro(a famous and voluminous food in Japan, such as ramen.) together, went to maid cafes(where waitresses dress in maid costumes and provide attentive and friendly service to customers.), went to hot springs, and went to Jojo's exhibition(Sendai City is the hometown of Hirohiko Araki, and Morioh Town is inspired by Sendai City). There may have been others.

Venue

The first memorable event was held at Sanctuary in front of Sendai Station. After that, it was dispersed to Dokudami-so and San (now Bull) area in front of the station, and finally settled at Marchao, although the 55 House (Coco House) period continued for a little while in the middle.

Other locations included Sanctuary Ichibancho Branch, First One, Ron Ron, Kintaro, and No. 2 Fuji. Now only Marchao, Bull and 2nd Fuji remain.

There was no specific bar, but we often went to Kannoya, Datekko, Sakanaya Dojo, Imozou, and Yumebito. Now only "Kannoya" remains.

At Kannoya, the same old man always comes out and says, "Wait a couple of minutes," but that is actually a cloak and dictates that you have to wait about 20 minutes. And when you enter the restaurant, you are usually treated as a new customer.

For some reason, I am always a newcomer, so they actually think, "These guys are here again," but I think they treat me as a newcomer according to the rule in the dodgeball chapter of HUNTER x HUNTER, where if one member changes, they are recognized as a new party.

Incidentally, I remember that the bar of the memorable Seishun 18 Ticket 's large-scale off-line meetup was a bar called "Jinya," which was located on the 5th floor of a building near Forus-mae, which is said to be one of the most flirtatious places in Sendai. This place is no longer there either.

I always drank only shochu and sake, but Ritsumi-kun, Matsu-san, Matsushima-kun, tacos, and pit-san drank beer.

On the other hand, Seil-san, Kotoyoro-san, and the others were cassiolators, and they seemed to be defensive play themselves from drinking "Let's start with beer for now". I sometimes switched to the Cassis Orange’s group.

Problems

A few problems occurred, but I don't think there was anything to reflect on that much as a problem. Maybe I was lucky.

Basically, I feel that the group was built on something like the personal virtues of the core members. This meetup rules were not that strict, and it was more about morality than about the rule of law.

Conclusion

After resigning from the Hanamaki Agricultural School, Kenji Miyazawa left a note in verse titled "To the Students". I quote from the first section of the memo.

These four years
　　　　How much fun , have been for me!
I spend every day
　　　　I sang like a bird in the classroom
I swear to you
　　　　I have never been tired of this job

Kenji Miyazawa, "To The Students," verse 1

When I think of the Sendai set, I always remember this poem.

Unlike mahjong on the Internet, mahjong in a meetup requires contact with other people in order to set up a table, or requires the cost of a place or transportation, or has other hassles that are unique to real mahjong.

However, the Sendai set was so good that it more than compensated for this.

The very silly conversation on the table. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed doing this with the people in front of me. I spent my days singing like a bird. Each one of them still enriches my life today.

To put it in the style of the Tenpai(
The famous mahjong manga), "A meetup is how much place money you can put into a stupid conversation.

It would be premature for me to talk about life, but I believe that life is about taking the time we are given with our life span as the limit and turning it into our own experiences.

And each experience is made up of coincidences.

The parts that may or may not exist, the parts that are seriously unimportant, the information that is unimportant, the interactions that are unimportant, all of these things come together to form a life and color a life.

Without nourishment, we will die. This is inevitable, and this is the essence. However, the richness of life cannot be measured only by whether or not we have taken nourishment.

Did you eat something to get that nourishment, and if so, what did you eat, how did you eat it, where did you eat it, when did you eat it, and with whom did you eat it?

What kind of restaurant, what time of day, what kind of menu, how did you compare them and make your decision, what were you thinking at that time, what kind of conversation did you have...etc.?

Each of these seemingly innumerable contingencies are joined together like a patchwork to form the essence that colors our one and only life. Essence cannot exist apart from contingencies.

Up until about the time I launched this meetup, I had been preoccupied only with essence.

However, after I turned 30, I began to think that the accumulation of these seemingly unimportant aspects is actually life.

I have never once regretted launching this meetup, but I still regret leaving my score report card at mahjong hall and not saving the meetup-related articles on closed Tenhou SNS.

I regret not keeping accurate records more carefully to recall the details of the experience.

Because that is an irreplaceable part of my life.