What makes China's mahjong popular in Japan?

Mahjong is popular in Japan because of its high playability, intelligence, interest and gameplay, and it also has a lot to do with the promotion of the Japanese government, especially the Japanese emperor.

The Japanese name Kawahiko brought mahjong from China to Japan in 1909. Mahjong, which has just been introduced to Japan, is only a tool used by a few upper-class people for entertainment because of its complicated rules, but it has not been popularized among ordinary people. 1926, a Japanese wrote a book to teach simplified mahjong games, and mahjong began to spread to ordinary people in Japan.

Before mahjong entered Japan, the most popular pastimes in Japan were Go and traditional Japanese chess. After the introduction of mahjong, its popularity quickly surpassed that of Go and Chess, and the Japanese emperor promoted the Japanese mahjong fever to a new height intentionally or unintentionally, and mahjong quickly became irresistible all over Japan.

According to records, Emperor Akihito of Japan was an avid mahjong fan. Once the emperor paid a state visit to the United States. During the intermission of the visit, the emperor couldn't help playing mahjong with his friends. This scene happened to be recorded by a photojournalist. After the photo was published, it caused great repercussions among the Japanese people. The Japanese people follow the example of the emperor and play mahjong. Various mahjong places have mushroomed in Japan, and mahjong has gradually become the most popular public entertainment.

Perhaps because of their love for mahjong, the Japanese also set up a mahjong museum in 1999. The mahjong exhibits displayed in the museum are the true testimony of mahjong from scratch in Japan, from silence to popularity throughout the country.