Census Results

Many thanks to all who've helped in making our first census a reality!

We received an amazing 500+ responses on the English form alone! We are excited to share our findings with everyone.


If you would like to get additional insights into our respondents, check out the following.

Locations of Our Respondents

Relative Popularity of Online Platforms

Most Popular Mahjong Goals

Most Interesting Aspect of Mahjong

Distribution of Mahjong Soul Rankings

N: Novice
A: Adept
E: Expert
M: Master
S: Saint
There were 278 responses who noted their mahjong soul rank.

Distribution of Tenhou Rankings

0: Any rank lower than 1 Dan
1~10: Corresponding Dan Level
There were 126 responses who noted their Tenhou rank.

Club Attendees
(US/Canada)

In-Person Tournament Seekers
(US/Canada)

There are many players who are interested in tournaments who do not belong to a club.

Players Seeking Other Players
(US/Canada)

Check out this useful map of riichi organizations.

Club Attendees
(Global)

In-Person Tournament Seekers
(Global)

Players Seeking Other Players
(Global)

Check out this useful map of riichi organizations.

Online Playtime per Month

Y-axis: Number of Respondents

Club Playtime per Month

Y-axis: Number of Respondents

Family Playtime per Month

Y-axis: Number of Respondents

Friend Group Playtime per Month

Y-axis: Number of Respondents

Pro Organizations Playtime per Month

Y-axis: Number of Respondents
Members of professional mahjong organizations tend to spend more hours playing mahjong per month.

Self-Identified Skill Level

vs

Mahjong Soul Rank

N: Novice
A: Adept
E: Expert
M: Master
S: Saint
: Beginner
: Intermediate
: Proficient
: Expert
About 7% of players in Master rank rate themselves as beginners.
Only a few consider themselves to be experts at the game even at saint level.

Self-Identified Skill Level

vs

Tenhou Rank

0: Any rank lower than 1 Dan
1~10: Corresponding Dan Level
: Beginner
: Intermediate
: Proficient
: Expert
In general, players from 5-dan or below have similar self-perception of their skill level.
There is a large difference between how 6 and 7 dan players see themselves, possibly due to them qualifying for the highest lobby.

Availability of Advice

vs

Mahjong Soul Rank

N: Novice
A: Adept
E: Expert
M: Master
S: Saint
: Yes
: No
There is a positive correlation between rank and access to advice.

Availability of Advice

vs

Tenhou Rank

0: Any rank lower than 1 Dan
1~10: Corresponding Dan Level
: Yes
: No
About half of the people can get advice.

Years of Mahjong Experience

vs

Mahjong Soul Rank

N: Novice
A: Adept
E: Expert
M: Master
S: Saint
: 0-1 years
: 2-4 years
: 4-8 years
: 8+ years
There is a positive correlation between years and rank.
Many are able to achieve Master and Saint with less than one year of experience.

Years of Mahjong Experience

vs

Tenhou Rank

0: Any rank lower than 1 Dan
1~10: Corresponding Dan Level
: 0-1 years
: 2-4 years
: 4-8 years
: 8+ years
The same correlation can be seen from 0 ~ 6 dan.
The correlation here is weaker towards higher ranks.

Extra Pie Charts