January 2026 ARA Newsletter

First Newsletter from the future!

Hey yall, it’s time for the first Newsletter (at least for a while) for the ARA! Your first question may be ‘how is this from the future?’ Well, it’s January’s Newsletter and it’s being written in February. The only way to do that is if I wrote it from the future (definitely not because it’s late)! The goal with these Newsletters is to have something that is easy to distribute, informative to the community, and also not a slog to read. The things you can expect are monthly news items related to Riichi, important ARA events and happenings, minutes from our monthly meetings, and maybe even a rant or fun fact to tie it all together. The goal is to make it enjoyable for YOU, the person reading this, so make sure to bring any feedback to the Communications Working Group!


Minutes For Jan. 2026 Meetings

Minutes for the January 2026 meeting can be found here:

https://www.nariichi.org/ara-meeting-minutes?month=01-2026

Some highlights include a new fresh format for World Riichi Pros (shoutouts to Laura for being the new WRP Administrative Pro!), Corak winning the 2025 ARML championship which is the first of its new format (he finally got one), and the ARA starting the process for club recertification and verification (it’s unfortunately likely on the Harrison timeline so expect it sometime in the next several months to years). Nathanael also shared a presentation showcasing clubs recapping what they did during 2025 which was super cool!


Upcoming Events For the Next ~90 Days

  • Virginia Beach is having their Riichi Tournament on February 21st-22nd. They are at 23 out of their cap of 64 players and are having signups open until 7 days before the event. If you’re thinking about joining, you only have a little time left so act fast!

  • Oklahoma Mahjong is having their tournament in Tulsa on March 14th-15th. They are at 45 out of 64 players signed up, so spots are going fast! This is the first tournament to be ARA ratified AND have Open Riichi allowed, so everyone will have their eyes on this event to see how that rule unfolds.

  • DC Riichi Mahjong is having their biggest tourney to date on March 28th-29th in Alexandria Virginia! Instead of a zany format this year they chose to make the format much more common, and took all that experimental energy into their plethora of side events! Signups are at 149/152, so get in quick or sign up on that waitlist if you’re looking to play the biggest aka-nashi tournament in the US!

  • The Pacific Mahjong League is hosting their 2026 Invitational on May 2nd-3rd. Featuring Jenn the JPML Professional and online superstar personality, this 32 player capped tournament will feature some of the best players for the US. Featuring auto-haipai Amos REXX tables, this one of kind tourney is accepting signups now!

  • World Riichi League is having their finals in February. Make sure to stay tuned and check them out for more info!

  • Saikouisen USA has a plethora of Pro Ama events coming up in the next month. If you want to see the schedule or more info about the events, check out the website below!

  • The last day to join the American Riichi Mahjong League Spring Season beginning in April is March 15th. If you are looking for more info, check with your local club/the link below!



One Down, Many More to Go

As we reach the end of the first Newsletter, I want to look back at how far we’ve come. Even just two years back the ARA went by a different name and was less than half the size of what it currently is. Now, we are doing so much more and growing even faster. This organization is something that myself and many others can be extremely proud of, and something that I think helps this community more and more as time goes on. Instead of patting ourselves on the back, I want to look at the road ahead. Thinking back to how much we’ve been able to do in the past two years, I can’t even imagine how much we’ll be able to accomplish in the next two. With that comes experiments, feedback, failure, all leading to success. What I want is for people to think about what they want from the ARA, and especially from this Newsletter, and write your feedback either in the Communications Working Group in the ARA Discord, or to our official contact page here: https://www.nariichi.org/contact


-To All of You in January 2026, From Harrison

ARA 2025 News and Happenings

It’s been a while since the American Riichi Association report has been updated. But here we are, all set with a series of updates to bring you into 2026 and beyond. Let’s catch up the ARA Certified events that took place around the country over the past few months.

The Chicago Area Riichi Tournament happened September 20-21, 2025 in Rosemont, Illinois. The 120 participants had 9 games to try and make it into the top 8 and the semi-finals. Those final 8 played two more games to decide the finalists. Michael D (Toronto Riichi Club) answered the call by taking first place overall, followed by runner-up Koichi N (Chicago Area Mahjong) and Tyler E (Chicago Area Mahjong) in the bronze position.

The long-running PML Open 2025 was October 11-12th this year. Originally planned as a 40-player cap, it expanded to be a 64-contender event at Pacific Mahjong League in Fremont, California with a lot of west coast representation not only from the hosting club, but from Seattle Riichi Mahjong as well. Saikouisen Rules were used and it was an exciting top-8 cut to be later whittled down to a 4-person final table. Fred M (unaffiliated) won the title with Skye C (Pacific Mahjong League) taking second and Ichika S. (Pacific Mahjong League) rounding out the top 3.

About a month later, the 2025 Great Lakes Riichi Open was held October 25-26, 2025. This was the second year of Great Lakes Riichi competition and WRC rules were used with the addition of red fives and a larger Uma. All players were eligible for the first 7 games, after which the top 4 advanced to a 2-game final table. Max Suddendorf (Riichi Nomi NYC) topped the final table, taking the gold. Michale Xu (unaffiliated) took second and Kristy C (Philly Mah-Jawn) scored a podium finish in third.

To start off November, the first-ever UC Berkely Riichi Open saw 40 players battle for glory. To add some fun to the felt, the tournament used WRC 2025 rules with red fives, Nagashi Mangan, and a bigger Uma (placing bonus) than usual. After 9 games the total scores determined the winners. Winning the whole thing was Fanming Cao (Pacific Mahjogn League) while club-mate Rachel H took 2nd. Edward Z (Philly Mah-Jawn) was in 3rd place, which is no small feat considering the strongest players in California all showed up with an especially strong contingency from Pacific Mahjong League.

The next big November big event was the Philly Riichi Open 2025 at the Old Pine Community Center in Philadelphia. Ninety-four players took to the tables, playing WRC Rules, and the final scores after 9 games determined the winners. The biggest winner was Austin Booth (Riichi Nomi NYC) followed by Gaohan M (Philly Mah-Jawn) and 3rd place was Eric H (Clermont-Orlando Riichi Mahjong Squad). 

And most recently, in New York, New York, the Sparrow’s Nest Open ran December 6-7, 2025 at their new venue. One table from each round was streamed live on the WRC Channel so everyone at home could follow along. There was no final table as this was part of the World Riichi League series, but the top contenders still scored medals. Dylan Zhang (Pacific Mahjong League) led the pack with a commanding lead sthat started from game 1. Kevin N (Riichi Nomi NYC) was the runner up, but right on his heels was Greg C (WRPM/USPML), rounding out the top 3.

There is a lot of ARA excitement waiting for you in 2026, namely the Oklahoma Riichi Open March 14-15th, 2026 and the DC Riichi Mahjong Open scheduled for March 28-29, 2026. Stay tuned!

It took a bit to get these updates set up, but we got it and they will happen regularly from here on out. Make sure you have the page bookmarked and check back for updates in 2026!

Congratulations to USA's 16 Nominees for WRC Tokyo 2025!

The American Riichi Asssociation is delighted to nominate our USA representatives for the World Riichi Championship 2025 in Toyko, Japan!

  • Kate Drutskaya - Boston Meowjong

  • Noel Hui - Seattle Riichi Mahjong Club

  • Stanley Deng - Pacific Mahjong League

  • Dustin Fries - DC Riichi Mahjong

  • Takahiro Sato - Riichi Mahjong Columbus

  • Bichen Wang - Pacific Mahjong League

  • Josh Havens - DC Riichi Mahjong

  • Jing Tu - Pacific Mahjong League

  • Edward Koshimoto - Los Angeles Pride of Mahjong

  • Steven Liu - Seattle Riichi Mahjong Club

  • Ray Tan - Northwestern University

  • Hiroshi Yoshida - Riichi Nomi NYC

  • Yishen Wu - Philly Riichi Mah-Jawn

  • Nathanael Kozinski - Northern Illinois Riichi Mahjong

  • Cristi Magracia - Riichi Nomi NYC

  • Bob Chow - Riichi Nomi NYC

The ARA WRC Invitational was hosted in New York City on January 18-20, 2025 to select the USA’s representatives for WRC 2025 in Tokyo. The invitational was a new event born from the efforts of the riichi mahjong community in the United States to create a more comprehensive ranking system for tournament players. Over four hundred players from around the country competed in thirteen open tournaments vying for qualification points which were awarded for high placement in events, with the cutoff varying based on tournament size. Based on these accumulated points, the top sixty-four players received invites to compete in this invitational, where the top sixteen finalists received nomination to represent the US at the World Riichi Championship in Tokyo later this year. Read more about the invitational on our website.

Best of luck to our 16 representatives in Tokyo! See full tournament results below.

US Seat Allocation for the 2025 World Riichi Championship

The American Riichi Association is pleased to announce that the USA will be allocated 16 seats at the WRC2025 in Tokyo!

With over 400 players attending our qualifying tournament cycle in 2024, we were able to show WRC the remarkable growth of riichi mahjong skill and interest in the USA since the last WRC. This is reflected in our seat allocation, which is more than triple what the USA was allocated in WRC2022 in Vienna, and places us among the countries with the most seats allocated in the entire world.

Thanks to everyone who worked tirelessly on our player qualification schema and data tracking systems, which provided the data WRC needed to increase our allotment; and to all the Tournament Organizers around America who hosted 13 excellent tournaments that allowed us to create a competitive qualification.

Next Steps for the USA:

The Final Qualifier Invitational will be held in NYC at Sparrow's Nest Studio on January 18-20, 2025 (Martin Luther King weekend). The results from that tournament will be used to invite 16 players to represent the USA at WRC 2025.

The top 64 players from our USA WRC qualification player ranking who are eligible to represent the USA will be receiving invitations to the USA WRC Invitational on or around Saturday, November 9th, 2024. We aim to finalize the player list by December 9th, 2024.

WRC2025 will be held in Tokyo, from July 1 - 7. Read more on their website: https://wrc2025tokyo.com/ (JP) and on the WRC X (EN): https://x.com/WorldRiichi

Stay tuned to our Social Media and website to follow the excitement!

ARA Board Seats Open!

The ARA Board is accepting applications for 3 new Board Members!

Being on the ARA Board is your chance to help grow riichi mahjong in America by working on projects that improve the experience of riichi players across the country. Anyone who is a registered player in ARA can apply for a seat on the Board through this form, which will be open through November 8th: https://forms.gle/SZvUXewkVpTFDE1s6

Read more about Board Member responsibilities in our Bylaws!

ARA Bylaws and Organizational Structure Updates

The ARA Executive Board is pleased to announce upcoming structural changes to help us better represent all of the US riichi community! First is the edit to the Bylaws, currently in a final draft form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_SgZ0cYaPLWltWRMY-xps_UF5OtpfBXx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104665166224765132000&rtpof=true&sd=true

Updates to American Riichi Association Structure

The American Riichi Association is composed of a 12-member executive working board (“the board”) and a council of riichi mahjong organizations based in the United States of America (“the general assembly”).

About the ARA Executive Board

The Board is made up of 12 registered players, elected on a 3-year term. The Executive Board is responsible for the day-to-day work of the organization and pushing forward its aims and goals, and each member is responsible for at least one project or function of the Board. Board initiatives and projects are approved by the general assembly (see below). A Board member does not get a vote of their own but a single individual may fulfill the roles of both executive board member and voting assembly member. All votes will be conducted via google forms, posted on discord and sent via email, and the ARA Discord and ARA Monthly Meeting will be the forums for live discussion. The current Board has 10 members. Nominations to fill the remaining 2 Board seats will open at the September ARA meeting, and a special election will be held by ranked choice vote 2 weeks before the October ARA meeting, and the two most-voted representatives will begin their term at the October ARA meeting. The next general election, based on the bylaws and 3 year terms that board members have, will be conducted next June for one-third of the board consisting of 4 standing board members seeking reelection and other potential nominees.

About the ARA General Assembly

The assembly includes representatives from any riichi mahjong organization operating in the United States of America representing at least 12 unique mahjong players that meet at least monthly in a public location, including local clubs, parlors, leagues, and professional organizations. Any such organization is eligible to nominate a representative to join the assembly. Joining the assembly gives your organization the ability to vote on matters such as American ranking systems, the composition of the ARA board, tournament approvals, and allocations of seats to foreign events, such as ERMC and WRC. The assembly also functions as a coordinating platform for event scheduling and logistics amongst the heads of organizations. Nominations for an organization and representative to be added to the Assembly can be completed at any point by submitting the google form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHVMJ9s9SWV0S5GmiyeeqmUcq2lLGUPoTJiWEdKtHUXDuqOQ/viewform.

Note that this form is multiple pages, and the final page requires the names and emails or discord handles of the applicant plus 11 others to verify club size. The first wave of nominations will be approved by the Board at the September ARA Board Meeting. At future board meetings, the Assembly will vote on approvals of new organizations representatives.

Timeline Summary

September 16 Board Meeting: Bylaws draft finalized; planning for club representative nominations begins.

September 30 ARA Meeting: First group of org representatives join ARA as the General Assembly. Official bicameral system begins. Nominations open for 2 representatives to join the Board. First orders of business for the General Assembly will be ratifying the bylaws themselves and then approving or suggesting edits to the ARA Code of Conduct, which was removed from the Bylaws to ensure it is more easily editable.

2 weeks prior to October ARA Meeting: Assembly uses ranked choice voting to elect the 2 new board members. Voting is open for two weeks.

October ARA Meeting: New executive board members installed. (edited)

Represent America in the International Online Riichi Mahjong Competition!!

Sign ups to qualify for the International Online Riichi Mahjong Competition (IORMC) are now live!

The International Online Riichi Mahjong Competition (IORMC) is an annual online competition between countries which has both team and individual elements. The IORMC was originally an informal annual match between Japan and South Korea in 2011. Over time however, more countries have joined and it has become the competition it is now which includes around 20 countries from all over the world. The IORMC event in 2024 will be November 2nd for Qualifying and November 9th for team finals and individual top bracket.

The United States joined the IORMC competition in 2015, and has had steady improvements in showings each year. The goal is to continue fielding strong enough teams to perennially finish in the top 4 each year.

ARA will be hosting the qualifiers to determine who will be on the USA Team for this event. Qualifying dates and times will be Sundays August 11th and 18th and September 15th and 29th at 12pm Eastern / 9am Pacific. The format for qualification will be:

  • To be eligible for selection, participants must meet IOC standards to represent a country (citizenship)

  • 4 sessions of 4 games each, played on Tenhou

  • Participants must play 3 sessions to be eligible

  • Only the first 3 sessions count

  • IORMC Ruleset is used

  • 4 available qualifying spots for the best scores will be awarded with 2 reserve players but there will be a simple majority rules vote on whether the 4th spot will go to the 4th best total score or the best individual session if that player does not finish top 4.

  • The next 4 players after the main team has been selected who accept will be alternates.

Games will be organized and run in the American Riichi Mahjong League discord.

Sign up for the qualifying sessions here!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd1vVPFWEBq_amLatQfJA3fHecTGPq_E0d8VS6mJqZm-f8giQ/viewform

NARMA becomes the American Riichi Association (ARA)

Rebranding NARMA to ARA

At our inception, the American Riichi Association (ARA) was known as the North American Riichi Mahjong Association, and represented the entire continent of North America. As player populations have boomed across Canada, Mexico, and the USA, our brothers and sisters in Canada split off in 2019 to create Riichi Canada organizing and managing their own player base. ARA is now an organization solely focused on mahjong in the USA - a large enough task, considering our hundreds of players!

In April 2024, the board held an open poll, and 80 members of the community voted on the American Riichi Association as the new name representing our targeted purpose. Thank you for weighing in and we look forward to continuing to represent you as an organization!

- the ARA Board


New Board Members and Working Groups formed

After reviewing the volunteer applications submitted to us, we're pleased to announce some additions.

We are very happy to announce that we have accepted three new members onto the ARA board:

  • Steve Augustin

  • Claire Pozniak

  • Max Suddendorf

All are very qualified members of the community, and I believe I can speak for both myself and all the existing board members when I say that we are looking forward to working with them and continuing to help grow Riichi mahjong in the US.

We'll also be establishing two working groups for specific projects over the coming year:

  • A technical working group based around player registration and tracking of WRC Qualification Points

  • An outreach working group for work on communications, public awareness and general Riichi promotion

If you're interested in contributing to either of these groups, please reach out to the ARA board and we can put you in contact.

It's been great to see so much support from the community and we're excited to have new members on the board and a set of projects to move forward with. The full list of applications will be released to the public shortly.

North American Open Location Announced

After reviewing all submissions, we've settled on the proposal submitted by the Pacific Mahjong League. It was a difficult decision as we received quite a few competitive proposals and we very much appreciate the effort and thoroughness that went into all of them.

We're very excited to have PML hosting the North American Open and hope to see you all there!

Request For Proposal process for NAO 2024 begins

We have opened the doors on the RFP process for the 2024 North American Open! Any organization interested in hosting the event may now submit a proposal via our Proposal Submission Page. The page itself has details about fixed requirements for the event as well as what pieces of information are required to constitute a complete proposal.

Note that all proposals submitted will be released to the public to ensure transparency in the selection process. There will also be at least one clearly posted public meeting during the selection process to ensure that feedback from the community can be heard.

If you have any questions or issues, you can contact the ARA board via a few pathways:

2021 International Online Riichi Mahjong Competition (IORMC) - USA Qualification

Coming off of arguably the best performance the US has put to date in the IORMC, it is that time for the new USA (or perhaps old) team members to continue the march towards being the best in the world!

As a quick refresher, the IORMC was originally a competition between South Korea and Japan in 2011 that has grown into a worldwide country competition in a short period of time.

Seeing as though both the team and newly formed individual competitions are in such a short format, the qualifying sessions for the USA reflect that format.

There will be 4 sessions in all, held on each Saturday in August at 0900 PDT/1000 MDT/1100 CDT/1200 EDT. Only the first 3 sessions will count towards qualifying. A change this year is that the first spot will be awarded to the individual with the highest single scoring session - provided that their overall qualifying average is positive. All other spots will be awarded based upon their qualifying average.

Registration and more details can be found here.

2020 International Online RIichi Mahjong Competition - CAN Qualifiers

It’s that time of the year again! In cooperation with the Canadian clubs, the CAN qualifiers are now officially announced for the IORMC competition held in November!

What is the IORMC? Originally a competition between South Korea and Japan in 2011, it has turned into a worldwide competition with countries from all across the world! With a short format, it’s not rare to see haymakers thrown left and right as countries (and now individuals!) battle it out for top honors!

This year, there will be 5 qualifier sessions, starting on Saturday, August 8th and for each Saturday afterwards save for a break on August 22 & 29th. More information and the registration link can be found here.

2020 International Online Riichi Mahjong Competition (IORMC) - USA Qualification

It’s that time of the year again! US qualifications for the IORMC competition held in November will be starting soon!

What is the IORMC? Originally a competition between South Korea and Japan in 2011, it has turned into a worldwide competition with countries from all across the world! With a short format, it’s not rare to see haymakers thrown left and right as countries (and now individuals!) battle it out for top honors!

This year, there will be 4 qualifier sessions, held on the Saturdays following the 4th of July. More information and the registration link can be found here.