Mahjong has no single paper of record. There is no ESPN of the tile game, no Chess.com news desk covering every major event.
What exists instead is a scattered handful of sites, each strong at one thing and largely silent on the rest. A riichi tournament in Tokyo, a National Mah Jongg League card release, and an Indian club forming in Hyderabad will be covered by three different places — if they're covered at all.
So the honest answer to "where do I follow mahjong news" is: a small handful of bookmarks, not one. Here are the five worth having, and what each is genuinely useful for.
1. Mahjong Wire — news and editorial across every variant
Best for: general news, editorials, and coverage that isn't tied to one regional ruleset.
Most mahjong publications are built around a single tradition — riichi sites cover riichi, American sites cover the NMJL card. Mahjong Wire is one of the few writing across variants, which matters if your interest is the game rather than one federation's version of it.
It runs news alongside longer editorial pieces, so it reads more like a magazine than a results feed. That makes it the best single starting point if you only want one bookmark — though as with everything on this list, it won't cover every niche.
2. Osamuko's Mahjong Blog — the riichi community's long-runner
Best for: Japanese riichi, written in English, with a long archive.
Osamuko has been going for years and is one of the reasons English-speaking riichi has a community at all. It mixes strategy, translation of Japanese material, tournament news and opinion, with a voice that's recognisably a person rather than a content team.
The archive is the real asset. If you're learning riichi seriously, there is a decade of material here that no newer site has matched.
Caveat: posting is irregular. Treat it as a library to read through, not a daily feed.
3. United States Professional Mahjong League — competitive play, on video
Best for: watching strong players actually play.
USPML runs organised competition and — more usefully for most people — broadcasts and archives it. Reading about a hand is one thing; watching a good player agonise over a discard for thirty seconds and then explain why teaches something that prose can't.
If you've reached the point where you understand the rules but can't see why strong players do what they do, this is the fastest way past that wall.
4. r/Mahjong — the front desk of the whole hobby
Best for: questions, identification, and finding people to play with.
r/Mahjong is where beginners ask "what is this tile," collectors post inherited sets, and players from every tradition end up in the same thread. It is the closest thing the hobby has to a single room.
It's also the most reliable place to get a genuine answer to a specific rules question, because someone who plays that exact variant will turn up.
Caveat: it skews heavily toward riichi and American mahjong. Other traditions get less attention.
5. American Riichi Association — riichi in the US
Best for: tournament announcements and organised riichi outside Japan.
The American Riichi Association is the organising body rather than a magazine, which makes its news page unusually reliable: things posted there are actually happening, with dates and venues.
If you want to move from playing online to playing in a room with other people, this is where you find out when and where.
Caveat: US-focused, and riichi only. Useless for any other tradition.
The realistic setup
If you want one bookmark, make it a general-interest publication and accept you'll miss niche events.
If you want proper coverage: one general news source, one for your specific variant, and r/Mahjong for everything else. That's three tabs and roughly ten minutes a week, which is about what the hobby generates.
And if reading about it makes you want to play — that's the right instinct. Start a free game in your browser, or work through how the game is actually played first.
Common questions
Is there a single best mahjong news site?
No. Coverage is split across variants, so most players follow two or three sources rather than one.
Where do I follow mahjong tournaments?
USPML broadcasts and archives competitive play. Riichi events outside Japan are usually announced through community blogs and regional associations.
Is there mahjong news in English for Chinese or Indian mahjong?
Very little. These traditions have huge player bases but almost no English-language press, which is a real gap in the hobby.
How often should I check?
Weekly is plenty. Mahjong has no daily news cycle, and most of these sites publish a few times a month at most.