> 1. As you know the game is called Transparent Mahjong. 麻雀 stands for > mahjong and 透明 (toumei) for transparent.
My reply is heavily edited since I've learned much today...
In Japan best I can tell the sets do show up as Akira Tooru Toumei Mahjong (麻雀 透明), not Washizu Mahjong. If you google 透明 you will find similarly transparent things, so somehow that title translates to transparent... or maybe to acrylic, I dunno.
![](http://www.my7475.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/my747508061601.jpg) ![](http://www.patent-cn.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/5289u.JPG)
I can find Japanese sights with photos of the manga Akagi promoting the clear mahjong sets... so your post is most likely correct that this manga is the origin of the variation... but me being somewhat of a fact-checker, I'd still like to find confirmation that the clear sets did indeed start with the manga, and the manga didn't borrow the idea... difficult research considering I don't speak Japanese... this minuscule detail only matters to me since I compiled what I want to be a complete authoritative guide to mahjong... and getting my facts right is important. It's safe to say the manga certainly made the clear set popular.
Your reply was most helpful, even if at first I was a doubting Thomas. Thanks.
more edits: Vas Crabbs was helpful too.
Edited by Gatinho (10/03/10 08:09 AM)
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