On January 17, a women-only mahjong salon "Kitakurenai" (Hirosaki-shi station square , TEL 050-5867-4631) opened near Hirosaki station.

The store is owned by Tomoko Toyama, a professional mahjong player who belongs to the C3 league of the Japan Professional Mahjong Association. To create a place where even women can enjoy mahjong, it opened as a new activity base for "Aomori Mahjong Girls' Association Hokuboku", which Mr. Toyama presides over.

Mr. Toyama started playing mahjong in the lower grades of elementary school and continued to play mahjong even when he became a member of society. Certified as a professional by the association in 2014 (Heisei 26). In December 2017 (Heisei 29), he made a U-turn from Tokyo to Hirosaki, and is energetically developing activities such as a culture class instructor and the presidency of "Kitakurenai".

The store area is about 10 tsubo. Two mahjong tables will be installed. "I wanted to make the store different from the traditional Mahjong-so, such as a closed space partitioned by curtains, with the concept of" don't smoke, "" don't drink, "and" don't bet, "says Toyama. You can see Mt. Iwaki from the window, and you can rent a blanket with sofas and foliage plants in the store.

The fee is 2,000 yen for individual lessons (2 hours) and 1,500 yen for group lessons (3 hours). Every Sunday, a 6-hour all-you-can-eat course = 2,000 yen will be set up. The experience is 30 minutes = 500 yen. Drinks such as coffee, apple juice and tea are free.

The opening was scheduled for last year, but due to the outbreak of a new coronavirus cluster in Hirosaki, it was pre-opened until the same day. Currently, it operates while taking measures such as temperature measurement, disinfection, and wearing a mask. “Women-only mahjong villas are rare in Japan. We want to lower the threshold of difficulty for mahjong and increase the number of users,” says Toyama.

Regarding the charm of mahjong, Mr. Toyama said, "Mahjong is not only about luck, but it is also fun to understand people's habits and movements of the other person. If you can tell it, "he shows his motivation.

Business hours are Monday to Thursday = 10:00 to 18:00, Sunday = 12:00 to 18:00. Closed on Fridays and Saturdays.