Mahjong, specifically Japanese-style Mahjong, is gaining popularity in Russia, aided by an anime show featuring the game. At a recent tournament in Moscow, the top-placing Japanese participant placed second.

A game of Mahjong was recently played atop the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia—not just on the road but on top of the superstructure!

In fact, the game has been gaining so much popularity in Australia that the World Series of Mahjong was also supposed to take place in Sydney, instead of the usual Macau. Unfortunately, the event was canceled for lack of time to plan.

At a Mahjong tournament in Toulouse, France the Chinese players were beaten out by three French, two Italians, and a Dutch. Apparently this caused some major consternation in China.

[via The Asahi Shimbun, Global Times, Mahjong News, South China Morning Post]