Editing Mahjong (section)

=== Current development ===
{{See also|Mahjong and artificial intelligence}}
[[File:Schoolkidsmahjong.jpg|thumb|200px|Students in the United States learning how to play Mahjong]]
There are many governing bodies which often host exhibition games and tournaments for modern and traditional Mahjong gaming.

Mahjong, as of 2010, is the most popular table game in Japan.<ref>Pakarnian, John, "Game Boy:  Glossary of Japanese Gambling Games", ''[[Metropolis (free magazine)|Metropolis]]'', 22 January 2010, p. 15.</ref> As of 2008, there were approximately 7.6 million Mahjong players in Japan and an estimated 8,900 Mahjong parlors did ¥300 billion (converting to US$2.8 billion according to exchange rates for 30 April 2020) in sales.<ref>Matsutani, Minoru, "[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/06/15/reference/mah-jongg-ancient-progressive/ Mah-jongg ancient, progressive]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 15 June 2010, p. 3.</ref> There are several [[manga]] and [[anime]] (e.g. [[Saki (manga)|''Saki'']] and [[Akagi (manga)|''Akagi'']]) devoted to dramatic and comic situations involving Mahjong.<ref>Schodt, Frederik, ''Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics''. Kodansha, 1986, Chapter 5.</ref> Since the 1980s, hundreds of different Mahjong arcade machines in Japanese [[video arcade]]s have been created, including [[strip game#Mahjong|strip]] versions. Newer units can connect with other arcade machines across the Internet.

[[Mahjong culture]] is still deeply ingrained in the Chinese community. [[Sam Hui]] wrote [[Cantopop|Cantopop songs]] using Mahjong as their themes, and [[Hong Kong]] movies have often included scenes of Mahjong games. Many gambling movies have been filmed in Hong Kong, and a recent subgenre is the Mahjong movie.
Although the popularity of the game in China is still broad, since 1949, mahjong was frowned upon by the government because it is seen as a means of [[Gambling in China|gambling]] addiction, an issue that the government always sought to tackle.<ref>{{Cite web|title = China unveils restrictive new video game content guidelines|url = https://www.theburnin.com/lifestyle/china-video-game-censorship/|website = The Burn-In|date = 25 April 2019|access-date = 2019-08-05}}</ref>

Prolonged playing of Mahjong may trigger [[epilepsy|epileptic seizures]] according to a 2007 study.<ref>{{citation | title = Mah-jong–induced seizures: case reports and review of twenty-three patients | url = http://www.hkmj.org/article_pdfs/hkm0708p314.pdf |author1=Richard S.K. Chang |author2=Raymond T.F. Cheung |author3=S.L. Ho |author4=Windsor Mak |name-list-style=amp | journal = Hong Kong Med J | year = 2007 | volume = 13 | issue = 4 | pages = 314–318| pmid = 17664536 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110726152307/http://www.hkmj.org/article_pdfs/hkm0708p314.pdf | archive-date = 26 July 2011 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=England |first=Vaudine |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6931119.stm |title=Mahjong game can induce epileptic seizures |work=BBC News |date=4 August 2007 |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref> To date there are 23 reported cases of Mahjong-induced seizures in the English medical literature. Some doctors speculate that this may be due to stress and complex manual movement correlated with intense brain function similar to playing chess or card games such as poker.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Only one way to cure mahjong epilepsy – avoid the game|url = http://www.scmp.com/article/602784/only-one-way-cure-mahjong-epilepsy-avoid-game|website = South China Morning Post| date=3 August 2007 |access-date = 2016-02-19}}</ref>

Studies by doctors have also shown in Hong Kong that the game is beneficial for individuals suffering from dementia or cognitive memory difficulties, leading to the development of Mahjong therapy.<ref>{{cite journal|title=''An exploratory study of the effect of mahjong on the cognitive functioning of persons with dementia'' |date=24 May 2012 |pmid=16779765 | doi=10.1002/gps.1531 |volume=21 |issue=7 |journal=Int J Geriatr Psychiatry |pages=611–7 | last1 = Cheng | first1 = ST | last2 = Chan | first2 = AC | last3 = Yu | first3 = EC|s2cid=6080864 }}</ref>

Researchers have also used [[artificial intelligence]] techniques to develop Mahjong-playing agents using [[Artificial neural network|neural networks]] and [[reinforcement learning]]. They have shown that a self-learning machine can be trained to compete with some of the best [[Richi Mahjong]] players.<ref>{{cite arXiv|last1=Li|first1=Junjie|last2=Koyamada|first2=Sotetsu|last3=Ye|first3=Qiwei|last4=Liu|first4=Guoqing|last5=Wang|first5=Chao|last6=Yang|first6=Ruihan|last7=Zhao|first7=Li|last8=Qin|first8=Tao|last9=Liu|first9=Tie-Yan|last10=Hon|first10=Hsiao-Wuen|date=2020-03-31|title=Suphx: Mastering Mahjong with Deep Reinforcement Learning|class=cs.AI|eprint=2003.13590}}</ref>