Pandemic Shift from Parlors to Apps
I remember when local mahjong gatherings were a regular part of the week for many older women. Then during the pandemic, those physical spaces closed almost overnight. What surprised me is that instead of the activity fading, it seems to have intensified digitally. Some reports mention elderly users spending over ten hours online daily. That doesn’t sound like reluctant adoption. It sounds like immersion. Did the pandemic permanently change how this generation interacts with games?
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A broader view presented in https://banglayinfo.com/from-mahjong-parlors-to-mobile-apps-aunties-go-digital/ traces how the shift unfolded when in-person spaces shut down. Japan once had around 9,000 mahjong parlors, representing a full industry built around physical play. When gatherings became impossible, the activity did not fade but migrated into mobile platforms. The article references research showing elderly users in China spending ten or more hours online daily, playing games and watching short videos on Douyin. Rather than resisting smartphones, many older users adopted them actively. These apps were designed with large tiles and no time limits to ensure accessibility. During isolation, the game survived by adapting to a digital setting instead of disappearing.