2026/7/3

On Saturday, May 23, during the Korea Entertainment Industry Association Spring 2026 Academic Conference held at Tongmyong University in South Korea, Lecturer Masayasu Hirata of the Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences received the Excellent Dissertation Award for his academic paper titled "Japan's Strategy to Establish Mah-jongg as Sports Entertainment: Creation of the Professional Streaming Sports League 'M.League' and the Rise of Fan Culture."

His paper analyzes the approaches behind Japan's successful transformation of mah-jongg from its original format and perceptions into a type of sports entertainment, and makes innovative assessments of means used to formulate a streaming-only pro sports league system—namely, the M.League—as well as the emergence and spread of fan culture which is a vital element of the entertainment industry today.

During the award presentation ceremony, Association Chairman Shin Jung-hoon presented the award certificate to Mr. Hirata.

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