A Donation from Japan

Recently, the Backgammon Federation of Serbia received a large number of boards as part of a donation from the Japan Backgammon League and Mr. Shin Mizutani. The boards were put into use immediately at the very next exhibition tournament. After the photos from that evening reached Mr. Mizutani, he wrote an article about it for a Japanese backgammon magazine.

Here, we share his article in its entirety and express our gratitude once again to Mr. Mizutani and the Japan Backgammon League for their generous donation.

Backgammon enthusiasts playing on the newly arrived boards at the exhibition tournament in the 3D Pub.

“Mogami” Boards Journey Across the Sea

The “Mogami” boards, created by the Japan Backgammon League (JBL) and cherished by us for many years, have now found a new home across the sea—in Serbia! These boards truly bring back memories, don’t they? I would like to take this opportunity to share the story behind them.

Susumu „Sam” Mizutani

What are “Mogami” Boards?

Back when Japanese players were not yet active on the international stage, the league’s president at the time, Mr. Shimodaira, longed for boards that could help promote the game. When Mr. Numazawa heard about this, he generously donated the necessary funds. The “Mogami Restaurants” inscription was placed on the boards solely as a token of gratitude from the president. Just so you know, Mr. Numazawa never asked for his restaurants to be advertised!

How Did They End Up in Serbia?

Following the introduction of new official boards, the JBL donated the “Mogami” boards—which were still in perfectly usable condition—to various countries, including Serbia. During one of my visits to Serbia, I noticed that they were in great need of boards. When the possibility of securing a certain number of “Mogami” boards was mentioned, Miloš immediately said he would gladly accept them.

The plan was to ship them to Cyprus, from where they would be transported to Serbia with the assistance of the Serbian Embassy there. Throughout this journey, the shipment underwent customs inspections, requiring tremendous effort and cooperation from many people who passed it along like a baton in a relay race. Ultimately, it took a whole year for the shipment to reach its destination.

I was thrilled when I received photos of people in Serbia joyfully playing on them. It is beautiful how backgammon connects people across the world. I would like to thank Mr. Numazawa once again, whose generosity made all of this possible.

Exchanges with Serbia

The photographs below were taken when I visited Serbia after the 2023 World Championship in Monaco. Much like in Croatia, the local backgammon enthusiasts gave me a warm welcome, and we played many games together. They even organized a welcome tournament in my honor, and I had a wonderful time throughout my stay.

This reminds me that afterwards, I traveled to the World Team Championship in North Macedonia. However, I was the only participant from Japan, and I was disappointed that I couldn’t compete because there weren’t enough Japanese players to form a team.

The next picture is from the World Championship in Greece, held in April 2025. Miloš playfully crashed a group photo of the Japanese Women’s National Team. At that moment, the “Mogami” boards had probably not even left Cyprus yet. Despite this, Miloš thanked Japan once again on behalf of Serbia, and all members of the Japanese national team received special doubling cubes produced in Serbia as gifts.

A big thank you to Miloš, the captain of the Serbian team.

Miloš Mikić and the Japanese Women’s National Team.