Glossary

Riichi mahjong uses many Japanese words. Here they are in plain English, with the lesson that teaches each one.

Baiman double mangan

A limit hand of 8 to 10 han: twice a mangan. Scoring: han and fu

Block mentsu kouho

A set, a pair or a partial set: one of the five parts a hand is built from. The five-block method

Chii call a sequence

Take the discard of the player on your left to complete a sequence. Calling: chii, pon and kan

Closed hand menzen

A hand with no called tiles (a concealed quad keeps it closed). Calling: chii, pon and kan

Dama silent tenpai

Staying in tenpai with a closed hand without declaring riichi. Riichi or dama

Dead wall wanpai

The last 14 tiles of the wall: dora indicators and replacement tiles for quads. Never drawn normally. The table and a turn

Dealer oya

The player sitting East. Wins 1.5 times as much, pays twice a non-dealer’s share of a tsumo, and stays dealer after winning or being in tenpai at a draw. The table and a turn

Dora bonus tile

Each dora in a winning hand adds 1 han. Dora are not yaku. Dora

Dora indicator dora hyouji

The face-up tile on the dead wall. The tile after it in its sequence is the dora. Dora

Dragons sangenpai

The white, green and red honor tiles. A triplet of any dragon is a yaku. The tiles

Fold betaori

Giving up on winning and discarding only safe tiles, so you don’t deal in. Push or fold

Fu minipoints

Points for how a hand is built and won (sets, pair, wait, ron or tsumo), rounded up to 10. Counting fu

Furiten sacred discard

You cannot win by ron while one of your winning tiles is in your own discards (or you passed on one). Furiten

Genbutsu safe tile

A tile a riichi player cannot ron on: one in their own river, or one they let pass after declaring. Basic defense

Han doubles

The main unit of hand value, from yaku and dora. Each han roughly doubles the score, up to mangan. Scoring: han and fu

Hanchan half game

A game of an East round and a South round. How a game ends

Haneman jumping mangan

A limit hand of 6 or 7 han: one and a half mangan. Scoring: han and fu

Honba counter

A counter added after a dealer win or a draw. Each one adds 300 points to the next win. Payments, counters and draws

Honors jihai

The winds and dragons: tiles without numbers, used only in triplets and pairs. The tiles

Kabe wall

When you can see all four of a tile, two-sided waits through it are impossible, which makes the tiles beyond it safer (no-chance). Basic defense

Kan quad

Four of a kind, declared as a set. You draw a replacement tile and a new dora is revealed. Calling: chii, pon and kan

Kanchan closed wait

Waiting for the middle tile of a sequence, like 4 with 3 and 5. Wait shapes

Man characters

One of the three suits, numbered 1 to 9 with Chinese numerals. The tiles

Mangan limit hand

A fixed score for 5 han, or fewer han with many fu: 8000 points (12000 for the dealer). Scoring: han and fu

No-chance no chansu

All four copies of a tile are visible, so no two-sided wait can use it. Basic defense

Noten not ready

Not in tenpai. At an exhaustive draw, noten players pay the tenpai players. Payments, counters and draws

One-chance wan chansu

Three copies of a tile are visible, so a two-sided wait through it needs the last copy: safer, not safe. Basic defense

Open hand naki

A hand with at least one called set. Some yaku are lost or worth less when open. Calling: chii, pon and kan

Pair jantou

Two identical tiles: every standard winning hand has exactly one. Sets and a winning hand

Penchan edge wait

Waiting on 3 with 1 and 2, or on 7 with 8 and 9. Wait shapes

Pin circles

One of the three suits, shown as circles (dots). The tiles

Pinfu no-points hand

A closed hand of four sequences and a non-value pair, won on a two-sided wait. Your first yaku

Pon call a triplet

Take any player’s discard to complete a triplet. Calling: chii, pon and kan

Push zentsu

Keep building your hand against a riichi, discarding dangerous tiles if needed. Push or fold

Quad kantsu

Four identical tiles declared as a set (counts as one set). Sets and a winning hand

Red five akadora

A red 5 tile that counts as a dora. Used on Riichi Arena, not in EMA tournaments. Dora

Riichi ready declaration

Declaring that your closed hand is in tenpai, for 1000 points: a 1-han yaku, but your hand is locked. Riichi

Riichi stick deposit

The 1000 points put up when declaring riichi. The next winner takes them. Payments, counters and draws

River kawa

A player’s discards, laid out in rows of six in front of them. The table and a turn

Ron win on a discard

Winning with another player’s discard. The discarder pays everything. Winning: tsumo, ron and yaku

Ryanmen two-sided wait

Two consecutive tiles waiting on either end, like 4-5 waiting on 3 or 6. Wait shapes

Sequence shuntsu

Three consecutive numbers in one suit, like 3-4-5 of circles. Sets and a winning hand

Shanpon double pair wait

Two pairs waiting for either to become a triplet. Wait shapes

Shanten tiles from tenpai

How many useful tiles a hand still needs to reach tenpai: 1-shanten is one away. Tenpai and shanten

Simples chunchanpai

Suit tiles numbered 2 to 8. The tiles

Sou bamboo

One of the three suits, shown as bamboo sticks (the 1 is a bird). The tiles

Suji lines

Tiles three apart (1-4-7, 2-5-8, 3-6-9). If a player discarded 4, a two-sided wait on 1 or 7 is impossible for them. Basic defense

Tanki single wait

Waiting on one tile to complete the pair. Wait shapes

Tanyao all simples

A hand of only 2 to 8: no terminals or honors. 1 han, open or closed. Your first yaku

Tenpai ready

One tile away from a complete hand. Tenpai and shanten

Terminals routouhai

The 1 and 9 of each suit. The tiles

Triplet koutsu

Three identical tiles. Sets and a winning hand

Tsumo self-draw

Winning with a tile you drew yourself. Every other player pays a share. Winning: tsumo, ron and yaku

Ukeire acceptance

The tiles (and how many copies are left) that would improve your hand. Tile efficiency

Uma placement bonus

Points added or taken at the end of a game for finishing 1st to 4th. How a game ends

Ura dora hidden dora

Extra dora under the indicators, revealed only for a player who won with riichi. Riichi

Wait machi

The tile or tiles a tenpai hand needs to win. Wait shapes

Wall yama

The face-down tiles players draw from. The table and a turn

Winds kazehai

East, South, West and North honor tiles. Your seat wind and the round wind are value tiles. The tiles

Yaku scoring pattern

A pattern a hand must contain at least one of to win, like riichi or all simples. Winning: tsumo, ron and yaku

Yakuhai value tiles

A triplet of dragons, your seat wind or the round wind: 1 han each. Your first yaku

Yakuman limit hand

The highest score: 32000 points (48000 for the dealer), for very rare hands. Scoring: han and fu