Japanese Mahjong
Encyclopedia
Japanese Mahjong also known as Rīchi Mahjong, is a variation of mahjong
. While the basic rules to the game are retained, the variation features a unique set of rules such as rīchi and the use of dora.
. A player may declare ready if a hand of the player needs only one tile to complete a legal hand, that is, a hand with a required combination of tiles, and the hand must be concealed, in which case the player can win on a discard. Upon declaring ready, the player may no longer change their hand except forming hidden quads. The player must pay a buy in fee.
As a possible rule, the player can choose to reveal the hand winning more points if successful, which is called ōpun rīchi (open rīchi). In that case, the player shows only the tiles that are related to waits, or reveals all the tiles in the hand depending on rules. The declaration increases the yaku count allowing the player to score extra points.
For all of these rules, in case discards were called to make open melds and are not in the discard piles, the rules still work for such discards.
(焼き鳥), if one did not win a hand in a match, that player pays a penalty.
At the start of a match, each player has a mark called "yakitori māku (mark)" (焼き鳥マーク) on the table, and a player flips their own after winning a hand. Chips or coins are also used as substitutes, and they are often removed instead of being flipped.
Players can make a closed quad by calling out "kan" using same four tiles in their hand. They reveal the meld on the table usually with the inside two tiles faced up and the outside two tiles faced down.
Players can make an open quad by calling out "kan" using another player's discard and the same three tiles in their hand. They reveal the meld on the table with all the four tiles faced up, with one of those tiles placed sideways so that players can realize from whom the discard was taken. Players cannot make the type of meld using open melds of three tiles.
Players can make an added open quad (kakan; 加槓) by calling out "kan." They can add a self-drawn tile or a tile already in their hand to an open meld of same three tiles. The tile is usually added sideways on top of the sideways tile in the open meld.
and manga
series such as Akagi
, Saki
and Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku.
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
. While the basic rules to the game are retained, the variation features a unique set of rules such as rīchi and the use of dora.
Setup
Japanese mahjong is usually played with 136 tiles. All suits from the standard mahjong are used, except for the flower and season tiles. The tiles are all arranged in 4 walls of 2 stacks consisting of 17 tiles, and are placed in front of the players. Tiles are organized into four suits: Pin (circles), Sou (bamboo), Wan (characters), and Tsū (honour tiles). Honour tiles are further divided between Wind tiles and Dragon tiles. Some rules may have red number 5 tiles which work as dora so they earn more han value.- Pin (筒子, pinzu): Named as each tile consists of a number of circles.
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| Īpin | Ryanpin | Sanpin | Sūpin | Ūpin | Ryūpin | Chīpin | Pāpin | Chūpin |
- Sou (索子, sōzu): Named as each tile consists of a number of bamboo sticks that hold a hundred coins each. Note that 1 Bamboo is an exception: it is a bird, to prevent alteration.
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| Īsou | Ryansou | Sansou | Sūsou | Ūsou | Ryūsou | Chīsou | Pāsou | Chūsou |
- Wan (萬子, wanzu, or manzu): Named as each tile represents ten thousand (萬, wan, or man). The kanjiKanjiKanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
of number five on the tile usually becomes "伍" instead of "五."
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| Īwan | Ryanwan | Sanwan | Sūwan | Ūwan | Ryūwan | Chīwan | Pāwan | Chūwan |
- Wind tiles (風牌, kazehai): Named after the four cardinal directionsCardinal directionThe four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...
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| Ton (East) |
Nan (South) |
Shā (West) |
Pei (North) |
- Dragon tiles (三元牌, sangenpai): White (白, haku), Green (發, hatsu), and Red (中, chun). Often, the White dragon is represented as a blank white tile. The kanji on the Green dragon tiles is usually slightly different from "發" and includes the kanji of "矢" instead of "殳".
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| Haku | Hatsu | Chun |
Scoring system
In the Japanese scoring system, two factors are considered: the han value and fu value. If the han value is five or more, then the fu value is no longer necessary. A winner acquires points based on these values, which correspond to a points-value table.Yaku and yakuman
Yaku are specific combinations of tiles or conditions that yield value of hands. When scoring, each yaku has own han value, and the han works as a doubler. A hand needs at least one yaku. Yakuman are limit hands which are hard to get, and in some variations multiple yakuman are applied.Rīchi
Declaring rīchi means declaring a ready hand, and is a kind of yakuJapanese Mahjong yaku
In Japanese Mahjong, yaku is a condition that determines the value of the player's hand. In the Japanese version of the game, a player must have a minimum of one yaku in their hand in order to legally win. Each yaku has a specific han value: for each han a hand contains, the hand's point value...
. A player may declare ready if a hand of the player needs only one tile to complete a legal hand, that is, a hand with a required combination of tiles, and the hand must be concealed, in which case the player can win on a discard. Upon declaring ready, the player may no longer change their hand except forming hidden quads. The player must pay a buy in fee.
As a possible rule, the player can choose to reveal the hand winning more points if successful, which is called ōpun rīchi (open rīchi). In that case, the player shows only the tiles that are related to waits, or reveals all the tiles in the hand depending on rules. The declaration increases the yaku count allowing the player to score extra points.
Dora
Dora tiles are bonus tiles, and a player gets additional value if a final hand includes them. Each dora tile adds han value, and thus scores doubles. Dora are not regarded as yaku. Dora tiles are determined for each round by exposed tiles from the dead wall, and in some rules they are marked through a game (see Red 5 tiles). In the event when a player makes a quad, an additional tile from the dead wall is flipped to indicate an additional kind of dora tile. In three player mahjong, dora can be a specific tile such as the North Wind. These should not be confused with Flowers and Seasons which are not used in most Japanese versions anyway.Red 5 tiles
In some rules, up to two of the number 5 tiles for each suit are replaced with red 5 tiles which work as dora themselves. In addition, if a dora indicator on a stack is number 4 of that suit, they can get extra han value.Winning
There are distinctions between winning from the wall and winning from a discard. When going out, players call out "tsumo" (自摸 or ツモ, self-drawn) or "ron" (栄 or ロン, picking up a discard), and not the name "mahjong". In the case of tsumo, the other three players share responsibility of paying out points, according to the scoring table. For ron, the player who discarded the tile pays for all the points.Sacred discard
In the sacred discard rules which are also called furiten (振聴 or フリテン), a winning tile can only be drawn from the wall in the following cases. There are three rules which can be simultaneously valid in a game:- A player cannot win on any discard if the same tile is currently in the player's own discard pile. The rule also applies for multiple waits, that is, if one kind of tile in the discard pile can make a required combination irrespective of having yaku or not, a player cannot win off any winning tiles.
- If another player’s discard can make a required combination irrespective of having yaku or not, a player cannot win on any discard after it until the next turn or until making an open meld.
- After declaring rīchi, a player can no longer win on any discard if the player discarded a winning tile from the wall or passed a winning discard.
For all of these rules, in case discards were called to make open melds and are not in the discard piles, the rules still work for such discards.
Dead wall
Depending on rules, when a quad is made, the number of tiles in the dead wall is kept to be 14 by reserving the last available tile as a part of it, or the number decreases at that time.Running out
A game ends when a player's score became zero or below zero, or only when it became below zero. Some rules allow a game to continue even when it became negative value.Evening the hand
At the end of a match, players are often given bonus points or penalties depending on their place.Western rounds
A game usually ends when the Southern fourth round is over. If the points of the top player are below 30,000 at the time, it continues to Western rounds (西場) in some rules. The situation is called shānyū (西入; entering West). The prevailing wind becomes West. Northern rounds (北場) come next in the same way. Depending on rules, they are followed by Eastern rounds again or instead White, Green and Red dragon rounds and again Eastern rounds.Yakitori
In an optional rule called yakitoriYakitori
, grilled chicken, is commonly a Japanese type of skewered chicken. The term Yakitori can also refer to skewered food in general. Kushiyaki , is a formal term that encompasses both poultry and non-poultry items, skewered and grilled...
(焼き鳥), if one did not win a hand in a match, that player pays a penalty.
At the start of a match, each player has a mark called "yakitori māku (mark)" (焼き鳥マーク) on the table, and a player flips their own after winning a hand. Chips or coins are also used as substitutes, and they are often removed instead of being flipped.
Wareme
In an optional rule of wareme (割れ目, ワレメ; fissure, split), the player in front of whom the wall was split to indicate the end of the dead wall acquires and pays double the normal points. They are doubled after the points of honba are added. It is often especially called oya-ware (親割れ; parent's [dealer's] wareme) when the player is the dealer.Making melds by calling
Players can make a meld by calling for another player's discard. They reveal the meld on the table, and then make their own discard. Closed quads also need calling out and revealing.Chī
Players can make an open sequential meld by calling out "chī (吃 or チー)" using a tile discarded by the left player, who is prior in order. Players place the meld to face up on the table, usually on the right side of their hands, with that discard placed sideways at the leftmost position of the meld so that players can realize what tile was taken from the left discard pile.Pon
Players can make an open meld of same three tiles by calling out "pon (碰 or ポン)" using a tile discarded by any other player. Players place the meld to face up on the table with one of those tiles placed sideways so that players can realize from whom the discard was taken.Kan
There are three types of quads and players call out "kan (槓 or カン)" for all of those types. After making a quad, players need a supplemental tile to draw from the end of the dead wall.- Closed quad
Players can make a closed quad by calling out "kan" using same four tiles in their hand. They reveal the meld on the table usually with the inside two tiles faced up and the outside two tiles faced down.
- Open quad
Players can make an open quad by calling out "kan" using another player's discard and the same three tiles in their hand. They reveal the meld on the table with all the four tiles faced up, with one of those tiles placed sideways so that players can realize from whom the discard was taken. Players cannot make the type of meld using open melds of three tiles.
- Added open quad
Players can make an added open quad (kakan; 加槓) by calling out "kan." They can add a self-drawn tile or a tile already in their hand to an open meld of same three tiles. The tile is usually added sideways on top of the sideways tile in the open meld.
Precedence order
The precedence order to pick up a discard is that the first is ron (winning), the second is kan or pon, and lastly chī when two or more players need the same discard. Kan and pon cannot happen at the same time.Related versions
There is a three player version called sanma (三麻). Two player mahjong is also found as video games.Media
This variant is featured in animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series such as Akagi
Akagi (manga)
is a mahjong centric Japanese manga, written by Nobuyuki Fukumoto and first published in 1992. It is featured in the weekly magazine Modern Mahjong, and is a prequel to the author's previous work Ten, in which Akagi's titular character also appears...
, Saki
Saki (manga)
is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ritz Kobayashi. The story revolves around a first-year high school girl named Saki Miyanaga who is brought into the competitive world of mahjong by another first-year, Nodoka Haramura...
and Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku.