Riichi mahjong glossary
Definitions for discard puzzles, fu practice, and answer explanations.
Terms used in this app
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Set (mentsu) | A sequence, triplet, or quad. A standard hand has four sets and a pair. |
| Pair (jantou / toitsu) | Two identical tiles. Jantou is the pair used as the head of a standard winning hand. |
| Sequence (shuntsu) | Three consecutive numbers in the same suit, such as 3–4–5. |
| Triplet (koutsu) | Three identical tiles. |
| Quad (kan / kantsu) | Four identical tiles declared as a quad. |
| Tenpai | Ready: one winning tile completes the hand. |
| Shanten | The number of improvements needed to reach ready. |
| Ukeire | The tile types and available copies that improve the hand. |
| Fu | Minipoints awarded for hand shape and winning method. |
| Han | The scoring units awarded for yaku and bonus tiles. |
| Two-sided wait (ryanmen) | For example, 3–4 waiting on 2 or 5. |
| Closed wait (kanchan) | For example, 3–5 waiting on 4. |
| Edge wait (penchan) | 1–2 waiting on 3, or 8–9 waiting on 7. |
| Pair wait (tanki) | Waiting to pair a single tile. |
| Double-pair wait (shanpon) | Two pairs waiting for either pair to become a triplet. |
| Multi-sided wait | A wait completed by three or more tile types. |
| Closed hand (menzen) | A hand with no open calls. A concealed quad does not open the hand. |
| Open call (furo) | Using an opponent’s discard for a sequence, triplet, or open quad. |
| Furiten | A restriction on winning by discard, including when your own discards contain a winning tile. Passing a winning discard can also cause furiten. Self-draw is still possible. |
| Dora | Bonus tiles that add han. Dora alone do not provide a yaku. |
| Draw / discard | Take a tile from the wall / choose a tile to throw away. |
| Tsumo / ron | Win by self-draw / win on another player’s discard. |
| Chii / Pon / Kan | Call a sequence / triplet / quad. |
| Characters / Circles / Bamboo | The three numbered suits, written m / p / s in explanations. |
| Honors | East, South, West, North, White Dragon, Green Dragon, and Red Dragon. |
| Red five | A bonus five, written rm / rp / rs for each suit in these explanations. |
| Complete one-shanten | A flexible one-shanten shape preserving both sequence completion and pair-based paths to ready. |
Alternative English names
English yaku names vary between organizations and games. This app uses Full Straight (also called Pure Straight), Twin Sequences (Pure Double Sequence), Mixed Sequences (Mixed Triple Sequence), Common Ends (Chanta / Mixed Outside Hand), and Perfect Ends (Junchan / Pure Outside Hand). Common Terminals means terminals and honors only.
The app’s yaku names follow the saved Taiyo Chemicals terminology as a starting point, with explicit clarifications: Value Honors distinguishes the yaku from honor tiles, and Closed Self-Draw distinguishes the yaku from drawing a tile. Names do not imply that the app uses a tournament’s entire ruleset.
Yaku reference
Japanese names are shown here as a reference.
- 立直
- Riichi
- 断么九
- All Simples
- 門前清自摸
- Closed Self-Draw
- 役牌
- Value Honors
- 平和
- Pinfu
- 一盃口
- Twin Sequences
- 搶槓
- Robbing a Quad
- 嶺上開花
- Dead Wall Draw
- 海底撈月
- Last Tile Draw
- 河底撈魚
- Last Tile Claim
- 一発
- Ippatsu
- ダブルリーチ
- Double Riichi
- 三色同刻
- Mixed Triplets
- 三槓子
- Three Quads
- 対々和
- All Triplets
- 三暗刻
- Three Concealed Triplets
- 小三元
- Little Three Dragons
- 混老頭
- Common Terminals
- 七対子
- Seven Pairs
- 混全帯么九
- Common Ends
- 一気通貫
- Full Straight
- 三色同順
- Mixed Sequences
- 二盃口
- Double Twin Sequences
- 純全帯么九
- Perfect Ends
- 混一色
- Half Flush
- 清一色
- Full Flush
- 国士無双
- Thirteen Orphans
- 四暗刻
- Four Concealed Triplets
- 大三元
- Big Three Dragons
- 小四喜
- Little Four Winds
- 大四喜
- Big Four Winds
- 字一色
- All Honors
- 清老頭
- All Terminals
- 緑一色
- All Green
- 九蓮宝燈
- Nine Gates
- 四槓子
- Four Quads
- 天和
- Blessing of Heaven
- 地和
- Blessing of Earth
- 人和
- Blessing of Man