Mahjong Rules guide · Gameplay not available here
Japanese Riichi mahjong
A complete hand needs a yaku.
This guide follows four-player World Riichi Championship (WRC) 2025 rules. Other Japanese tables can differ, especially red fives, rounding and limit rules.
The familiar rhythm
East begins with 14 tiles; everyone else has 13. Draw, then discard into your own visible row. Most wins use four groups and a pair; seven distinct pairs and thirteen orphans are exceptions. There are no flower tiles or jokers in this profile.
Calls can change your score
Chi claims a run from the previous player. Pon claims three identical tiles; Kan declares four and gives a replacement draw. Opening your hand removes some scoring options. Win by ron from a discard or tsumo from your own draw.
Riichi, dora and furiten
Riichi: with a closed, ready hand, declare riichi and place a 1,000-point deposit. You normally must discard each later drawn tile unless you win or make a permitted concealed Kan.
Dora: the indicator points to a bonus tile. Bonuses add han after you have a yaku; dora alone cannot make a legal win.
Furiten: if any current winning tile appears in your own discards, you cannot win by ron on any of those waits. Passing a winning discard also creates a restriction: normally until your next draw, or for the rest of the hand after riichi. Self-draw can still win.
Score in three steps
- Count han from yaku, then add dora.
- Count fu from the hand’s shape and winning method. Round up to tens; seven pairs stays at 25. Pinfu self-draw stays at 20.
- Use the payment table for your han, fu, dealer status and ron/tsumo. Round each payment up to 100.
| Yaku | Han |
|---|---|
| Riichi / closed self-draw | 1 each; closed |
| All Simples / Dragon Pung | 1 each |
| All Pungs / Seven Pairs | 2; seven pairs must be closed |
| Half Flush | 3 closed / 2 open |
| Full Flush | 6 closed / 5 open |
| Part of the hand | Fu |
|---|---|
| Base | 20 |
| Closed hand won by ron | +10 |
| Self-draw | +2, except Pinfu |
| Dragon, seat-wind or round-wind pair | +2; a double-wind pair is still 2 in WRC |
| Edge, middle or pair wait | +2 for the winning-tile wait |
| Triplet of 2–8 | 2 open / 4 concealed |
| Triplet of 1, 9 or an honour | 4 open / 8 concealed |
| Quad of 2–8 | 8 open / 16 concealed |
| Quad of 1, 9 or an honour | 16 open / 32 concealed |
Sequences add no fu. Round the ordinary total up to a multiple of 10; an open hand with no extra fu is 30. Seven pairs is exactly 25 with no additions. Pinfu self-draw is exactly 20. A triplet completed by ron counts as open for fu.
| Han | Non-dealer winner | Dealer winner |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,000 | 1,500 |
| 2 | 2,000 | 2,900 |
| 3 | 3,900 | 5,800 |
| 4–5 | 8,000 | 12,000 |
For a non-dealer 2 han, 30 fu self-draw, East pays 1,000 and each other player pays 500. WRC 2025 rounds 4 han 30 fu and 3 han 60 fu up to Mangan. Its 13+ han tier is Yonbaiman, not a stackable extra yakuman. Honba and riichi deposits are added separately.
| Hand | Non-dealer winner | Dealer winner |
|---|---|---|
| 6–7 han · Haneman | 12,000 | 18,000 |
| 8–10 han · Baiman | 16,000 | 24,000 |
| 11–12 han · Sanbaiman | 24,000 | 36,000 |
| 13+ han · Yonbaiman | 32,000 | 48,000 |
| One yakuman | 32,000 | 48,000 |
These are ron payments from the discarder. Tsumo splits payment between opponents. WRC 2025’s 13+ han tier has the value of one yakuman, but it is not an extra yakuman that can stack with a yakuman pattern.
Keep it handy
Japanese Riichi scoring cheat sheet
WRC 2025: yaku, han, fu, 30-fu ron examples and limit payments. The sheet labels WRC rounding; other tables may differ.
Rule reference
Profile: WRC 2025 rules, scoring table and clarifications; checked 25 October 2026. This is an original beginner explanation, not a reproduction of the WRC rulebook or chart.