Glossary

A

Agari (和了り, 上がり, アガリ) — Winning a hand, as in tsumo agari or ron agari.

Aida yonken (間四間) — Two discards of the same suit with four numbers between them, like the 2 and the 7. They flag the 3 and the 6 as dangerous, since those tiles would finish a 4-5 wait. It's a river read, not a rule.

Akapai (赤牌) — Red tiles that count as dora. They're almost always fives: the standard game has one red five in each suit. Also akadora (赤ドラ).

An (暗) — "Dark." Refers to concealed tiles or melds, built without calling.

Anpai (安牌) — A safe tile to discard. The safest kind is genbutsu.

Anshun, ankan, and ankou (暗順, 暗槓, 暗刻) — A concealed sequence, quad, and triplet, in that order. You declare an ankan, or closed quad, like any other kan.

Aotenjou (青天井) — "Blue sky": no ceiling. A rule with no limits, where every hand is scored with the same formula. For example, 5 han 30 fu is worth 15,400 on a non-dealer ron (23,100 for the dealer) instead of stopping at an 8,000 mangan.

Atama (頭) — "Head." The pair every complete hand needs. Also jantou.

Atamahane (頭跳ね, 頭ハネ) — "Head bump." When several players can ron the same discard, only the one closest in turn order after the discarder wins. It's the official rule in M-League and WRC. Tenhou and Mahjong Soul play daburon instead.

Atozuke (後付け) — The rule that lets a hand win when its yaku depends on the winning tile: the hand wins if that tile gives it a yaku. It's the standard rule. The opposite is sakizuke.

Awaseuchi (合わせ打ち) — Deliberately discarding the same tile another player just discarded.

B

Ba (場) — A wind round: tonba (東場, the East round) or nanba (南場, the South round). Also "the table," as in 1,000 points on the table.

Bakahon (バカホン) — A honitsu with no other yaku.

Bakaze (場風) — The round wind.

Barai or harai (払い) — A payment.

Bazoro (場ゾロ) — The two base han always added when you work out the points. They're the "2 +" in the formula fu x 2^{(2 + han)}.

Betaori (ベタ降り) — Full defense. You stop building your hand and discard only safe tiles so you don't deal in.

Buttobi (ぶっ飛び) — Dropping below zero and losing the game. See tobi.

C

Chakan or kakan (加槓) — A quad made by adding the fourth tile to a pon you already have on show.

Chi (チー) — The call that makes a sequence, a minshun, from the discard of the player on your left. Also written chii.

Chonbo (チョンボ, 錯和) — A serious foul that cancels the hand. In parlors the offender pays the other players as if for a mangan. In tournaments and leagues (M-League, WRC, EMA) it costs 20 points (20,000) off the final result.

Chunchanpai (中張牌) — The simples, 2 to 8. Also tanyaohai (断么牌).

D

Daburon (ダブロン) — Two players ron the same discard and both get paid. The opposite of atamahane.

Daiminkan (大明槓) — An open quad made by calling the fourth tile from another player's discard while you hold a concealed triplet.

Damaten (黙聴) — Silent tenpai: tenpai with a closed hand, without declaring riichi. Also yamiten.

Digital (デジタル) — A school of thought that says the game can be measured and explained with statistics and math, not luck or superstition. The opposite of occult.

Dora (ドラ) — A bonus tile. Each dora in your winning hand adds 1 han, but dora aren't a yaku: with dora and no yaku, you can't win.

Dora hyoujihai (ドラ表示牌) — The dora indicator. The tile after it in order is that hand's dora.

F

Fu (符) — Minipoints. When you score a hand, they measure its shape: melds, pair, wait, and how it won.

Furikomi (振り込み) — Discarding an opponent's winning tile, and paying for their hand.

Furiten (振聴) — Being in tenpai with a winning tile in your own river, or having let a winning tile go by: until your next turn, or until the hand ends if you're in riichi. It stops you winning by ron, not by tsumo.

Furu (振る) — To deal in. To feed someone's hand.

Fuutei (副底) — The 20 base fu every winning hand starts with.

G

Genbutsu (現物) — A tile a player has already discarded. Against that player it's 100% safe: they can't ron on it.

H

Haipai (配牌) — "Starting hand." The deal of tiles to every player at the start of a hand.

Haiteihai (海底牌) — The last tile that can be drawn from the wall. It means "bottom of the sea."

Hakoten (ハコテン) — Running out of points. On Tenhou and Mahjong Soul the game ends when a player drops below 0. See tobi.

Han (飜) — The unit that measures a hand's value. Each yaku and each dora adds han. Older texts say fan.

Hanchan (半荘) — A game of two rounds, East and South. The most common length in Japanese mahjong.

Harabote (腹ボテ) — A shanpon or tanki wait tucked inside a sequence. For example, 4-5-5-6 waiting on the 5. Also nakabukure (中膨れ).

Honba (本場) — A counter that goes up with every dealer repeat and every draw. Each honba adds 300 points to the next winner's payment. It's marked with 100-point sticks.

Houjuu (放銃) — Dealing in. The same as furikomi.

Houra (和了) — Winning a hand, as in tsumohou and ronhou. It also shows up in the names of some yaku, like toitoihou (対々和).

Houteihai (河底牌) — The last discard of a hand before an exhaustive draw. It means "bottom of the river." Winning on that tile is the yaku houtei raoyui (河底撈魚).

I

Iichan (一荘) — A game of four rounds: East, South, West, and North. More common in the Chinese variants.

Ikasama (イカサマ) — Cheating by sleight of hand.

Inchiki (インチキ) — Cheating in general. Online, that includes using bugs, hacks, or exploits.

Iro (色) — Suit. It means "color." In yaku names it shows up as -shoku or -sou: sanshoku (三色), chinitsu (清一色).

J

Jantou (雀頭) — The pair in a mahjong hand. Also atama.

Jigokumachi (地獄待ち) — "Hell wait." Waiting on a single tile when three copies are already on show.

Jihai (字牌) — The honor tiles: winds and dragons. The name means "character tiles," so don't confuse it with manzu, the characters suit.

Jikaze (自風) — Your seat wind.

Jun (巡) — One go-around of turns within a hand. For example, hachi junme (8巡目) is the eighth turn.

K

Kabe (壁) — "Wall." Counting the tiles on show, your own hand included, to rule out shapes an opponent can't hold. With all four 8s of a suit visible (no chance), nobody can hold a 7-8 or an 8-9 in that suit, so its 9 is safe from ryanmen waits. With three visible (one chance), it's only less likely.

Kamicha (上家) — The player on your left.

Kanchan (嵌張) — The middle wait, worth 2 fu: the center tile of a sequence is missing. For example, 7-9 waiting on the 8.

Kandora (槓ドラ) — An extra dora indicator turned over with each kan.

Kantsu (槓子) — A quad: a meld of four identical tiles. You have to declare it for it to count as a kan. Four identical tiles you haven't declared aren't one.

Karaten (カラ聴) — Empty tenpai: the hand waits on tiles that are all gone, because every copy is on show or in your own hand.

Kawa (河) — The river: each player's discards, in order, in front of them.

Kazehai (風牌) — The wind tiles.

Kazoe yakuman (数え役満) — A regular hand that adds up to 13 han or more and pays as a yakuman. That's the rule on Tenhou and Mahjong Soul. In M-League and under the EMA rules it pays as a sanbaiman.

Keishiki tenpai (形式聴牌) — Tenpai with no yaku. The hand can't win by ron, but it counts as tenpai in an exhaustive draw.

Kikenhai (危険牌) — Dangerous tiles: the ones likely to finish an opponent's hand.

Kiriage mangan (切り上げ満貫) — The rule that pays 4 han 30 fu and 3 han 60 fu as a mangan. M-League, the WRC rules, the EMA 2025 rules, and many parlors use it. Tenhou and Mahjong Soul don't.

Kiru (切る) — "To cut." To discard a tile.

Ko (子) — Any non-dealer. It means "child." The dealer is the oya.

Koutsu (刻子) — A triplet: a meld of three identical tiles. A rummy player would call it a set.

Kuikae (喰い替え) — Calling a tile and, on the same turn, discarding another tile that would have made the same meld. For example, calling chi on a 1 to make 1-2-3 and discarding the 4, or calling pon on an 8 and discarding the fourth 8. Tenhou, Mahjong Soul, M-League, WRC, and EMA all ban it.

Kuisagari (喰い下がり) — A property of some yaku: they're worth 1 han less when the hand is open.

Kuitan (喰いタン, 食いタン) — The rule that allows tanyao with an open hand. It's the standard rule.

Kyoku (局) — One hand, from the deal to a win or a draw. Hands are numbered East 1 to 4 and South 1 to 4. When the dealer repeats, the number stays and a honba is added: East 1, 1 honba.

Kyoutaku (供託) — The riichi sticks left on the table. The next winner takes them.

M

Machi (待ち) — The wait of a hand in tenpai. For example, ryanmen or kanchan.

Mangan (満貫) — The first scoring limit: 8,000 for a non-dealer, 12,000 for the dealer. After it come haneman (跳満), baiman (倍満), sanbaiman (三倍満), and yakuman (役満). See limit hands.

Manzu (萬子) — The characters suit: a number in kanji on top and the character 萬, meaning 10,000, below.

Mawashiuchi (回し打ち) — Building your hand while steering clear of dangerous discards.

Mentsu (面子) — The melds: sequence (shuntsu), triplet (koutsu), and quad (kantsu). The pair isn't a mentsu.

Menzen (門前) — A fully closed hand, with no called melds.

Min (明) — "Bright, on show." Refers to tiles revealed by a call.

Minshun, minkou, and minkan (明順, 明刻, 明槓) — A sequence, triplet, and quad made with a call, in that order.

N

Naki (鳴き) — Calling a tile: pon, chi, or kan.

Nan (南) — South.

Nobetan (延べ単) — A double tanki wait. For example, 4-5-6-7 waiting on the 4 or the 7.

No chance (ノーチャンス) — All four copies of a tile are on show, so no ryanmen wait can use it. See kabe.

Noten (ノーテン, 不聴) — Not being in tenpai when a hand ends in an exhaustive draw.

Noten bappu (ノーテン罰符) — The payment at the end of an exhaustive draw. Players who aren't tenpai, or who choose not to show their hand, pay the players who show tenpai. It's 3,000 points in all.

Nukidora (抜きドラ) — A tile you set aside from your hand that counts as a dora. For example, North in sanma (Tenhou, Mahjong Soul), or flowers under some Japanese local rules.

O

Occult (オカルト) — The school of thought opposed to digital. It holds that results come down to streaks, flow, mahjong demons, and levels of luck.

Oka (オカ) — The prize for first place: the gap between the return and the starting points, times four players. With a 25,000 start and a 30,000 return, it's 20,000.

Okkake riichi (追っかけリーチ) — "Chasing riichi." Declaring riichi after another player has, instead of defending. Also oikake.

Okurikan (送り槓) — Making a closed kan from four tiles you already held, and keeping the tile you just drew. For example, with 3-3-3-3-4-5 you draw the 6 and declare a kan of 3s: you're left with 4-5-6. After riichi it's not allowed, because you can only kan with the tile you just drew.

One chance (ワンチャンス) — Three copies of a tile are on show. A wait that runs through it is less likely, but not impossible. See kabe.

Oorasu (オーラス) — "All last." The last hand of the game: South 4 in a hanchan.

Otakaze (オタ風, 客風牌) — The winds that give no han: neither your seat wind nor the round wind. For example, if you're South in the East round, your otakaze are West and North.

Oya (親) — The dealer. It means "parent." The other three players are ko, "children."

P

Pao (包) — Payment liability. If you feed the tile that completes another player's daisangen or daisuushii, you pay for that hand: all of a tsumo, or half of a ron. In M-League and WRC it also covers suukantsu. Also sekinin barai (責任払い).

Pei (北) — North.

Penchan (辺張) — The edge wait. For example, 8-9 waiting on the 7, or 1-2 waiting on the 3.

Pinzu (筒子) — The circles suit.

Pon (ポン) — The call that makes a triplet, a minkou, from any player's discard.

R

Renchan (連荘) — The dealer keeps the seat, because they won or were tenpai in an exhaustive draw.

Riichi (立直, リーチ) — Declaring that your closed hand is in tenpai. You put a 1,000-point stick on the table and can no longer change your hand. It's also a 1 han yaku.

Riipai (理牌) — Sorting the tiles in your hand. Also riihai.

Rinshanpai (嶺上牌) — The replacement tile you draw from the dead wall when you declare a kan.

Ron (ロン, 栄和) — Winning on an opponent's discard.

Routouhai (老頭牌) — The terminals: the 1s and 9s of each suit.

Ryankan (両嵌) — Two kanchan shapes in a row. For example, 3-5-7, which the 4 or the 6 completes.

Ryanmen (両面) — The two-sided wait to complete a sequence. For example, 5-6 waiting on the 4 or the 7.

Ryuukyoku (流局) — An exhaustive draw: the wall runs out and nobody has won. It also covers abortive draws, tochuu ryuukyoku.

S

Saikoro (骰子, サイコロ) — The dice.

Sakizuke (先付け) — The opposite of atozuke: your yaku has to be locked into your hand, not depend on the winning tile. Some rules require it.

Sangenpai (三元牌) — The dragons: haku (white), hatsu (green), and chun (red). The name means "the three principles." Outside Japan they go by their colors.

Sanma (三麻) — Three-player mahjong (三人麻雀).

Sashikomi (差し込み) — Deliberately discarding an opponent's winning tile.

Shaa (西) — West.

Shabo (シャボ) — Short for shanpon.

Shanpon (双碰) — The wait on two pairs, each waiting to become a triplet.

Shanten (向聴) — How many tiles your hand is from tenpai: iishanten, ryanshanten, and sanshanten are one, two, and three.

Shibori (絞り) — "Squeezing." Holding back tiles an opponent would like to call.

Shimocha (下家) — The player on your right.

Shonpai (生牌) — A "live" tile that nobody has discarded yet.

Shuntsu (順子) — A sequence: a meld of three consecutive tiles in the same suit. A rummy player would call it a run.

Shuupai or suupai (数牌) — The number tiles.

Souzu (索子) — The bamboo suit.

Suji (筋) — "Line." Tiles three apart that share ryanmen waits: 1-4-7, 2-5-8, and 3-6-9. It's the basis of many river-reading techniques.

Suteru (捨てる) — To discard a tile.

T

Taatsu (搭子) — A partial shape: two tiles that need one more to make a sequence. For example, 4-6 is completed by the 5. In the broad sense, a pair too.

Tanki (単騎) — The wait on a single tile to complete the pair.

Tanpin (タンピン) — Tanyao with pinfu. Add riichi and it's mentanpin (メンタンピン).

Tedashi (手出し) — Discarding a tile from your hand, not the one you just drew. The opposite of tsumogiri.

Tenbou (点棒) — The point sticks.

Tenpai (聴牌) — A hand that needs only one tile to win.

Tobi (飛び, トビ) — Dropping below 0 points. On Tenhou and Mahjong Soul the game ends right there. Also dobon (ドボン).

Tochuu ryuukyoku (途中流局) — An abortive draw: the hand is called off before the wall runs out. For example, when a player shows nine different terminals and honors in their starting hand.

Toimen (対面) — The player across from you.

Toitsu (対子) — A pair of identical tiles.

Ton (東) — East.

Tonpuusen (東風戦) — A game of the East round only.

Tsumo (自摸) — Drawing a tile from the wall. You announce it when you win that way, but the word covers any drawn tile as well as a win by tsumo.

Tsumogiri (ツモ切り) — Discarding the same tile you just drew.

U

Ukipai (浮き牌) — Loose or isolated tiles in a hand.

Uma (ウマ) — The placement bonus at the end of the game. For example, +20, +10, −10, and −20 from first to last.

Ura dora (裏ドラ) — When you win with riichi, you turn over the tile under each dora indicator, the kan ones included. Each one works as another indicator.

W

Wanpai (王牌) — The dead wall. Literally, "the king's tiles." It's the part of the wall nobody draws from, apart from kan replacements, and it holds the dora indicators. It always has 14 tiles, so some tiles never come into play.

Wareme (割れ目) — A rule where the player whose wall is broken pays and collects double for that hand, except for noten bappu payments.

Y

Yakitori (焼き鳥) — A player who hasn't won a single hand all game, or the rule that penalizes it.

Yaku (役) — A pattern in the hand that gives han. A hand needs at least one yaku to win. Dora aren't yaku.

Yakunashi (役なし) — A complete hand with no yaku. It can't win. With a closed hand you can still get a yaku by declaring riichi or winning by tsumo.

Yama (山) — The wall. It means "mountain." That's why the kan replacement tile sits "on the peak" (嶺上 rinshan), the last tile of the wall is the "bottom of the sea" (海底 haitei), and the last discard is the "bottom of the river" (河底 houtei).

Yamiten (闇テン) — Hidden tenpai: tenpai with a closed hand, without declaring riichi. Also damaten.

Yaochuuhai (么九牌) — The terminals (routouhai) plus the honors (jihai).

Z

Zentsuppa (全ツッパ) — Attacking at all costs, whatever the risk of dealing in. Also zentsu (全ツ).