Glossary — Japanese-English Mahjong Terms
This glossary provides definitions for Japanese mahjong terms used throughout RIICHI~SENSEI. Terms are organized alphabetically by romanized reading. For a categorized vocabulary list, see Module 33: Japanese Terminology.
Agari (和了)
Winning. Completing a valid hand with at least one yaku. Can occur by tsumo (self-draw) or ron (claiming a discard).
Aka dora (赤ドラ)
Red five tiles. Special versions of the 5m, 5p, and 5s that each count as one additional dora bonus.
Ankan (暗槓)
Closed kan. Declaring a quad from four identical tiles in your concealed hand. Does not open the hand.
Ankou (暗刻)
Concealed triplet. Three identical tiles held in the closed hand (not formed by calling pon).
Betaori (ベタオリ)
Full defense / complete fold. Abandoning your hand entirely to play only safe tiles.
Chakujun (着順)
Placement order. The final ranking (1st through 4th) at the end of a match.
Chi (チー)
Calling a discarded tile from the player to your left to complete a sequence. Opens the hand.
Chiitoitsu (七対子)
Seven Pairs. A special winning pattern of seven distinct pairs. Worth 2 han, closed only, fixed 25 fu.
Chinitsu (清一色)
Full Flush. Hand using only one suit, no honors. 6 han closed, 5 han open.
Chunchanpai (中張牌)
Simples. Suited tiles numbered 2 through 8.
Dama / Damaten (黙聴)
Silent tenpai. Being in tenpai with a closed hand without declaring riichi.
Dora (ドラ)
Bonus tiles that add han to a winning hand. Determined by dora indicators on the dead wall.
Fu (符)
Minipoints. A secondary scoring component based on hand composition, melds, waits, and win method.
Furiten (振聴)
A state where you cannot win by ron because one of your winning tiles is in your own discard pool. Tsumo is still possible.
Genbutsu (現物)
A tile that a specific player has already discarded. 100% safe against that player due to furiten.
Hai kouritsu (牌効率)
Tile efficiency. The study of which discards maximize the number of tiles that improve your hand.
Han (飜)
The primary unit of hand value, derived from yaku and dora. More han = higher score.
Hanchan (半荘)
Half-game. A standard match consisting of East and South rounds (minimum 8 hands).
Honba (本場)
Repeat counter. Each honba adds 300 points to a winning hand's payment.
Honitsu (混一色)
Half Flush. Hand using one suit plus honors. 3 han closed, 2 han open.
Houjuu (放銃)
Deal-in. Discarding the tile that completes an opponent's winning hand (ron).
Ippatsu (一発)
Winning within one turn cycle of declaring riichi, before any calls. 1 han bonus.
Jihai (字牌)
Honor tiles. Winds (東南西北) and dragons (白發中).
Kabe (壁)
Wall. Defense technique based on all copies of a tile being visible, eliminating certain waits.
Kan (槓)
A group of four identical tiles. Comes in three types: ankan, daiminkan, shouminkan.
Kanchan (嵌張)
Closed/middle wait. A gap in a sequence (e.g., 4-6 waiting for 5). Adds 2 fu.
Kawa (河)
Discard pool / river. The face-up area where each player's discards are arranged.
Kitaichi (期待値)
Expected value. The probabilistic average outcome of a decision.
Kokushi Musou (国士無双)
Thirteen Orphans. Yakuman hand containing one of each yaochuuhai plus one duplicate.
Koutsu (刻子)
Triplet. Three identical tiles.
Machi (待ち)
Wait. The tile(s) needed to complete a tenpai hand.
Mangan (満貫)
A scoring tier at 5 han (or 4 han 30+ fu). 8,000 non-dealer ron / 12,000 dealer ron.
Mentsu (面子)
Group / meld. A completed set of tiles (sequence, triplet, or quad).
Menzen (門前)
Closed hand. A hand with no open melds (no chi, pon, or daiminkan calls).
Naki (鳴き)
Calling. The act of claiming a discarded tile (chi, pon, or kan).
Oorasu (オーラス)
All-last. The final hand of the match.
Oshi-hiki (押し引き)
Push/fold. The decision of whether to continue attacking or switch to defense.
Oya (親)
Dealer. Receives 50% more when winning. Rotates among players.
Penchan (辺張)
Edge wait. Waiting on the edge of a sequence (1-2 waiting on 3, or 8-9 waiting on 7). Adds 2 fu.
Pinfu (平和)
No-points hand. All sequences, ryanmen wait, non-yakuhai pair, closed. 1 han.
Pon (ポン)
Calling a discarded tile from any player to complete a triplet. Opens the hand.
Renchan (連荘)
Dealer repeat. The dealer retains their position (by winning or being tenpai at draw).
Riichi (立直)
Ready declaration. Declaring tenpai with a closed hand, depositing 1,000 points. Enables ippatsu and ura dora.
Ron (ロン)
Winning by claiming another player's discard. The discarder pays the full amount.
Routouhai (老頭牌)
Terminal tiles. The 1 and 9 of each suited tile.
Ryanmen (両面)
Two-sided wait. Sequential pair waiting on either end (e.g., 4-5 waiting on 3 or 6). 0 fu added. Best basic wait.
Ryuukyoku (流局)
Exhaustive draw. The hand ends without a winner when the wall is depleted.
Shanpon (双碰)
Dual pair wait. Two pairs, either of which could become a triplet to complete the hand.
Shanten (向聴)
The number of useful-draw-and-discard cycles needed to reach tenpai. 0-shanten = tenpai.
Shuntsu (順子)
Sequence. Three consecutively numbered tiles of the same suit.
Suji (筋)
A defense technique based on eliminating ryanmen waits. Groups: 1-4-7, 2-5-8, 3-6-9.
Tanki (単騎)
Single/pair wait. Four complete groups + one tile waiting for its pair partner. Adds 2 fu. Max 3 acceptance.
Tanyao (断幺九)
All Simples. Hand contains only tiles numbered 2-8, no terminals or honors. 1 han.
Tenpai (聴牌)
Ready. A hand needing exactly one more tile to win.
Toitsu (対子)
Pair. Two identical tiles.
Tsumo (自摸)
Self-draw win. Drawing the winning tile from the wall yourself. Payment split among all opponents.
Ukeire (受入)
Acceptance count. The number of unseen tiles that would improve your hand.
Uma (ウマ)
Placement bonus/penalty applied after a match. Common: +30/+10/-10/-30.
Ura dora (裏ドラ)
Under-dora. Additional dora revealed only for riichi winners, from tiles beneath dora indicators.
Wanpai (王牌)
Dead wall. The 14-tile section reserved for dora indicators and kan replacement draws.
Yaku (役)
Scoring pattern/condition. At least one yaku is required to declare a win.
Yakuman (役満)
Limit hand. The highest-value hands, worth 32,000 (non-dealer) or 48,000 (dealer) base points.
Yaochuuhai (幺九牌)
Terminals and honors combined. All 1s, 9s, and honor tiles.