The Basics of Learning Japanese Riichi Mahjong

Since Hong Kong Old Style mahjong is generally more easy to learn, so please read through this page on its basics before reading this one. This page will assume that you know the basics of Hong Kong Old Style mahjong, and will simply explain the differences between the two.

MAHJONG TILES

Japanese Riichi style mahjong uses the same tiles as Hong Kong Old Style mahjong, with the following differences.

• There are no bonus tiles used in Japanese Riichi mahjong.
• Optionally, one copy of the 5-characters, 5-bamboo, and one to two copies of the 5-dots can be replaced by a special 'red 5' tile. These are relevant only for scoring.

Examples of the red 5 tiles. Image taken from http://www.sloperama.com

Because of that, there are only 136 tiles used in Japanese Riichi (since the eight bonus tiles are removed, and the red 5 tiles only replace suited 5's instead of being added in addition to them).

HOW TO PLAY MAHJONG

The terms for a chow, pung, and gong are instead respectively 'chii', 'pon', and 'kan' in Japanese Riichi mahjong. However, for the sake of clarity for new players, this introductory guide will still refer to them as 'runs', 'triplets', and 'quads' respectively.

The general base rules of the game are identical to those in Hong Kong Old Style mahjong.

When you call a tile, you reveal the meld from your hand and set it aside just like in Hong Kong Old Style mahjong. However, you must also take the tile that you called and rotate it 90 degrees. Depending on whether you've taken the discard from the player to your left, across from you, or to your right, place the rotated tile to the left, middle, or right of the meld.

Example of melds called from players on all sides, as well as a concealed quad. Image taken from http://www.touhou.net

MORE SPECIFIC RULES

The game begins in the same way as Hong Kong Old Style mahjong, with the sole exception of building the walls of tiles. Instead of building a wall 18 tiles long and two tiles high, all players make a wall 17 tiles long and two tiles high (To compensate for the eight missing bonus tiles).

Once the dealer rolls the dice and breaks the wall, count 14 tiles to the right of the break (seven stacks of two, going around the corner if necessary) and create a gap after these 14 tiles to separate them from the rest of the wall. This area is called the 'dead wall', and aside from drawing replacement tiles from them, they are never drawn. The game ends in a draw if the dead wall tiles are the only tiles remaining.

After separating the dead wall from the 'live wall', take the top tile of the third stack from the left end of the dead wall (the side that you normally draw replacement tiles from) and flip it over for everyone to see. This is called the 'dora indicator' tile, and is only important for increasing the points of your hands, which we'll go over later.

When a player discards a tile, instead of randomly placing it face-up in the middle of the table, each player sets her discards in front of her in a personal organized pile, called a 'pond'. Each player's discards are placed in her own pond in order. The seventh and thirteenth discards begin a new row in the pond, directly under the previous row, so that the final pond is roughly six tiles long and three tiles down (the third row might extend longer than six tiles, which is not a problem. Do not start a fourth row). This way, at a glance everyone can see which tiles any given player has discarded.

Example of the four players' ponds in the middle of a game. Image take from http://www.teamliquid.net

While open and promoted quads are identical to those in Hong Kong Old Style mahjong, there is one notable difference in making a concealed quad. Unlike Hong Kong Old Style mahjong, in which the specific quad you're making is secret, in Japanese Riichi mahjong, every player gets to see what tiles you are using to make your quad.

To make a concealed quad, any time during your turn after drawing, you may show all four tiles to your opponents and declare "kan". Take either the outer two or inner two tiles and flip them over to represent that the quad is still technically concealed. Set the quad to the side and draw a replacement tile from the back of the dead wall.

Whenever you make a quad in Japanese Riichi mahjong, take the last tile of the 'live wall' and add it to the opposite end of the 'dead wall' (That is, the end you do NOT draw replacement tiles from). In this way, the dead wall will always contain exactly 14 tiles.

• If you made a concealed quad, after drawing a replacement tile, take the next tile to the right of the dora indicator and flip it over (This is called a kan dora indicator now. If there is already one or more kan dora indicators, flip over the next tile to their right instead), and then discard a tile to finish your turn as usual.
• If you made a promoted quad or open quad, after drawing a replacement tile, first discard a tile to finish your turn as usual. Then, after players have decided whether or not to rob the quad for a win, flip over the next tile to the right of the dora indicator as before.

There is one last very important rule in Japanese Riichi mahjong, and it's the reason each player has separate ponds, and why we must rotate called tiles to reveal who discarded them originally. If your hand is waiting (such that if you draw one more specific tile, you can declare a win) and you have discarded any of your possible winning tiles before, you are NOT ALLOWED to declare a win off of another player's discard.

For example, if you have a 2-3-4-5-6 bamboo in your hand and can win by drawing a 1-bamboo, 4-bamboo, or 7-bamboo (to form 1-2-3  4-5-6;  2-3-4  4-5-6;  2-3-4  5-6-7) and you discarded a 1-bamboo at some point earlier in the hand, you can't declare a win when an opponent discards a 4-bamboo. However, if you draw a 4-bamboo yourself, you ARE ALLOWED to declare a win.

ENDING THE GAME

If a hand ends in a draw by running out tiles in the live wall without any player declaring a win, each player who is waiting on a particular tile in order to win must reveal his hand. Any player who is not waiting on one or more tiles for the win pays a penalty to those who are. This does not happen if a hand ends in a draw due to any other reason.

A hand also immediately ends in a draw if one of the following criteria are met.

• If on your first turn you have at least 9 distinct orphan tiles (1's, 9's, or honor tiles), and no one has made an open meld or concealed quad yet, you may reveal your tiles and declare the hand a draw. This is the only optional draw.
• If all four players discard the same wind tile as their first discard without any concealed quads being declared, the hand is a draw.
• If four quads are made by one person, anyone else who makes a quad ends the hand in a draw (without any player having the opportunity to rob the fifth quad and before a replacement tile is drawn). If the four quads are made by more than one person, the hand is immediately declared a draw (after any player has the opportunity to rob the quad, and after a replacement tile is drawn and a tile is discarded. This means that this player may possibly declare a self-pick win, or another player may win off of her final discard).
• If all four players go into riichi (which will be explained under scoring), the hand is a draw.
• If all three other players try to win off of the same discarded tile, no one wins it and the hand is a draw. If two players try to win off of the same discarded tile, the third player is obligated to show his hand to prove he cannot declare a win: If he can declare a win, the hand is a draw whether he wants to declare the win or not.

If the hand is a draw because the live wall has run out of tiles, and the dealer is not waiting, the winds shift like in Hong Kong Old Style. The winds also shift if anyone except the dealer wins. Unlike Hong Kong Old Style, a game generally finishes after only the south table wind (The west table wind only starts if, after the south table wind finishes, no player has 30,000 points or more. If at any time during the west table wind, any player does have 30,000 points or more, the game immediately ends. The north table wind is never played: If by the end of the west table wind, no one has 30,000 or more points, simply score the hands as they are.

Also unlike Hong Kong Old Style mahjong, the game can end early if any player's points drop below 0. Finally, if the dealer wins during the last hand of the south table wind, has at least 30,000 points, and is in first place, he can optionally end the game without playing another hand and waiting for the winds to shift (rather than risk another player overtaking him for first place in another hand). Even if the dealer has the highest score and wins the last hand of the west table wind, he cannot end the game early unless he has 30,000 or more points (at which point the game would end immediately anyway).