Riichi Mahjong Guide — Japanese Mahjong Rules & Strategy

Riichi Mahjong (also called Japanese Mahjong) is the most competitively developed variant of Mahjong. Played with 136 tiles, it adds the riichi declaration, furiten rule, yaku requirements, and a han/fu scoring system that reward deep strategic play.

What Makes Riichi Mahjong Different

Riichi Mahjong shares the core Mahjong mechanics — draw, discard, form sets, complete a winning hand — but adds rules that dramatically increase strategic depth:

1. Yaku requirement: You must have at least one scoring pattern to win. No yaku = no win.
2. Riichi: A unique declaration available to concealed tenpai hands.
3. Furiten: If your winning tile is in your discard pool, you can only win by self-draw.
4. Dora: Bonus tiles that add han without being yaku themselves.
5. Strict scoring: The han/fu system precisely determines payment amounts.

The Tile Set

Riichi Mahjong uses 136 tiles — the standard 144 minus the 8 bonus tiles (Flowers and Seasons):

Some rulesets add red fives (赤五) — one red 5 in each suit replaces a normal 5 and acts as dora (1 bonus han each).

Yaku — Scoring Patterns

Every winning hand in Riichi Mahjong must contain at least one yaku. Yaku are specific patterns or conditions that validate your hand and determine its base value.

Common 1-Han Yaku

Common 2-Han Yaku

Common 3-Han Yaku

6-Han Yaku

Yakuman (Limit Hands)

Yakuman are the rarest and most valuable hands:

The Riichi Declaration

Riichi is the signature mechanic of Japanese Mahjong. When you are tenpai (one tile from winning) with a fully concealed hand, you may declare riichi:

How Riichi Works

1. Announce “Riichi” and place 1,000 points on the table as a stake
2. Turn your discard sideways to signal the declaration
3. Your hand is now locked — you cannot change any tiles (except to declare a concealed kan if it doesn’t change your wait)
4. If you win, you collect the 1,000-point stake(s) plus bonus scoring

Benefits of Riichi

• Riichi itself is a yaku — adds 1 han to your hand
• Ippatsu — If you win within one turn cycle of declaring riichi (before anyone calls), you get +1 han
• Ura-dora — When you win after riichi, flip tiles under the dora indicators for additional potential han

Risks of Riichi

• You stake 1,000 points (lost if you don’t win)
• Your hand is locked — no defensive flexibility
• Opponents know you’re tenpai and will play defensively
• If you deal in after riichi, the penalty can be severe

Riichi vs. Dama (Silent Tenpai)

Dama means staying tenpai without declaring riichi. Advantages: you maintain flexibility, opponents don’t know you’re ready, and you can still win by ron. Disadvantage: you miss the han bonus, ippatsu chance, and ura-dora.

Expert players declare riichi when the extra han significantly increases their payout, and stay dama when the hand is already valuable or when defense might become necessary.

The Furiten Rule

Furiten is one of the most important rules in Riichi Mahjong:

If any of your winning tiles exist in your discard pool, you are furiten and cannot win by ron.

Types of Furiten

Why Furiten Matters

Furiten forces players to:

• Track their own discards carefully
• Sometimes fold hands they could otherwise win
• Think twice before discarding potential winning tiles early
• Consider whether their current wait pattern includes tiles they’ve already discarded

Dora — Bonus Tiles

Dora add han to your hand without being yaku themselves (you still need at least one yaku to win).

How Dora Works

1. At the start of each hand, flip one tile on the dead wall — this is the dora indicator
2. The tile one step above the indicator is the dora (e.g., if the indicator is 3 Dots, all 4 Dots are dora)
3. For honor tiles: East→South→West→North→East and Red→Green→White→Red
4. Each dora tile in your hand adds 1 han

Types of Dora

Han/Fu Scoring System

Riichi Mahjong uses a two-component scoring system:

Han (翻)

Han are the multiplier component. They come from yaku and dora.

Fu (符)

Fu are base points derived from the composition of your hand:

Calculating Payment

The formula: Base points = fu × 2^(han+2)

In practice, most players use lookup tables:

At 5+ han, the hand becomes a limit hand (mangan, haneman, baiman, sanbaiman, or yakuman) with fixed payouts regardless of fu.

Key Strategic Concepts

Push vs. Fold

The central strategic decision in Riichi Mahjong: do you continue pursuing your hand (push) or abandon it to avoid dealing in (fold)? This depends on your hand value, proximity to tenpai, opponents’ threat level, and the game situation.

Tile Efficiency

In Riichi Mahjong, tile efficiency is paramount because you need both speed (to win before opponents) and yaku (to have a valid winning hand). Balancing these two requirements is the core skill.

Defense After Riichi

When an opponent declares riichi, you must decide immediately: push toward your own win, or fold and discard only safe tiles? The answer depends on your own hand strength and how dangerous the riichi player’s discards look.

Where to Play Riichi Mahjong

Further Reading

• Mahjong Scoring — Compare Riichi scoring to other variants
• Defensive Play — Essential defense techniques for Riichi
• Winning Hands — Common patterns you’ll build in Riichi
• Mahjong Strategy — Broader strategic framework