Gemopedia
Tile Games🇯🇵Japan20th century

Riichi Mahjong (Japanese Mahjong)

Officially Riichi Mahjong (Japanese Rules)

Modern 4-player Japanese variant of mahjong with signature 'riichi' declaration + rich scoring system based on yaku (winning-hand patterns); premier online + live tournament scene via Tenhou, Mahjong Soul + WRC (World Riichi Championship).

⏱~60 min🌤indoor

What is Riichi Mahjong (Japanese Mahjong)?

Riichi Mahjong (Japanese Mahjong) is the modern 4-player Japanese variant of the classic Chinese mahjong tile game, distinguished by its signature 'riichi' declaration mechanic (a player declares that their hand is one tile from winning, locking their hand + betting 1000 points for a bonus if they win). The game uses 136 tiles: 3 numbered suits × 9 × 4 (Man/Souzu/Pinzu 108 tiles) + 4 wind tiles × 4 (East/South/West/North 16 tiles) + 3 dragon tiles × 4 (Red/Green/White 12 tiles). Winning hand = 4 sets (chii/pon/kan) + 1 pair (13+1 tiles), scored by 'yaku' (winning patterns) accumulating fan (doubles). Signature yaku: Riichi (concealed hand + reach), Pinfu, Tanyao, Yakuhai, Iipeikou, Chinitsu (flush), Tenhou (heavenly hand — dealer's first-turn win). Scoring uses fan + fu system with 'han' equivalents up to Yakuman (highest hand). Modern popularity exploded via online platforms Tenhou (2006, Japan) + Mahjong Soul (2018, Yostar) + M-League Japan Professional League (2018), which crowned Kazuya Suzuki (Suphx AI creator connection) + top pros like Rui Hasegawa, Suzuki Taro, Ai Uehara, Chiba Kanoko. World Riichi Championship (WRC) since 2014, biennial rotating host (Vegas 2014, Vegas 2017, Vienna 2022, Kyoto 2025). Also huge fan base via anime + manga (Akagi, Saki, Ten, Legendary Gambler Tetsuya).

Quick facts

Category

Tile Games

Type

Individual

Players

4–4

Duration

~60 min

Where played

indoor

Country of origin

🇯🇵 Japan

Estimated origin

Standardized ~1900-1935 in Japan; modern Reach rules 1950s+

Olympic

No

Popularity

regional

How it works

Objective

Score most points across a Hanchan (East + South rounds) via winning hands.

Match structure

4 players seated at wind positions (E/S/W/N); dealer rotates; East round + South round = 8 hands typical.

Rules

Basic rules

  • 13-tile hand + draw 1 → 14 → discard 1

    Standard turn: draw + form winning hand of 4 sets + 1 pair, or discard.

  • Riichi declaration

    Concealed hand 1 tile from win: declare riichi + bet 1000 pts + expose next winning tile.

  • Chii (sequence) / Pon (triplet) / Kan (quad) melds

    Melds may be called from discards but forfeit some yaku bonuses.

  • Yaku required to win

    Must have at least 1 yaku to declare a winning hand.

Advanced rules

  • Fan (Han) + Fu scoring

    Yaku + dora contribute Han; base points × 2^Han × Fu = final score.

  • Dora bonus tiles

    Dora indicator reveals bonus tiles; each dora in hand = +1 han.

  • Yakuman (limit hands)

    Rare max-value hands (Daisangen, Kokushi Musou, Suuankou) score full 32,000 (mangan × 4).

  • Chombo (foul)

    Declaring win with invalid hand = -8000 point penalty + hand restart.

Scoring

Han + Fu based; base = Fu × 2^(Han+2); doubled if dealer wins; final adjusted per riichi bets + honba.

ActionPoints
Mangan (5-7 Han)8000 non-dealer / 12000 dealer
Haneman (6-7 Han)12000 / 18000
Baiman (8-10 Han)16000 / 24000
Yakuman (13+ Han)32000 / 48000

Win condition · Highest points at end of Hanchan (East + South rounds).

Equipment

  • Riichi mahjong set (136 tiles)

    3 suits × 9 numbers × 4 + 4 winds × 4 + 3 dragons × 4 = 136 tiles.

  • Riichi sticks (bets)

    1000-point sticks used to declare riichi.

  • Dora indicator tile

    Bonus indicator flipped from wall.

  • Score sticks / online client

    Score tracking; modern online play dominates.

Positions & roles

  • Dealer (East)

    ×1

    Dealer position rotates; wins 1.5x scoring.

  • Non-dealer (South/West/North)

    ×3

    Rotating non-dealer positions.

Penalties & fouls

Penalties

  • Chombo (foul win)

    Invalid win declaration = -8000 point penalty + hand restart (or -4000 non-dealer per rules variant).

Strategies

  • Push-fold discipline

    Knowing when to push for hand completion vs. fold on opponent's riichi is core competitive edge.

  • Efficiency-first hand building

    Speed to tenpai (1 tile from win) often beats going for high-value hands.

Major competitions

  • World Riichi Championship (WRC)

    biennial · rotating (Vegas, Vienna, Kyoto) · since 2014

  • M-League Japan Professional League

    annual · Tokyo · since 2018

  • European Riichi Mahjong Championship (ERMC)

    biennial · Europe (rotating) · since 2008

Where it is played

Governing bodies

  • European Mahjong Association (EMA)

    Founded 2005 · Europe

  • World Riichi Championship (WRC)

    Founded 2014 · rotating

  • M-League (Japan pro)

    Founded 2018 · Japan

  • Japan Professional Mahjong Renmei (JPML)

    Founded 1981 · Japan

Famous names & records

Famous athletes

  • Kazuya Suzuki
  • Rui Hasegawa (M-League)
  • Suzuki Taro
  • Ai Uehara (women's pro)
  • Chiba Kanoko
  • Kondo Seiichi (M-League MVP)

Records

  • M-League founded 2018

    M-League / Cyberagent — M-League — Japan's first pro Riichi Mahjong league founded 2018 by Cyberagent (huge popularity boost) (2018)

  • Suphx AI achieves 10-dan level 2020

    Microsoft Research Asia Suphx AI — Microsoft Suphx AI reached 10-dan level on Tenhou platform, surpassing top human pros (2020) (2020)

Sources & provenance

Last verified 2026-08-29.verified