Riichi-Mahjong almanach

Japanische Terminologie im Riichi Mahjong

Here you can find a list of japanese terminology used in Riichi mahjong.
You'll find for the japanese pronounciation, the Kanji/Kana and the english translation plus description.

The first chart gives a general overview while the second one gives deeper knowledge over advanced terminology.

japanese reading	Kanji/Kana	meaning
Agari	和がり	winning a hand with Ron-Agari or Tsumo-Agari
Chunchanhai	中張牌	tiles from 2 - 8
Haiyama	牌山	tile wall
Jantō	雀頭	end pair
Kantsu	槓子	quadruplet
Kazehai	風牌	wind tile
Ko	子	non-dealer (south-, west- und north wind); lit.: child
Koutsu	刻子	triplet
Manzu	萬子	presentation of numbers 1 - 9 plus the kanji 萬 (man) for 10.000; also known as 'character'
Mentsu	面子	finished set (Shuntsu, Kōtsu, Kantsu and Jantō)
Oya	親	dealer (east wind); lit.: parents
Pinzu	筒子	presentation of single chinese coins; also known as circles or rings
Rōtōhai	老頭牌	tiles 1 and 9
Sangenpai	三元牌	dragon tiles
Shuntsu	順子	street of three tiles
Souzu	索子	prasentation of 100 threaded chinese coins; also known as bambou
Wanpai	王牌	dead wall lit.: king tiles
Yaochūhai	幺九牌	tiles from 1 - 9

Japanese pronounciation	Kana/Kanji	Meaning
Aidayonken	間四軒	Inteval between four tiles that could indicate a dangerous wait inbetween.
Agarihouki	和がり放棄	lit.: win renunciation, also known as "dead hand". Prohibits calls and winning. If done, a chombo is invoked as penalty.
Akahai	赤牌	Red dora tiles, mostly red 5 of the suits, but also red 3 and 7 are known.
Akuukansappou	亜空間殺法	Technique to change the flow of the game in occult mahjong through calls
An	暗	Prefix for concealed mentsu in the hand. lit.: dark
Anjun	暗順	Closed shuntsu
Ankan	暗槓	Closed kantsu. Called but still counted closed.
Ankou	暗刻	Closed koutsu.
Anpai	安牌	Safe tile e. g. because of someones in furiten.
Aotenjou	青天井	No point limits. Points are awarded as mathematically calculated.
Ari ari	アリアリ	Kuitan and atozuke allowed
Ari nashi	アリナシ	With kuitan, no atozuke
Ashidome	足止め	Hinder players in advancing their hand e. g. with Riichi declaration
Atamahane	頭跳ね	Only one ron allowed at a time. If multiple wins existing, the next one in order for drawing wins.
Atozuke	後付け	Allows winning with a yakuless hand, when the winning tiles gives the yaku
Awaseuchi	合わせ打ち	Discard of the same tile as kamicha to make use of temporary furiten
Bagime	場決め	Determination of seating
Ba	場	lit.: place. Name of the actual round like Tonba or Nanba for east and south round
Bakaze	場風	wind of the round
Bazoro	場ゾロ	Two extra hand added by default in case of win. Little outdated
Betaori	ベタ降り	Main term for defensive strategies
Chii	チー	Call to claim a minjun from the pond of kamicha
Chiicha	起家	First oya in the game
Chiicha maaku	起家マーク	Wind marker
Chonbo/Chombo	冲合	Penalty given for e. g. yakuless hand or winning whilst furiten
Chonchon	チョンチョン	Picking of the 13th and 14th by oya
Daburon	ダブロン	Double ron
Dahai	打牌	Discarding a tile
Damaten	黙聴	Silent tenpai
Digital Mahjong (Dejitaru Maajan)	デジタル麻雀	Play style that relies on statistics and probabilities
Dorahyoujihai	ドラ表示牌	Dora indicator tile
Doujunnai Furiten	同巡内フリテン	Temporary furiten
Fu	符	Mini points for calculating hands with less then 5 han
Furikomi	振り込み	Deal into someones hand
Furiten	振聴	Tenpai on a tile(s) that have been already discarded and thus cannot be claimed for a win. Only Tsumo is possible
Fuutei	副底	Basic 20 fu points that are rewarded when a hand is won
Genbutsu	現物	see "Anpai"
Haipai	配牌	Draw of starting tiles
Haiteihai	海底牌	Last tile in the living wall. lit.: Tile at the bottom of the sea
Haiyama	牌山	The wall
Han	飜	Value of the yaku. Each han gives roughly a doubling of the points
Hanchan	半荘	One complete round of Riichi consisting of east and south round
Honba	本場	Bonus round after renchan or ryuukyoku. Indicated with 100-point tenbou called tsumibou
Houjuu	放銃	see "Furikomi"
Houra	和了	Wiining a hand, see"Agari"
Houteihai	河底牌	Last discarded tile, lit.: tile at the bottom of the pond
Ikasama	イカサマ	Cheating
Jihai	字牌	Overall term for sangenpai and kazehai, see "Tsuuhai"
Jikaze	自風	Ones own seat wind
Jun	巡	drawing turn, e. g. 東一局１２巡目 (first east round, 12th draw)
Kabe	壁	Term for tiles, where all four of them are visible to a player. Allows determination for impossible waits
Kamicha	上家	Player to the left
Kan	カン	Call to complete an ankan, dai- and shominkan
Kandorahyoujihai	カンドラ表示牌	kan dora indicator tile
Karagiri	空切り	Discard of the same tile from the hand as the one been drawn
Kariton	仮東	Temporary east in traditional japanese bagime
Kazehai	風牌	Wind tiles
Keishikitenpai	形式聴牌	Tenpai form without any yaku at ryuukyoku
Kikenhai	危険牌	Dangerous tiles
Kiru	切る	Discarding a tile, see "Dahai"
Kuikae	喰い替え	Allows calling a tile for a mentsu and discarding the same or the one from the other end of a shuntsu e. g. Chii on 5 for 567, discarding of 8. Not allowed in EMA rule set
Kuisagari	喰い下がり	Yaku, that decreases by one han, when opened
Kuitan	喰い断	Open tanyao
Kyoku	局	Round, e. g. first east round
Kyoutaku	供託	Riichi bet deposits from Ryuukyoku, that will be awarded to the player who wins the following hand
Machi	待ち	Wait in ones tenpai hand
Mawashiuchi	回し打ち	Playing safe while still aming for a win
Menzen	門前	Completely concealed hand
Min	明	lit.: shining/visible. Prefix for open mentsu
Minjun	明順	Open shuntsu
Minkou	明刻	Open koutsu
Naki	鳴き	Term for claiming a discard via the calls pon, kan and chii
Nan	南	South
Ninaki	二鳴き	Calling of the tile discarded a second time without claiming the first
No Ten	ノー聴	Not tenpai
No Ten Bappu	ノー聴罰符	Penalty players pay in no-ten to those in tenpai
No Ten Riichi	ノー聴リーチ	Riichi declaration without beeing in tenpai. Invokes a chombo
Okkult Mahjong (Okaruto Maajan)	オカルト麻雀	Play style that describes mahjong as a game where demons and luck influences the flow of the game.
Oikake Riichi	追いかけリーチ	Pursuing riichi after someone already declared riichi
Okurikan	送り槓	Kantsu included in a mentsu
Oorasu (All last)	オーラス	Last round in a hanchan
Otakaze	客風	Not the round nor the own wind
Pao	包	Term for beeing responsible by payment for completing an obvious yakuman like Daisangen or Dai-(Sho)Suushii
Pei	北	North
Pon	ポン	Call to claim a discard to form a minkou
Renchan	連荘	Consecutive oya positin after oya wins or ryuukyoku
Riichi	リーチ	Declaration of tenpai with 1000 points bet. Hand cannot be changed anymore
Riipai	理牌	Sorting of haipai
Rinshanpai	嶺上牌	Replacemant tile drawn after kantsu declaration
Ron	栄	Winning on a discard
Ryuukyoku	流局	Drawn game
Sakizuke	先付け	Hand has to fulfill a yaku before a win declaration is valid. Opposite of "atozuke"
Saikoro	骰子	Dice
Sashikomi	差し込み	Deal in a hand on purpose
Shaa	西	West
Shanten	向聴	Count until tenpai is reached
Shibori	絞り	Clinging on tile that could be useful for opponents
Shimocha	下家	Player on the right side
Shonpai	生牌	Tile that has not been discarded once in a round
Suji	筋	lit.: "muscle". Reading strategies for tiles that could complete ryanmen waits
Suteru	捨てる	Discarding a tile
Suupai	数牌	Number tiles
Tenpai	聴牌	Waiting hand
Toimen	対面	Opponent on the opposite side of the table
Ton	東	East
Tonpuusen	東風戦	East round
Tsumo	自摸	Taking a tile from the wall or call to declare a win on self draw
Tsumogiri	ツモ切り	Discarding the tile just drawn
Uradorahyoujihai	裏ドラ表示牌	Dora tile indicator under the normal indicator tile. Accessible via win with riichi declaration
Utsu	打つ	Discarding a tile
Wareme	割れ目	Double the amount of points won/lost for the player sitting in front of the wall that has been split
Yakitori	焼き鳥	Term for players, that did not win a single hand in a hanchan. Usually penalties have to be paid.
Yaku	役	Requirement to have a valid hand
Zentsuppa	全ツッパ	Winning at all cost without giving thoughts to discard into another players hand

Japanische Terminologie im Riichi Mahjong

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