Japanese Mahjong 麻雀

Tile set: manzu (characters), pinzu (circles), souzu (bamboo), jihai (honours). Each player 13 tiles; draw one, discard one. Valid hand: four mentsu (sets of three or sequence) plus one pair. You must have at least one yaku to win (e.g. riichi, tanyao, pinfu, iipeiko, yakuhai). Dora: bonus tiles revealed from the wall multiply score. Furiten: if you could have won on a discard you passed, you cannot ron on that tile type until your next turn; discards are ordered for checking. Ron (claim discard) or tsumo (self-draw). Scoring: fu and han; chombo for serious faults. Dealer rotates; placement over multiple hands decides the winner.

China 1840s; Japan 1909. Hochi rules 1952; riichi standardised 1960s. Mahjong parlour boom; TV celebrity matches from 1969. Peak 10 million players. World Riichi Championship 2013; European Mahjong Association. Online: Mahjong Soul, Tenhou. Major esport internationally.

Aim for tanyao (all simples) as a first yaku—no terminals or honours simplifies the hand. Track your discards to avoid furiten; once in furiten you can only tsumo. Declare riichi early when in tenpai with a safe hand—the riichi stick pressures opponents. Count han and fu before calling ron.

Mahjong parlours as social hubs. Manga: Akagi, Kaiji. Tenhou and Mahjong Soul have millions of players. World Riichi Championship; professional leagues (Renmei, Saikyousen). Major international esport. Riichi mahjong tiles (136 standard) are sold in dedicated sets; automatic tables are common in parlours. The yaku requirement—you need at least one scoring pattern to win—distinguishes Japanese mahjong from other variants. Furiten adds discard-reading depth; dora multiplies scores. Online play has made the game accessible worldwide.