Yakitori

Yakitori markers

Yakitori (焼鳥) is literally a roasted chicken. In mahjong, playing with the Yakitori rule is adding an additional penalty for any player who has not been able to win. Each player begins with a yakitori tessera, marker, or counter and removes it from play after they have won a hand. The loser in this case is a roasted bird or sparrow. This is a variation used in Japanese and Korean mahjong.