Japanese Modern Gameplay

Japanese Riichi	Overview	Gameplay	Scoring

Japanese Riichi follows basic Mahjong gameplay. However, discarded tiles are lined up in rows of 6 in front of the player who discarded it.
Also, it is very important to fully understand the concepts of being in "Furiten" and having a "Yaku".

Drawing, Discarding, and Calling

East is always the first play to draw. After a player draws a tile…

1. If the tile completes a valid winning hand they say “Tsumo!” and show it to everyone.
2. If they do not have a valid winning hand, they discard a tile face up.
3. If none of the other players Call the discard, it is the player to their right’s turn.

This process repeats until someone gets a winning hand or until there are no more tiles in the Live Wall.

Players can Call an opponent’s discard to complete a meld or their hand, but there are restrictions…

• A discard can only be Called immediately after it was discarded. Previous discards cannot be Called later.
• To complete a Meld, a player must have 2 out of the 3 tiles that would make up the Meld in their hand.

There are 6 different Calls. They each have different rules…

• Players say "Tsumo" if a newly self-drawn tile completes a valid winning hand.
• Players say "Ron" if a newly discarded tile completes a valid winning hand.
• Players say "Kan" to complete a Kan. They can take this discard from any opponent.
• Players say "Pon" to complete a Pon. They can take this discard from any opponent.
• Players say "Chi" to complete a Chi. They may only take this discard from the opponent to their right.
• Players say "Riichi" if their hand is Concealed, and they are one tile away from winning.

Calls for "Ron" are prioritized over those for "Kan" & "Pon" which are prioritized over those for "Chi".

After calling "Pon" or "Chi"…

1. The player places the Called tile and the self-drawn tiles face up to their right.
2. The Called tile is rotated 90 degrees and placed within the Exposed meld depending on who discarded it…
   1. Player to Left: Placed on the Left
   2. Player Across: Placed in the Middle
   3. Player to Right: Placed on the Right
3. The player then discards a tile. If no one Calls it, it is the player to their right’s turn.

Called Melds are Exposed. The tiles can no longer be rearranged into other patterns.

Kans are made up of a Pon and an additional identical tile. At least one of those aspects must be self-drawn. Like called Pons and Chis, Kans are displayed to the player’s right. There are 3 types of Kans…

• Concealed Kan = Self-Drawn Pon + Self-Drawn Tile. This is considered a Concealed Meld.
• Called Kan = Self-Drawn Pon + Called Tile. This is considered an Exposed Meld.
• Added Kan = Called Pon + Self-Drawn Tile. This is considered an Exposed Meld.

After a Kan is declared or Called, the player draws a replacement tile from the end of the Dead Wall.
The top tile of the next stack in the Dead Wall is flipped face-up. This is a Kan Dora.
A tile from the end of the Live Wall is added to the end of the Dead Wall. The Dead Wall always has 14 tiles within it.
The player then discards a tile.

There is a limit of four "Kan" calls per Hand.

After a player says "Tsumo" or "Ron" and it's confirmed they have a valid winning hand, their Han & Fu are totaled, converted into points, and they receive a payout.

Declaring Riichi

Riichi is a Yaku worth 1 Han.
If a player's hand is closed, they're one tile away from winning, and they have at least 1000 points; they can declare Riichi.
To declare Riichi they place a 1000 point stick in the center and say, "Riichi."
Their hand is now locked into place. They can no longer call Chi, Pon, or Kan; however, they can still make Self-Drawn Kans.
The player must take the first tile that can complete their hand. If they do not they'll be in Permanent Furiten.
If they win the hand, they get their Riichi bet back. If they lose, they lose the Riichi bet too. If it's a draw, the Riichi bet stays on the table until someone wins.

Furiten

There are 3 kinds of Furiten. Under Furiten, a player cannot win by discard (Ron) unless the Furiten is removed or the player wins by self-draw (Tsumo). The Furiten rule applies to all waiting tiles. For example, if a player can win on the 3, 6, or 9 Bamboo, but the player previously discarded a 3 Bamboo, the player is under Furiten. They cannot call "Ron" on the 3, 6, or 9 Bamboo.

Normal Furiten（一般振聽）
A player who has previously discarded a tile that would complete their hand cannot win on any tile (unless it is self-drawn).

Temporary Furiten（同巡振聽）
If a player missed a winning discard, they cannot Ron on a discard until they draws their next tile.
This also applies to missed opportunity to Rob a Kong.

Permanent Furiten (立直振聽）
If a player declares Riichi and then misses a winning discard they cannot Ron at all.

Noten Penalty

If a draw occurs any player who is tenpai can show their hand. Players who are noten (not one tile away from winning) have to pay a total of 3000 points to players who are tenpai. For example, Player A is in tenpai whereas B, C, and D are not, Player A receives 1000 from each player ([Math Processing Error]?). A 100-point counter is placed to the dealer's right-hand side.

Honba Counters

A counter is placed on the dealer's right-hand side after a draw or after East wins. Each counter increases the payout to the winner by 300 points. In case of a self-drawn win each opponent plays 100 for reach counter. Counters are removed when another player declares a win. When there are five or more counters on the table a minimum of two yaku are need to win. If the deal passes the previous dealer's counters are returned and the new dealer replaces the counters with the appropriate amount.

++Miscellaneous Rules
[Order of replacement tile and kan dora flip.]
[Robbing a Closed kan for 13 Orphans.]

Next: Japanese Riichi Scoring
Back: Japanese Riichi Overview