Riichi glossary
27 terms with example hands.
Tanyao (All Simples)
A winning hand with no terminals (1/9) or honor tiles.
234 Man
234 Pin
345 Sou
678 Sou
PairRiichi (Ready declaration)
Declaring a closed ready hand by placing a 1000-point stick and locking the hand.
123 Man
456 Pin
789 Sou
Pon
PairPinfu (All sequences)
Four sequences and a two-sided wait pair; no triplets or honor pair.
234 Man345 Pin678 SouPairWaitChiitoitsu (Seven pairs)
Seven distinct pairs — a special full hand shape.
Honitsu (Half flush)
One suit plus honors only; closed hands score more.
234 Man567 Man
刻
EastPairIttsu (Straight)
Three sequential runs 123, 456, 789 in the same suit.
123 Man456 Man789 Man
234 PinPairYaku
Scoring patterns required for a winning hand in riichi (at least one yaku).
123 Man456 Pin789 SouWhite
PairMeld (Chi / Pon / Kan)
Open calls from discards: sequence, triplet, or quad.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouWhitePairTenpai (Ready)
One tile away from a complete winning hand.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouPonPairDora
Bonus indicators that add han when matching tiles appear in your hand.
234 Man234 Pin345 Sou678 SouPairFuriten
Cannot win on a discard if you previously passed a winning tile you could have taken.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouSouth
PairRon (Win on discard)
Completing the hand by claiming another player's discard.
234 Man345 Pin678 SouPairWaitTsumo (Self-draw)
Drawing the winning tile yourself from the wall.
234 Man234 Pin345 Sou678 SouPairHan
Primary scoring unit from yaku and dora; combines with fu for final points.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouWhitePairFu
Minor scoring adjustments from wait type, melds, and pair.
234 Man345 Pin678 SouPairWaitYakuman
Limit hand — typically 8000 base points before bonuses.
234 Man567 Man刻EastPairTerminal (1 or 9)
End tiles in a suit; excluded from tanyao.
234 Man234 Pin345 Sou678 SouPairHonor tile
Winds and dragons — also excluded from tanyao.
234 Man234 Pin345 Sou678 SouPairShanten
Distance from tenpai; 0 means ready, -1 means complete.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouPonPairMenzen (Closed hand)
No open melds — enables riichi and several yaku bonuses.
234 Man345 Pin678 SouPairWaitYakuhai (Value honors)
Scoring with dragon pungs or seat/prevalent wind triplets.
Green dragon pung234 Man345 Pin678 SouPairIipeikou (Identical sequences)
Two identical sequences in a closed hand — one han.
234 Man234 Man copy678 Pin
567 SouPair
Uradora
Hidden dora indicators revealed after a riichi win — extra han potential.
234 Man234 Pin345 Sou678 SouPairAkadora (Red five)
Red-suited 5 tiles that count as one han each when part of the winning hand.
234 Man234 Pin345 Sou678 SouPairSuji (Discard reading)
A defensive heuristic: after two consecutive discards in a suit, the middle tile is often safer.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouPonPairGenbutsu (Safe tile)
A discard that cannot be another player's winning tile because a copy is visible.
123 Man456 Pin789 SouSouthPairBetaori (Full fold)
Abandoning offense to discard only safe tiles until the hand ends.
234 Man345 Pin678 SouPairWait
