Comprehensive Japanese Mahjong Terminology List

Here is a list of terminology you will hear here in one place or another regarding Japanese Mahjong. 

Aburakkoi 油っこい A tile that is usable in many combination, it often refers to the middle number tile 4-6.
Agari 和がり To win a hand.
Agariguse アガリ癖 To be in a ‘winning mode’ – someone who wins lots of hands.
Agarihai アガリ牌 / 和がり牌 The tile that you win on. Not to be incorporated into your hand, so that the wait is discernible.
Agarihoki アガリ放棄 It is a state where, as a penality for rule violation such as apparent and grievous manner, a player must abandoned a win. Often, a player is not allowed to Reach, Khan, Pon or Chi. At Ryu-Kyoku, a player is forced to Noten.
Agarikei アガリ形 Four mentsu and one jantou. Only possible with Chi-toitsu and Kokushimusou.
Agaripai 和がり牌 The tile that completes a hand.
Agarirenchan アガリ連荘 The rule that allows the dealer to continue the dealer position only when he/she wins the hand. With this rule, even when the dealer is in Tempai when nobody wins the round, the dealer position change.
Agariten アガリ点 It is the total point that a player has when that player declares an Agari (win). In Mahjong, point is automatically calculated with Han and Fu.
Agaritoppu アガリトップ To be in a state that winning any hand, no matter how small, puts you in first place.
Agariyaku アガリ役 Yaku, A hand that completes a hand.
Aidayonken 間四軒 An interval of four ‘missing’ tiles that indicate a dangerous wait. For example. seeing a discarded 1 and 6 means a 2-5 wait is poosible.
Akabo 赤棒 a stick representing 10,000 points.
Akadora 赤ドラ Red dora.
Akapai 赤牌 Red tiles, often used as dora.
Akkei 悪形 Akkei is a state where a player has a less of a use tiles. A player is waiting for a less useful tile. Also said as “Gukei”.
Akuukansappo 亜空間殺法 Akuukansappo is a famous strategy created and used by Pro Michiru Andou (deceased). It is where a player controls the flow of tsumo using Naki ( Pon, chi, Khan).
Allgreen オールグリーン All-Green is when you get a yakuman with only green tiles. This phraise is not used often.
Amosu アモス AMOS, a brand of automatic mahjong table.
An dark’ – tiles concealed in the hand.
Ana Ana refers to a middle tile you are waiting to complete the order set (Ex. 3 is the ana for a set of 2-3-4). This term is rarely used.
Anjun 暗順 A concealed sequence.
Anko 暗刻 Ankou refers to three of a kind collected without calling “pon”.
Ankotoshi 暗刻落とし a set of three identical tiles discarded while bailing from a hand – if the first is safe then it follows that the next two are as well.
Ankou 暗刻 A concealed set of self-drawn identical tiles, such as used in san ankou.
Anpai 安牌 Safe Tile.
Anzempai 安全牌 Anzempai (safe tile) refers to a discarded tile that has low risk of being taken by another players. Also called Anpai. Anzempai that is 100% safe to discard is also known as Kanzenanzempai or Kanzenanpai (perfectly safe tile).
Aonodomon 青洞門 An old yaku, using one of the four wind tiles and 2,4,8 circle tiles.
Aotenjo 青天井 An alternate scoring rule that does not limit hands to 2000 base points – the full score of the han and fu is used (for example, 40 and 6 whole note be a haneman, but the full 40 and 6 – 10240 points each before payment modification.
Arasu 荒らす Arasu means to cause action during the game, such as making call frequently. It is the same as Kakimawasu.
Arau 洗う Arau refers to when players are done playing Mahjong. The term “arau” comes from “wash the feet”.
Areba 荒れ場 Continuous game that involves high points. Antonym is Koba.
Ari あり,アリ,有り in effect”, it means that the rule listed is active (for example, aka ari is “reds are uesd”.
Ari ari アリアリ Ruleset that allows open tanyao and backdoor wins (kuitan and atozuke).
Arinashi アリナシ Ruleset that allows open tanyao, but not backdoor wins.
Arisu アリス It is a special rule where if a player wins with no hand or comes back from a no hand, he/she can flip the tile next to Dora display tile. If a player has the same tile as the one flipped, that player may gain Chips. * it is a local rule so the exact rule may differ between community. .
Arushiaru-ma-jan アルシーアル麻雀 Arushiaru Mahjong is special rule by Japan Mahjong Commitee and is different from normal mahjong rules. A player needs at least 22 points to declare a win, hence called Arushiaru ( which means 22 in chinese).
Arutima アルティマ ULTIMA, a brand of automatic mahjong table.
Aryammen 亜両面 a 3-tile sequence that ends in a pair, such as 4566.
Asai 浅い It is when rounds are going in a fast pace. Antonym is Fukai.
Ashidome 足止め Ashidome is when a player use movement that prevents another player from continueing the game. Reach is often used.
Atama The pair in a standard mahjong hand.
Atamahane 頭跳ね Head bump – the rule where only the player closest in turn order to the dealing-in player wins if there are multiple ron calls.
Atarihai あたり牌 The tile that is responsible for a Ron call.
Atohikkake 後引っかけ Atohikkake is when a player gets Sujimachi after he calls a reach. It is often by chance and often increase the chance of winning.
Atozuke 先付け Backdoor – a rule that allows a hand to win even if there are tiles that complete the hand without yaku (for example, an open tanyao hand with a 1-4 wait calling ron on the 4).
Atsucha 熱茶 Parlor term for hot tea.
Atsushibo アツシボ Parlor term for a hot towel.
Auto アウト Out- Parlor term for being unable to pay a debt.
Autoover アウトオーバー Out-over – Parlor term for a maximum amount loseable in a single run or session. Losing above this cap causes losses to cap at this amount, then banning the player from playing until the end of the session.
Awaseuchi 合わせ打ち Discarding a tile that is discarded by another to avoid dealing in.
Ayahai 綾牌 Ayahai is a tile that is drawn often throught the game. a player does not always have to care or worry about ayahai.
Azukari 預かり Parlor term for money given to the parlor for sakekeeping, to avoid the chance of bring unable to pay a debt.
Ba A “wind round”, such as tonba (east round) or nanba (south round).
Badai 場代 The fee for playing a game of mahjong.
Bagime 場決め Determining the initial wind and seating positions.
Baibai-keisan 倍々計算 Baibai-keisan is a rule when your hand points doubles, then the total points doubles too. A player does not have to worry during the game.
Baichoku 倍直 Abbreviation of Baiman-chokugeki.
Baiman 倍満 A hand worth 8-10 han.
Bainin 玄人 A ‘pro’ – someone who makes their living playing mahjong.
Bakahon バカホン Slang for hon-itsu/half-flush only (no additional yaku or dora).
Bakatoi バカ対 Slang for all triplets/toi-toi only (no additional yaku or dora).
Bakaze 場風 The round wind.
Bakazehai 場風牌 Bakazehai menas the same as Bakaze.
Bakazuki バカづき Bakazuki is when a player is on a roll (has a good hand/ win ratio).
Bakeru 化ける Bakeru means when a player’s hand turns into a very high hand. It is often used when “a player hands turns in a monstrous (very high) hand”.
Bakku バック Back is the same as Atozuke. “Tung-Back” means getting a yaku later during the east seat.
Bakku-doroppu バックドロップ Back-drop Is the same as Atozuke, not used often.
Bakudan 爆弾 Bomb’ – cheating terminology, for loading a specific tile into the wall for dealing-in / dora purposes.
Bakudan-tsumi 爆弾積み To load a ‘bomb’ into the wall.
Bakuhai 爆牌 Bakuhai is a method of reading opponents hands and getting the extra tiles. It is a method introduced in Masayuki Katayama’s “No-mark Bakuhai Party”.
Bakyo 場況 Bakyo is another way of saying the situation of the game field.
Bamban バンバン Ban-ban refers to Bazoro.
Banana バナナ Banana is when the second and third desicarded tile is the same tile. For example, 1 2 2.
Banokaze 場の風 Banokaze refers to Bakaze or round wind.
Bappu 罰符 Bappu is points that player pays for no-ten or chombo.
Barai 払い A payment.
Basanzen 場三千 The 3,000 points paid at the end of an exhaustive draw.
Basengo 場千五 A rule where each repeat-deal counter is worth 1500, not 300, points.
Bashin 馬身 A bet that is paid based on placement (paid once per placement difference: a 1000 Bashin is 1000 from 2nd to 1st, but 3000 from 3rd to 1st).
Bashogime 場所決め Bashogome is deciding where a player sits before the start of the game.
Batta バッタ Grasshoppers – slang for a double pair/shanpon wait.
Bazoro 場ゾロ The two ‘base’ doubles given to a hand during scoring calculation.
Beni-kujaku 紅孔雀 An old Yakuman, the opposite of All green – using only the red-containing Sou tiles (1/5/7/9).
Betaori ベタ降り A strategy of full defense – avoding dealing into other hands without any intention of completing one’s own hand.
Betashi ベタ師 Cheat term. A cheating player who uses elevators.
Betazumi ベタ積み Cheat term. a type of tsumikomi ( to load tile into the wall). a player loads a good tile into a wall that has a better chance of tsumo, while a player loads a unnecessary tile into a wall with less chance of tsumo.
Bi-toppu Bトップ Boo/Sports mahjong term. It refers to two floating top players.
Bikina-zurakku ビギナーズラック Beginner’s Luck – the abnormally large hands early players often receive.
Binta ビンタ Penalty payments based on placement.
Bohai 暴牌 A discarded dangerous tile.
Boten 棒テン To get to tenpai as fast as possible without awareness of any other aspect of the current game.
Botensokuri-zen 棒テン即リー全ツッパ A strategy where a player reach as soon as the player tenpai and ignoring other players move. Lacks safety.
Bu-ma-jan ブー麻雀 based on google translation: Boo Mahjong is one the variation rule of Mahjong played mainly in the kansai (west region).
Bubun-yaku 部分役 A special type of yaku based on some of the tile hand, not all. For example, a player requires only 9 certain tiles to make daisengen.
Bukkonuki ぶっこ抜き Cheat terms. A type of Nukiwaza (to pull a tile from a wall). A player loads certain type of tile into the wall beforehand and quickly switch it with his hand during shuffling.
Bukumi 含み a hand the includes certain type of tile, such as dora or three colors.
Burafu ブラフ Bluff.
Burakku-hai ブラック牌 Black tiles, especially tiles without an obvious front or back when viewed from the side.
Butsu ぶつ Butsu is an old way of saying “to play Mahjong”.
Buttobi ぶっとび Buttobi is another way of saying tobi (Bankrupt – 0 point).
Chagarama-jan 茶ガラ麻雀 One round mahjong.
Chakan 加槓 A kan that was upgraded from a called triplet/min kou.
Chanfompai 荘風牌 Same meaning as Bakazehai (Round wind).
Chankan 槍槓 To win on the attempt to upgrade a Kan.
Chanta チャンタ A hand that has all parts containing an outside or honor tile.
Check チェック Parlor term – to prohibit winning from a tile you’ve seen accidentally.
Check-hai チェック牌 Same meaning as check (a tile a player accidently looked at).
Chi The number 7.
Chi- To call a sequence.
Chi-cha 起家 The first dealer in a game.
Chi-chama-ku 起家マーク The marker that shows the table wind – East on one side, South on the other.
Chi-ho- 地和 To win as a non-dealer on your first drawn tile.
Chi-pai チー牌 The tile taken in a Chi.
Chi-shinu-shi 七星無靠 An old yakuman, one of each wind and dragon, and the remainder of the hand being unrelated (differing by 3 or more) suit tiles.
Chi-ten チー聴 To Chi into tenpai.
Chi-toi チートイ Slang for Seven different pairs.
Chi-toitsu 七対子 Seven different pairs.
Chidorizumi 千鳥積み Cheating – to set up the draw of another.
Chii Seven.
Chii チー The call to make a sequence / min jun.
Chimma-jan 清麻雀 Mahjong that does not use Hanahai tiles. Antonym is Hana-mahjong.
Chimmai チンマイ Boo-Mahjong terms. Three flowting top players.
Chimpe-ko- 清盃口 An old Yaku, When the two outer mentsu tile is the same number in Ryanpe-ko.
Chinchitorii 金鶏独立 An old Yaku, To make Hadakatanki with One Banboo tile.
Chini-so 清一色 Full name for a Full flush.
Chinichi チンイチ Slang for full flush.
Chinitsu チンイツ Full flush – A hand consisting of only one suit.
Chinro チンロー Slang for Chin rou tou.
Chinroto 清老頭 Having a legal hand that consists of only 1s and 9s.
Chipon 遅ポン A late pon used to take priority over a Chi call, not always legal.
Chippu チップ Chip – A bet type based on certain aspects of the hand, such as ippatsu, red or ura dora.
Chippuma-jan チップ麻雀 To play mahjong with chip bets, particularly with high chip bets in comparison to the regular point rate.
Chiron 遅ロン A late ron used to take priority over another call or lack thereof- not always legal.
Chitchi チッチー Short for 7,700 points.
Cho-ma チョーマ A type of tenbo that is not used that much.
Choko 長考 To think for a long time before making the next move. It is idealistic to draw and discard in few second. It is considered rude to take a long period of time between drawing and discarding a tile.
Chombo チョンボ An error that invalidates a complete hand, often with penalty payments.
Chombo 冲合 An error that invalidates a complete hand, often with penalty payments.
Chonchon チョンチョン The 13th and 14th tile taken simultaneously by the dealer during initial hand drawing.
Chopaiko 跳牌刻 An old hand that contained 3 kan of 2-tile intervals (1/3/5, 4/6/8, etc) of the same suit.
Chosanko 頂三刻 An old hand that contained 3 kan of maximum interval(1/5/9) of the same suit.
Chu Nine.
Chu-pinraoyui 九筒撈魚 An old Yaku, To Ron with 9 pinzu tile with the last discard tile.
Chu-ren チューレン Short for Nine gates/.
Chunchampai 中張牌 Simples – the tiles 2-8, used in Tanyao.
Chunchan 中張 Simples – the tiles 2-8, used in Tanyao.
Chunchanhai 中張牌 Simples – the tiles 2-8, used in Tanyao.
Chuu nine.
Chuugokuma-jan 中国麻雀 Chinese mahjong.
Chuurempoto 九連宝燈 Nine Gates – a closed full flush consisting of 1112345678999 + 1 other tile of that suit.
Chuusharin 中車輪 An old hand, full flush 11223355778899 in pin.
Dabudora ダブドラ To have a single tile that is worth 2 dora (such as a red tile that is also dora, or to have a tile be worth 2 dora due to kandora).
Dabunan ダブ南 To be the south wind in South Round, such that South is worth 2 yaku for you.
Daburi ダブリー To reach on your first discard.
Daburon ダブロン To have multiple players win simultaneously on a single discard.
Daburu-bakku ダブルバック “Double-back” to attack while waiting for two possible taitsu.
Daburu-hako ダブル箱 To be down twice as many points as you originally started with.
Daburu-mentsu ダブル面子 To have two connected pairs, such as 4455.
Daburu-mentsu-otoshi ダブル面子落とし To cut one each of two connected pairs, such as discarding a 4 and 5 while keeping another 4 and 5 in hand.
Daburu-yakuman ダブル役満 The property of certain yakuman to make them worth multiple yakuman.
Dabururi-chi ダブル立直 To reach on the first discard.
Dabuton ダブ東 To be the east wind in East Round, such that East is worth 2 yaku for you.
Dahai 打牌 To discard a tile.
Daichikurin 大竹林 An old hand, full flush tanyao seven pairs in sou.
Daichisei 大七星 An old hand, one of each wind and dragon, and seven different tiles of the same suit.
Daida 代打 To have a ‘pinch hitter’, or a player to take over for you at certain times.
Daiminkan 大明槓 To call the 4th tile to make an open kan.
Daiminkan 大明槓 To call the 4th tile to make an open kan.
Daimyochi 大名打ち To aim to make a hand that gets you first place in one shot.
Daimyoma-jan 大名麻雀 To play in a style that winning one hand wins you the game.
Dainoten 台の点 Refers to Fu-tei (base 20 points).
Daisangen 大三元 To have a triplet of all three dragons.
Daisharin 大車輪 An old hand, full flush tanyao seven pairs in pin.
Daiso 代走 Parlor term – to have an employee play for you while you take a break (bathroom, for example).
Daisu-shi 大四喜 To have a triplet of all four winds.
Daisuurin 大数隣 An old hand, full flush tanyao seven pairs in man.
Daiuchi 代打ち A player who makes a living playing mahjong.
Damaten 黙聴 or ダマ聴 To be in fully closed tenpai without reaching.
Dangoba ダンゴ場 Dumpling field – to have a play state that is good condition for drawing pairs and triplets.
Danrasu 断ラス To be dead last.
Debasai デバサイ (でばさい) When a leading player completes a hand with Ron. Often rude to yell at other player.
Dejami 手三味 When a player pretend that he is hesitating by making unnecessay movement like as though he is playing a Shamisen (Japanese ancient string instrament).
Dejitaru デジタル Digital – a school of thought focused on the outcome of a game based on probability and statisctics.
Dekimentsu 出来メンツ (できメンツ) Already completed Mentsu.
Dekin 出禁 (できん) Parlor term, to be banned.
Deme 出目 (でめ) The roll of the dice.
Denancha 出南家 (でなんちゃ) When the first round starts at the south seats.
Deoya 出親 (でおや) Starter, when the first round starts at the east seat.
Depeicha 出北家 (でぺいちゃ) When the first round starts at the north seat.
Derupon-deruchi 出るポン出るチー (でるぽんでるちー) When a player calls on any tile.
Desha-cha 出西家 (でしゃーちゃ) When the first round starts on the west seat.
Dobon ドボン When a game ends when a player tobi (goes bankrupt).
Dojun 同順 To discard the same tile four go-arounds in a row.
Dojunfuriten 同巡フリテン Same as Dojunnaifuriten.
Dojunnaifuriten 同巡内フリテン When a player wins with other player’s discarded tile between the player’s first round and second round but becomes Furiten.
Dokasen-rule 導火線ルール A type of Wareme rule, when a player doubles the score with the tiles in tsumo pile after he wins, not with the broken wall.
Dora ドラ To award an extra han for each instance of a specific tile in a hand.
Dorabaku ドラ爆 Dora bomb – to suddenly gain a lot of dora via kandora or uradora. Often used to describe a cheating technique with that as the outcome.
Dorabukumi ドラ含み When a hands has a lot of specific tile that can be awarded an extra han.
Dorahyo ドラ表 An Abriviated term for Dorahyojihai (Dora Indicator).
Dorahyojihai ドラ表示牌 The Dora indicator – the physical tile that determines the value of the tile that is dora.
Dorahyouji ドラ表示 The Dora indicator – the physical tile that determines the value of the tile that is dora.
Doramatagi ドラまたぎ a wait that surrounds the dora. For example, if the dora is 4, having a 2-5 or 3-6 wait.
Dorashijihai ドラ指示牌 The Dora indicator – the physical tile that determines the value of the tile that is dora. Archaic.
Dorasoba ドラそば Suji tile that is connected with Dora that is close to that number tile. for example if dora is 1 then it will be 2.
Dorasuji ドラ筋 Suji tiles connected to dora. For example, if dora was 4, then 1 and 7.
Doratan ドラ単 Refers to Doratanki (when a player is waiting for dora).
Dorauke ドラ受け When a player gets a Dora tile in hand.
Dorazuri ドラ吊り Cheating term – to swap out the dora tile to one of your hoosing.
Dotakame ド高目 A specific hand that could yield the highest point out of all possible hand. Antonym to Doyasume.
Dotaku 同卓 To sit at the same table.
Doyasume ド安目 A specific hand that yield the lowest point out of all the possible hand. Antonym is Dotakame.
E-toppu Aトップ Boo mahjong term. When a single player is on the lead. Sometime called Maru-A.
Eawase 絵合わせ To win a hand without taking into account the overall scorring, often to the detriment of another player without personal gain.
Egaau 絵が合う When a player at first don’t take in account of overall scoring, waits for a single tile and wins with an inefficient hand.
Enchousen 延長戦 Overtime – to contine playing until a player reaches the target points required to end a game.
Entotsugata エントツ形 A chimney – to have a wait that is both a ryanmen and shanpon, such as 34555EE (waiting on 2-5, and E).
Erebe-ta エレベーター Cheating term – to slide tiles into a wall, removing the same number.
Fampai 飜牌 A tile that is a han in a triplet, such as a dragon or round wind.
Fan A scoring doubler, not necessarlity one required to win.
Fann A scoring doubler, not necessarlity one required to win.
Fanpai 翻牌 A tile that is a han in a triplet, such as a dragon or round wind.
Faron 花竜 An old hand, refers to sanshokukantsu.
Fu The unit of points used along with doubling han to determine score, based on hand makeup and wait.
Fu-ro 副露 To call. Same as Naku and Kuu.
Fu-shi-pai 浮屍牌 A discarded tile. A term not used often.
Fu-tei 副底 the 20 base points in determing a hand score.
Fuhane 符はね to round up to the nearest 10 points while determining hand score.
Fukai 深い When a round goes relativley slow. Antonym is Asai.
Furi フリー Parlor term – to play without paying, such as a parlor that only charges the winner the table fee.
Furi-janso フリー雀荘 A parlor that uses Free rules.
Furikomi 振り込み To deal into a hand for strategic purposes.
Furikomi 振り込み A payment for dealing into another hand.
Furiten 振聴 A rule that states one cannot win off of another player due to previous discard or missed call.
Furitenri-chi フリテンリーチ To reach while in furiten, a legal move.
Furu 振る When a player wins with Ron. Can refer to Hoju.
Fusehai 伏せ牌 Face down tiles, often in a hand.
Futanaki 二鳴き To wait for two different tile to make a hand.
Futanaki-tempai 二鳴き聴牌 To win by waiting for two different tiles.
Futari-agari 二人あがり For multiple players to win (via double ron rules).
Fuuka-setsugetsu 風花雪月 An old yakuman, having an all triplet hand consisting of pin 1s, 5s, the personal wind, and white dragons.
Fuupai 風牌 The wind tiles.
Fuuro 副露 To call a tile, also “naki”.
Fuusoku 風速 An old way of saying point-to-cash rate.
Fuutei 副底 The base 20 points in a hand.
Fuyohai 不要牌 Unnecessary tile.
Gameru ガメる To collect dora within a hand.
Gami ガミ To lose or be in Deficit.
Gampai ガン牌 A tile that has mark or scratches on its outer layer. May be abused for cheating.
Garasu ガラス Glass – When a player is pretty readable.
Gari ガリ Refers to Nukidora during a 3 player mahjong.
Garisamma ガリ三麻 Three player mahjong using Nukidora.
Ge-mudai ゲーム代 The fee for playing a mahjong game.
Gembari 現張り GeNbari? – To be waiting for a safe tile discarded by a leading player.
Gembutsu 現物 A 100% safe tile, such as the same tile as was immediately previously discarded, or one mathematically unable to be in a winning hand.
Gembutsudora 現物ドラ GeNbutsudora? – An old rule where Dora is the flipped tile, not the tile next to the flipped one.
Gembutsuhai 現物牌 Refers to Genbutsu.
Genrokuzumi 元禄積み Cheating term. A type of Tsumitomiwaza. When a player puts an ideal tile on top or bellow the pile.
Genten 原点 To set the point sticks to the starting amounts.
Getahai ゲタ牌 A tile that is physically made bigger.
Girishi ギリ師 Cheating term, a name used for a cheater who uses Nukiwaza (to put tile on the wall) and/or hiroiwaza (to get tile from the discard pile).
Giru ぎる Cheat term, to pull tiles from the walls and discards.
Go-ni- ゴーニー Scoring term – 5,200.
Gochi 誤チー A mistaken Chi (124, for example).
Gohyakuo-ru ゴヒャクオール Scoring term – 500 all.
Golden-gate-bridge 金門橋 An old yakuman, full flush 123 345 567 789.
Gomi 五三 Scoring term, 300 / 500.
Gomite ゴミ手 A hand that is relatively cheap or bland.
Gon 豪運 to be extremely luck.
Gonoko 5ノコ “5 Left”, the columns of tiles left after drawing from a roll of 10. (using luke’s other translation).
Gopon 誤ポン A mistaken pon (556, for example).
Goppa ゴッパー Scoring term – 5,800.
Goron 誤ロン A mistaken ron, eligible for penalty payments.
Goshuugi ご祝儀 A bonus prize, paid in chip mahjong, for certain tiles. Alternatively, chip payments in a yakuman situation (often 10 or 5-all).
Gotoshi 事師 A person who cheats.
Gotsumo 誤ツモ A mistaken tsumo, eligible for penalty payments.
Gotto ゴットー Scoring term – 500/1000.
Goumii ゴーミー The cheapest tsumo, 300/500.
Gukei 愚形 A weak hand, to be waiting for a inefficient tile. Also known as Akkei.
Guuzenyaku 偶然役 Yaku that happens by chance, such as Haitei or Ippatsu. Guhatsuyaku.
Gyakukiri 逆切り To discard a wait from the inside out. For example, when discarding a 1-3, to discard the 3 first and then the 1.
Gyakumo-shon 逆モーション To setup pile in reverse order, considered bad manner.
Gyakuten 逆転 Turnabout – to pass someone in points at the end of the game.
Gyarujan ギャル雀 A Mahjong house for mostly young female players.
Gyarumen ギャルメン A member of Female Mahjong house.
Hadakatanki 裸単騎 Naked pair – To have 1 tile left in hand, waiting on the pair.
Hai Mahjong Tile, Basic tools used for Mahjong.
Haifu 牌譜 Score Card for Mahjong. Records all point movement inside the game.
Haigen 配原 Refers to Haikyuu-genten.
Haigen-binta 配原ビンタ Penalty paid for going lower than Beginning point.
Haikatsuji 牌活字 To show tiles in text instead of the printed name of the tile.
Haikoritsu 牌効率 Tile efficiency.
Haikyuu-genten 配給原点 Amount of point a player have before the start of a round.
Haipai 配牌 The players’ initial draw.
Hairi 牌理 To manage tiles efficiently, aiming the fastest completion of a standard hand.
Hairime はいり目 Refers to Irime.
Haisabaki 牌捌き The motions made with hands when dealing with tiles.
Haisei 牌勢 Aura of the tile, when a player can “feel” the tile.
Haishashoku 牌写植 Same meaning as Haikatsuji.
Haishi 牌姿 same as shuhai.
Haitei ハイテイ The last draw.
Haitei-hai ハイテイ牌 The last tile.
Haitei-moyue 海底摸月 Old name for Haitei Raoyue.
Haitei-raoyue 海底撈月 To win on the last draw.
Haitei-ron ハイテイロン To win on the last discard, commonly called Houtei.
Haitei-tsumo ハイテイツモ To win with the last tile.
Haiyama 牌山 The walls – from where tiles are drawn.
Hajiki 弾き Cheating term – to discard to the top of your discard pond, shifting the tile above where yours should go into the correct spot.
Hako To have zero point. Same meaning as Tobi, or Hakoten.
Hakoshita ハコ下 Negative scores.
Hakoshita-seisan ハコ下精算 To calculate points including the negative scores.
Hakoten ハコ点 To have zero point. Same meaning as Tobi or Hako.
Hakoware ハコ割れ To have zero point. Same meaning as Tobi, Hako, Hakoten.
Haku White dragon.
Hamete はめ手 A hand made to decieve other player.
Hampai 飜牌 A Yaku where 3 tiles is equialant to one point.
Han The unit used to count the number of doubles given while making score.
Han-jidotaku 半自動卓 A half-automatic table, one that uses magnets underneath the surface of the table to shuffle and flip the tiles face down.
Hanahai 花牌 Flower tiles, not commonly used in reach mahjong.
Hanama-jan 花麻雀 Playing mahjogn with folwer tiles, synonymous with Chinese mahjong.
Hanchan 半荘 A game consisting of an East round and a South round, most commonly used in Reach mahjong.
Hanechoku 跳直 A common name for direct Haneman.
Haneman 跳満 A hand worth 6 or 7 han.
Hann Unit for the points.
Hannpai 翻牌 Yaku where 3 of a kind equals 1 Hann.
Hansha 反射 Reading information via reflections.
Hansuu ハン数 The number of total han in a hand.
Happyaku-all ハッピャクオール Scoring term: 800 all.
Happyaku-ichiroku ハッピャクイチロク Scoring term: 800 / 1600.
Harabote 腹ボテ Bump (such as a pregnant woman would have) – A pair wait within a sequence. For example, 4556.
Haru ハル Same as tenpai.
Hashihai 端牌 The edge tiles, 1 and 9.
Hassei 発声 To clearly speak calls, such as Chi, Pon, Ron.
Hassei-yuusen 発声優先 An agreement that a ‘late called ‘ Pon cannot still override a Chi.
Hausuru-ru ハウスルール House Rules.
Hayaagari 早あがり To win a round early.
Hayagiri 早切り To discard an important tile early in the hand, such as dora.
Hazusu 外す To discard tile that was non-single tile such as tile that made Mentsu or Toitsu.
Heii-so 黒一色 An old Yakuman, consisting of only 2,4,8 pin and wind tiles.
Heikyoku 平局 To not increase the repeat deal counter after an exhaustive draw.
Hensoku-machi 変則待ち An irregular wait that results in a three tile double sequence wait – such as 234456, which is still a 1-4-7.
Hensokute 変則手 Uncommon hand, to get a Yaku other than Pinfu or Tanyao.
Hiki 引き The ‘pull’ of a certain tile, the feeling ti will be a good or bad draw.
Hiki-modoshi 引き戻し To have drawn a tile that a player once discarded.
Hiki-modosu 引き戻す Trying to draw a tile that a player once discarded.
Hikiagaru 引き上がる To win with sef-drawn tile, same as Tsumoagari.
Hikibori 引きぼり To discard what was drawn (archaic).
Hikiga-tsuyoi ヒキが強い Having good luck drawing efficient tile and wining the round.
Hikiga-yowai ヒキが弱い To draw an unneeded, weak tile, such as after a reach.
Hikizumo 引きヅモ To put aside the drawn tile right after a player calls. Considered ill-manner.
Hikkake 引っかけ Same as Suji-hikkake.
Hikkake 引っ掛け A discard set that identifies certain tiles as safe when they are in fact not (discarding a 4pin to wait on a 1).
Hikkakeri-chi 引っかけ立直 To reach with the discarded tile which is waiting for ron.
Hikume 低目 To be waiting for a tile that yeilds a yaku with the lowest point.
Hira ヒラ For a player who can use cheating techinique to play fair game.
Hiraba 平場 To have 0 repeat deal (honba).
Hirauchi ヒラ打ち For a player who can use cheating techinique to play fair game.
Hiro-i 拾い Cheat term, to draw a tile from a wall and replace it with different tile.
Hiroi 広い Waiting for a large number of tiles.
Hiroiwaza 拾い技 Cheating term – to take a tile from the discard instead of the wall.
Hitoriuki 一人浮き When only one player has total point above the starting point.
Ho- The discard area. Often refered to as the river.
Ho-ra 和了 To win a hand.
Hochan 放銃 Alternate of Hojuu, rarely used.
Hojuu 放銃 To transfer points by dealing in.
Hojuuhai 補充牌 The tile that dealt in.
Hojuusha 放銃者 The person who points are transferred to.
Homba 本場 Unit to count the number of stick.
Honba 本場 The counter of repeat deals, represented by 100-point sticks.
Honchan-taiyao 混全帯ヤオ九 The official meaning of chanthaburi.
Honchinro 混清老 Different color, same suit and Honro.
Honchun 紅中 the official name of red/red dragon/chun.
Honi-so 混一色 The official name for Honitsu.
Honichi ホンイチ Alias for Honitsu.
Honikki-tsuukan 混一気通貫 Old Yaku, refers to sanshoku-tsukan.
Honitsu ホンイツ A legal hand consisting of one suit and honor tiles.
Honro ホンロー A legal hand consisting of 1s, 9s, and honor tiles only.
Honro-chi-toi ホンロウチートイ Honroutou and Chitoi.
Honro-chi-toitsu ホンロウチートイツ Honroutou and Chitoi.
Honro-to 混老頭 The official name for Hon rou.
Honro-toitoi ホウロウトイトイ Honroutou without Chitoi.
Honso 本走 Parlor term – the standard player, who switches out for a pinch hitter.
Hotei ホウテイ To win on the last discard.
Hoteiraoyui 河底撈魚 River bottom – The official name for Houtei.
Houjuu 放銃 To deal into another’s hand.
Houra 和了 To win a hand.
Houteihai 河底牌 The last discarded tile.
Hyakumangoku 百万石 An old yakuman, a legal hand that consists of characters that add up to more than 100.
Hyojihai 表示牌 The dora indicator.
I- 1.
I-chan 一荘 4 rounds going east, south, west and north. Japanese rounds goes only east and south.
I-chapao 一家包 Rule where only one can win and other three player has to pay penalty with tsumo win and only one has to pay penalty for Ron win.
I-hanshibari 一翻縛り An alternate rule where a player must have exactly 1 han.
I-hanyaku 一ハン役 The list of hands that are exactly 1 han.
I-pe イーペー Abbreviation for Ii pei ko.
I-pe-ko 一盃口 Two identical sequences in a closed hand.
I-pimmo-yue 一筒摸月 An old yakuman – to win with Haitei on the 1 pin.
I-shanten 一向聴 To be one draw away from tenpai.
I-shantenjigoku 一向聴地獄 Iishanten hell – to be stuck at one draw from tenpai.
I-so-nijun 一色二順 Same meaning as I-pe-ko, but not used often.
I-so-sanjun 一色三順 An old Yaku, To add Shun-tsu in I-pe-ko. May double twice or three time on menzen, depending on local rule.
I-so-tonshun 一色同順 Same meaning is I-pe-ko. Locally it can mean I-so-sanjun and I-so-yonjun.
I-so-yonjun 一色四順 An old Yaku, to make four similar shuntsu. It can be ryanpe-ko with same shuntsu or I-so-sanjun with same shuntsu. It is a hard Yaku as it requires the player to gather four of the same tile and three of the same number.
I-su-chi 一四七 A 1-4-7 wait.
I-ton 一幢 A paired of stacked tile.
Ichidofuri 一度振り To roll the dice only once to determine the point of wall break. Prior to automatic tables, two dice rolls was more common.
Ichigo イチゴー Scoring term: 1500.
Ichikoro 一コロ To roll one die.
Ichikyuuhai 1・9牌 The character tiles from 1 to 9.
Ichikyuujihai 1・9字牌 The character tiles from 1 to 9.
Ichinaki 一鳴き To call once.
Ichinakitempai 一鳴き聴牌 To call once to get to tenpai.
Ichinigotto 一二五十 To distribute 26,000 points – 1 10k, 2 5k, 5 1k, 10 100, “1-2-5-10”.
Ichiniiniisan イチニイニイサン Scoring term: 1200/2300.
Ichiniio-ru イチニイオール Scoring term: 1200 all.
Ichinirokuto 一二六十 To distribute 27,000 points – 1 10k, 2 5k, 6 1k, 10 100, “1-2-6-10”.
Ichiniyonto 一二四十 To distribute 25,000 points – 1 10k, 2 5k, 4 1k, 10 100, “1-2-4-10”.
Ichiroku イチロク Scoring term: 1600.
Ichirokuo-ru イチロクオール Scoring term: 1600 all.
Ichirokuzannii イチロクザンニイ Scoring term: 1600 / 2300.
Ichisan イチサン Scoring term: 1300.
Ichisanniiroku イチサンニイロク Scoring term: 1300 / 2600.
Ichisenchi 1センチ “1 centimeter”, to be tenpai but waiting on your pair tile. Generally considered better than a naked wait.
Igetazumi 井桁積み To create the 17x 2 walls out of the 136 tiles. Rarely used.
Iichan 一荘 A four-rround game. East, South, West, North. More common in Chinese variants.
Ikasama イカサマ To cheat using slieight of hand.
Ikkaisen 1回戦 The first round in a mahjong tournament.
Ikkitsuukan 一気通貫 The full name of Itsu – to have 123,456,789 in one suit.
Ikkitsuukan-chanta 一気通貫全帯ヤオ九 An old hand, to have Itsu, and the remaining sequence and pair to be Chanta-legal.
Ikkyoku 一局 The hands with the first dealer of a wind round (East 1, South 1).
Imaten 今聴 To be currently tenpai.
Impachi インパチ Scoring term: 18,000.
Inchiki インチキ Cheaing term: to cheat with mechanical means, whether in the game (cameras, etc) or out of it (game client, auto-table).
Infure インフレ Inflation – to increase the rate or dora within the game.
Ippatsu 一発 To win before your next discard.
Ippatsukeshi 一発消し To call post-reach to stop a possible Ippatsu win.
Ippomba 一本場 To be at the state of 1 repeat deal (1 100 point stick out).
Irime 入り目 Tile used to change from i-shan-ten to tenpai. May frustrate a player is Irime comes rather than effective tile.
Iroyomi 色読み A way of predicting tile through the color of the discarded tile.
Isano-ru イチサンオール Point calculation terminology, its where the non-dealer pays the dealer 1300 points.
Isshokute 一色手 One color hand, same as honichi and chinitsu. Also known as Somete.
Ittegawari 一手変わり When winning tile and hand tile is switched, abrievated term of Ittekawarisannshoku.
Ittenyomi 一点読み Its where a player predicts opponents tile.
Ittsu イッツー Shortened term for Ikkitsuukan, used very often.
Ittsu-chanta イッツーチャンタ A local rule, abbrieviation of Ikkitsukan-zentaiyaokyu. Ittsu has tile 4, 5, 6 so getting chanta is usually impossible.
Jamboy 雀ボーイ Boy working at Mahjong store.
Jammu 雀夢 Formally sold automated mahjong table made by Dengen Automation Co. ltd.
Janfuu 雀風 An individual style of playing mahjong, referring to tendency and trait of the way to hit/swing.
Jango 雀豪 A strong Mahjong player, also refers to the automated Mahjong table sold by Dengen automation Co. Ltd.
Jankikai 雀鬼会 Association created by Shouichi Sakurai aka “Janki”.
Jankiryuu 雀鬼流 A particular school of Mahjong popularized by Sakurai Shoichi.
Janreki 雀歴 Mahjong history.
Janryoku 雀力 Mahjong ability.
Janryuu 雀龍.com A website dedicated to Mahjong officially called “Mahjong-no-Janryuu.com”. Its aim is to spread Mahjong and its Image.
Janryuumon 雀龍門 3D online mahjong game run by NC JApan K.K.
Jansei 雀聖 Refering to Tetsuya Abesada.
Janso 雀荘 Mahjong Parlor that requires fee.
Jansou 雀荘 Mahjong parlor.
Jantaku 雀卓 Mahjong Table, aka Mahjongtaku.
Janto 雀頭 A pair that is necessary to win a normal hand (akari).
Jantou 雀頭 The pair in a standard mahjong hand. Commonly “atama”.
Janya 雀屋 The name of a mahjong parlor.
Jidotaku 自動卓 An automatic table that shuffles and creates the walls. Many also keep track of points, draw hands, and/or flip dora indicators.
Jigokumachi 地獄待ち Hell wait – a wait in which all but one of the tiles are already used (discarded or in open calls).
Jijun 次巡 Next turn.
Jikadori ジカドリ To have a specific opposing player call.
Jikazehai 自風牌 Jikazehai refers to individual player’s Wind tile, for example, West wind for West player.
Jikyoku 次局 Next round.
Jioya 自親 Dealer Round.
Johai 定牌 To discard a safe tile.
Jojidora 常時ドラ Tiles that are always dora (such as red 5s).
Jun The number of ‘go arounds’ this hand (approximately the number of times yo’ve drawn).
Junchan 純チャン A hand where all parts have a 1 or a 9 in them.
Junchan-ittsu 純チャン一通 A local rule where a hand with Itsu has the fourth sequence and the pai contain a 1 or 9.
Junchan-taiyaochu 純全帯ヤオ九 The full name for Junchan.
Junikkitsuu 純一気通貫全帯ヤオ九 An old Yaku, a hand with tsu, chanta and without any word.
Junisen 順位戦 A ranking system where the player’s rank decides the point earned.
Juniuma 順位ウマ A system where the lower rank player pays point to higher rank player.
Junkara 純カラ Same as Soraki.
Junniuma 順位ウマ Placement Bonus.
Juubunkei 充分形 tiles that can easily make a hand and yield a high point.
Juusammen 十三面待ち To wait for 13 possible tile. Ex. to be in tenpai for Kushimusou.
Kabe “Wall” – A tile efficiency theory which revolves around how many of a tile are visible.
Kabeuchi 壁打ち To slide the tile to the side of the table. As it make sound and damage the tile, it is considered against manner.
Kabeyaku 壁役 Cheating Term, a player tells a conspirator the other players hand.
Kaburu かぶる To get the same tile that the player discarded.
Kachofuugetsu 花鳥風月 An old Yaku, to have flower (five banboo), bird(one ), wind (wind tile ) and moon tile (one.
Kaeriton 返り東 A local rule where tie-breaker is done in the east seat rather than the west seat.
Kafu 加符 Point that player gets during calculation.
Kafuten 加符点 The actual amount of point that player gets during calculation.
Kaikyoku 開局 To begin a round.
Kaimen 開門 For the Dealor to draw the same number of tile as the same number on the dice.
Kakaeru 抱える To hold a specific tile in his/her hand, such as Dora tile, safe tile, etc…
Kakan 加槓 A kan that was upgraded from an in-hand tile.
Kakimawasu かき回す To cause action at the Mahjong table, such as calling or making unnecessary movement. Same meaning as Arasu but in a more positive tone.
Kakomu 囲む To play Mahjong.
Kamburi 槓振り A local rule Yaku where a player Ron after they Kan.
Kamicha 上家 The player to your left.
Kamicha-dori 上家取り Rule where double or triple ron is not allowed and the player most closest to discarder wins in that instant. Even if Double or Triple Ron is allowed, player closest to the discarder has priority.
Kamicha-yuusen 上家優先 Same as Kamicha-dori.
Kamo カモ Duck’, a weak player / easy mark. Slightly offensive.
Kamorasu かもラス Parlor term – to alert the parlor that this may be your last game in this session.
Kan To call a Kan.
Kanchan 嵌張 An internal wait, such as 46 waiting on 5.
Kanchan-machi 嵌張待ち To be waiting for a pair of tile that is one number separated, such as 1,3 and 4,6.
Kanchanfu 嵌張符 2 point that is added during calculation for Kanchan-machi.
Kandora カンドラ A rule that an additional dora indicator is revealed when a kan is called.
Kankanho 槓々和 A rarely used local Yaku, another name for Renkaiho.
Kansaki 完先 Abbreviation for Kanzensakizuke.
Kanta 嵌塔 Two pair of tile that is one number separated, aka Kanchan.
Kantsu 槓子 A set of 4 identical tiles.
Kanura 槓ウラ A new dora tile that was flipped over because of player getting the Dora tile after calling Kan.
Kanzai 槓材 Tile that makes a Kan. Fourth tile that is added after Pon or 4 tiles that can easily be Pon (Ankan).
Kanzen-sakizuke 完全先付け Rule that forbiddens Atozuke.
Kappagi カッパぎ To grab a lot of tenbo (point stick) from other player, same as Kappagu.
Kappagu カッパぐ To grab a lot of tenbo (point stick) from other player, same as Kappagi.
Karagiri 空切り To draw and discard the same type but different tile that makes a tsumo, for example a player draws a 3 tile when he has 2,3,4 tile and discards a 3 tile. it is often used to decieve other player.
Karanaki 空鳴き To call without meaning to, and immediately revoking that call. Usually subject to a 1,000 point deposit, or ‘dead hand’ (a hand were further calls cannot be made).
Karari-chi 空リーチ To take back a reach that player called. A player has to give at most 1000 point to the table as a fine.
Karasu カラス A special Yaku based on three player mahjong rule. To win a hand without drawing a Dora tile.
Karaten カラテン To be tenpai, but having all winning tiles unavailable for draw or discard.
Kareru 枯れる to have all four of the same tile that a player wants to be out or discarded.
Karikariton 仮々東 The person who rolls the dice on the second time to choose the dealor.
Karioya 仮親 The person who rolls the dice to choose the dealor, same meaning as Karitou.
Kariten 仮聴 Wanting to change hand even though a player is on Tenpai, usually because of waiting tile is inefficient.
Kariton 仮東 The person who rolls the dice to choose the dealor, same meaning as Karioya.
Kasanaru 重なる For a tile to be in Toitsu, Ko-tsu, Kanntsuu.
Kashitaku 貸し卓 A full set of mahjong table that a mahjong parlor provisdes, usually lent for at least an hour.
Kataagari 片和了り To have a multiple tile wait where one or more would be an illegal win (such as a 1-4 wait with Tanyao).
Katai 固い Defensive playing.
Katashabo 片シャボ When all the tile that a player is waiting to Toitsu is on the table.
Kawa “River” – the discarded tiles.
Kawashite かわし手 To press and win a quick hand to keep others from winnign with larger hands.
Kawazukuri 河作り To discard in an order that masks your winning wait.
Kaze Wind – East, South, West, North.
Kazoeyakuman 数え役満 To have 13 or more han, and count that hand as a yaukman.
Kazokuma-jan 家族麻雀 To play mahjong with your family, recently not heard.
Kazupai 数牌 Number tiles, the 1-9 of man, pin, and sou.
Ke-ten ケーテン Abbreviation of Keishiki-tenpai.
Keishiki tenpai 形式聴牌 Having tenpai without yaku, for purposes of end of hand tenpai payments and so forth.
Kempai 懸牌 Abbreviated form of kenshoupai, which is an old terminology for Dora.
Kenfompai 圏風牌 Same meaning as Bakaze, not used often.
Kenkoma-jan 健康麻将 “Healthy” mahjong: mahjong without the negative activities normally associated with it (smoking, gambling, drinking, etc.).
Kenshohai 懸賞牌 An old terminology of Dora.
Ki-hai キー牌 Key tile that impacts the flow of the game.
Kihonfu 基本符 20 point which is the lowest base unit for mahjong. it may be 30, 40 point.
Kikenhai 危険牌 Dangerous tile – a tile that another player is likely to win with.
Kikku キック “Kick the can” – to win a small hand to move the deal, shortening the game or ending a dealership.
Kikkute キック手 Same meaning as Kick.
Kimeuchi 決め打ち To decide on one tile to win on and continue the game based on it.
Kimma 近麻 Shorthand for Kindai Mahjong magazine.
Kimmonkyo 金門橋 “Golden Gate Bridge”, an old hand consisting of 123, 345, 567, 789.
Kindaima-jan 近代麻雀 “Modern Mahjong” – a popular mahjong magazine.
Kinkeidokuritsu 金鶏独立 An old Yaku, A Hadakatanki with Mankan.
Kinshimpai 筋心牌 Tile that makes the center of a hand, usually refers to tile 4,5,6.
Kirau 嫌う Tile that a player continuously discards no matter what.
Kiriage mangan 切り上げ満貫 “Rounded Mangan” – a rule where 3 han 60 fu / 4 han 30 fu are rounded up to mangan.
Kiru 切る To discard a tile.
Kirukuru 切る来る To draw the same tile that a player tends to discards.
Kitaichi 期待値 Expected value – to determine mathematicaly the possible value of a hand.
Kitsutsuki キツツキ When the the first, fourth tile and second, third tile is the same tile.
Ko “Child” – a non-dealer.
Ko-fompai 客風牌 Same meaning as Otakaze.
Ko-tsu 刻子 Ko-tsu refers to three of a kind. For Ko-tsu, there are Minkou where you collect the set by calling “pon” and Ankou where you do not call.
Koba 小場 Rounds where player are winning with low point.
Kohai 好牌 An easily useable tile, such as a 4-6.
Kohaiheikyoku 荒牌平局 Same meaning as Ryukyoku.
Kohaipai 好配牌 Efficient and usuable tile.
Kohaisenda 好牌先打 To discard a tile that is in favor of all the player early in the game so it does not go in opponents favor .
Koi-so 紅一色 An old Yaku, Same meaning as Koryujan.
Koitten 紅一点 An old Yaku, to win by having all green tile in the middle of the hand.
Kokei 好形 “Good shape”, having many tiles that will help the hand. “A good ii-shan-ten”.
Kokui-so 黒一色 An old yaku, a hand with tile 2,4,8 and the wind tile.
Kokushimuso 国士無双 Thirteen orphans: one of each suit’s 1 and 9, one of each wind, one of each dragon, and one more of the aforementioned tiles to create a pair.
Kombiuchi コンビ打ち Cheating term: to work together with another person or player to commit fraud.
Koritsuhai 孤立牌 Tile that is isolated from any combination.
Koshi To react to other players discard tile.
Koshigakarui 腰が軽い A style of calling as soon as possible, disregarding how low the point is. This terminology is often used by Menzen player (who focus on points), to player who calls relativley early in the game.
Koshikaru 腰軽 Same meaning as Koshigakarui.
Kotegaeshi 小手返し To swiftly draw and discard a tile.
Kotenho 高点法 Rule where the points have to be relatively high.
Kotsuujiko 交通事故 “Traffic accident” – to deal into a large hand on the second go-around, often with no warning.
Koutsu 刻子 Triplet – three melded identical tiles.
Koyaku 古役 Old rule.
Kubi クビ To be back to the beginning point.
Kudaripon 下りポン To pon from the previous player.
Kuijikake 食い仕掛け To call and win the turn.
Kuikae 喰い替え A rule that allows you to call a tile, then immediately discard a tile that could have been used in that meld: pon an 8p and then discard an 8p, or chi a 1m for a 23m and discard a 4m.
Kuinagareru 食い流れる When the turn is reversed, the tile that was suppose to go to the players hand and create a yaku instead goes to the other player. It often refers to being the others player’s fault.
Kuinagasu 食い流す When the turn is reversed, the tile that was suppose to go to the players hand and create a yaku instead goes to the other player. It is often that player’s fault.
Kuinaoshi 食いなおし To call on a tile that a player once discarded, often embarrasing moment.
Kuinobasu 食い伸ばす To chi from an extended sequence and still leave a good wait. For example, to have 2345, calling a 1 to leave a 45.
Kuipinfu 食いピンフ Open pinfu, a no-longer used rule that pinfu was allowed to be open.
Kuisagari 喰い下がり A property of certain yaku that they are worth 1 less when in an open hand.
Kuisageru 食い下げる When an essential tile was taken by the next player.
Kuitan 喰い断 A rule that allows tanyao to be open.
Kuitoru 食い取る By calling and changing order, a player wins using tile that other player would have won with.
Kunroku クンロク 9600 points.
Kurobo 黒棒 The 100-point stick.
Kurobosa 黒棒差 To be ‘in the black’, such that your placement can change in All Last by a score that only requires the 100-point sticks (less than 1000).
Kurogo 黒五 The non-red 5s.
Kuttsuk-itempai くっつきテンパイ To be waiting for the other isolated tile that can complete a hand.
Kuttsuki くっつき To acquire connectable tiles. If you have a 3, for example, to accumulate tiles such as 2 and 5.
Kuu 食う To call.
Kuuchi 空チー To chi and to take back the call immediately. Generally penalized by a 1000-point deposit or a dead hand.
Kuukan 空カン To kan and to take back the call immediately. Generally penalized by a 1000-point deposit or a dead hand.
Kuukoi 空行為 To call in general (reach, chi, pon) and to take back the call immediately. Generally penalized by a 1000-point deposit or a dead hand.
Kuupon 空ポン To pon and to take back the call immediately. Generally penalized by a 1000-point deposit or a dead hand.
Kuzusu 崩す To collapse the wall or your hand accidentally.
Kuzute クズ手 Kudzu hand – a cheap hand, similar to “tash hand”.
Kyakufuuhai 客風牌 Same meaning as Ota-fuu.
Kyakuuchi 客打ち When the worker at a mahjong parlor plays with the guest/customer.
Kyandonho 鏡同和 An old Yaku, having a ordered number (1,2,3 tile) with two suit.
Kyatapira キャタピラー Cheating term – “Caterpillar”, to shift tiles into the wall by sliding the top and bottom horizontally.
Kyoda 強打 To discard a tile strongly or with a strike (bad manners).
Kyogima-jan 競技麻雀 Competition mahjong – mahjong in a tournament, as opposed to gambling.
Kyogiru-ru 競技ルール Competition rules – a ruleset for a tournament, often lacking more random rules such as ura dora.
Kyoku A round – beginning with the initial draw and ending with a win or draw. East 1, South 2, etc.
Kyotaku 供託 Deposit – points that you put into play, to be given to the winner, such as a Reach stick.
Kyotakutembo 供託点棒 Deposited point sticks.
Kyotsuu-ampai 共通安牌 A safe tile for 2-3 player.
Kyotsuu-anzempai 共通安全牌 Same as kyotsuu-ampai.
Kyu 9.
Kyu-pinraoyui 九筒撈魚 An old rule that gave a bonus to winning houtei on the 9p.
Kyuukoken 急行券 Express ticket – an extremely fast hand, allowing an early win.
Kyuurempoto 九連宝燈 Nine Gates – 1112345678999 + one other tile, all in the same suit.
Kyuushu-kyuuhai 九種九牌 To have 9 or more different terminals + honors on your first draw, allowing you to draw the hand in many rulesets.
Ma-chao マーチャオ A popular mahjong parlor chain.
Ma-jan 麻雀 Mahjong – the profound table game. Intellectual and empowering, played by the finest of humanity, including those who are so enamored with it that they would look up the translation of the game’s name on a mahjong website.
Machidori 待ち取り When a player can wait on several type of tile depending on the tile a player discards.
Machigoro 待ち頃 Tile that is still left in the tile mountain or tile that a player might discard.
Mageru 曲げる Bend – to turn the tile discarded post-reach sideways.
Magire まぎれ Accidental events that disrupt the flow of mahjong.
Magujan マグ雀 a Semi-automatic (shuffle and flip tiles only) table.
Majan 麻将 Mahjong written in Chinese. Also, the particular way in “healthy mahjong” that mahjong is written.
Majan-matto 麻雀マット A mat with which to play mahjong on.
Majan-pai 麻雀牌 Mahjong tiles.
Majan-pro 麻雀プロ A player who has been accepted into a professional mahjong association.
Makura Same meaning as Jantou, Atama. The term is not used often.
Makuru 捲くる To wound (hurt) – to bring low a player of higher points.
Mana マナー Manners – the courtesies used while playing mahjong.
Manchoku 満直 Abbreviation of Mankan-Chokugeki.
Maneman 真似満 Local rule where a player gets a yakuman while discarding the same first 5 tiles as other player.
Manganbarai 満貫払い A penalty cost equal to a mangan.
Mangan 満貫 To cap han-fu calculation at 2000 points.
Manshuu 満州 An old way of saying Yakuman.
Mantembo 万点棒 The 10,000-point stick.
Mantsumo 満ツモ Abbreviation for menzen tsumo.
Manzu 萬子 The character tiles – a kanji rom 1 to 9 plus the kanji “yorozu”, meaning 10,000.
Marubi マルB Boo Mahjong term, when 2 players are on top.
Marudori 丸取り “the roundup”, a method of scring three people mahjong, so that values approimate those found in standard four-player mahjong.
Marue マルA Boo Mahjong term, when one player is on top.
Marushi マルC Boo Mahjong term, when three player is on top.
Matagisuji またぎスジ A 3-space tile combination straddling a single tile. For 5, they would be 4-7 and 3-6.
Mawarioya 回り親 Where the last player from the previous game is the first player in the next game.
Mawashiuchi 回し打ち Thestrategy of attempting to develop a hand while discarding only safe tiles.
Mawasu 回す Same meaning as Mawashiuchi.
Meisai 迷彩 To camoflauge a wait via discard order.
Mekuriai 捲り合い To reach against another reach, competing for the first win.
Mekuru 捲る To flip up, such as with a dora indicator.
Member メンバー The members and employees of a Mahjong parlor.
Mempin メンピン An abbreviation for Reach+Pinfu.
Men メン Short for Reach, used in hand notification. “mentanpin is 3900” and so forth.
Menchin メンチン To have a full flush with one suit during a closed hand.
Menfon 門風 Same as Wind seat.
Menfon-pai 門風牌 Same as Wind seat.
Menhon メンホン A state of Chinho (declaring a win on the first turn) before declaring a hand.
Mentan メンタン The abbreviation for reach+tanyao.
Mentanpin メンタンピン The abbreviation for reach+tanyao+pinfu.
Mentaru メンタル The state of mind, an important element required to win in mahjong.
Mentsu 面子 a meld or group of tiles.
Mentsu-otoshi 面子落とし To discard a tile that could have made a group of tiles.
Mentsu-over 面子オーバー To have too many potential Mentsu.
Mentsumo メンツモ Abbreviation for menzen tsumo.
Menzen 門前 Fully closed hand – if in tenpai, allows reach.
Menzen-chin 門前清 The official term for menzen, not used that often.
Menzen-chintsumo 門前清自摸和 The official term for Menzentsumo.
Menzen-ha 門前派 To win the game without calling, a fully closed hand.
Menzen-kafu 門前加符 The 10 points added in the case of a fully closed Ron.
Menzen-tsumo 門前ツモ The 1 han for a fully closed selfdraw.
Menzen-yaku 門前役 A Yakuman based on Menzen ( a fully closed hand), Ipeko, chitoitsu.
Miemie 見え見え To easily able to read other player.
Migijuu 右10 “Right 10”, a particular place to draw tiles from after the dealer’s roll.
Migini 右2 “Right 2”, a particular place to draw tiles from after the dealer’s roll.
Migiroku 右6 “Right 6”, a particular place to draw tiles from after the dealer’s roll.
Min “Open” (light), refers to called, viewable tiles.
Minjun 明順 An open sequence made by calling a discard.
Minkan 明槓 An open kan.
Minkantsu 明槓子 A rarely used term for an open kan.
Minko 明刻 Three of a kind collected by calling “pon”.
Minko-tsu 明刻子 Another way of saying Minkou. This term is rarely used.
Minogashi 見逃し To miss a win, to fail to call a win after Reach. There are rulesets that prohibit this.
Miokuru 見送る Same meaning as Minogashi.
Misehai 見せ牌 Tile that was seen by other player, tile that will be checked.
Misu ミス “Miss”, to make a mistake.
Mo-pai 盲牌 To “look” at the tile without looking, usually by feeling the texture of the tile with your fingers.
Mo-ta 摸打 Usually means tsumo.
Mochi-mochi モチモチ For two player to have two of the same tile. One of the player has to discard that tile in order for the other player to Pon.
Mochiten 持ち点 Points, point stick that players holds.
Mopai 摸牌 Tile that was drawn.
Moro-hikkake モロ引っ掛け To reach with a Safe tile.
Morogake モロ掛け Same meaning as morohikkake.
Morohi モロヒ Same meaning as morohikkake.
Moronori モロ乗り When there is a 4 or 3 of a kind of uradora and kandora.
Morora モロ裏 Abbreviation of Moroniurasuji, to be waiting for a Urasuji tile.
Moshirasu もしラス A type of last call, refers to “maybe the last hand”.
Motodora 元ドラ Former dora tile before a new dora tile is revealed.
Motomen 元メン Parlor term for the original members.
Motora 元ウラ Former dora tile before a new dora tile is revealed.
Mudazumo 無駄ヅモ A wasted draw (a tile that does not help the hand).
Murichin 無理清 An unreasonable chi, alerting players to a half or full flush.
Murihon 無理混 An unreasonable mixed, forcing players toward Hon’itsu.
Murinaki 無理鳴き An impossible call, such as saying Pon on the 3rd tile of a type to be discarded.
Muripon 無理ポン An impossible Pon call.
Musuji 無スジ Tile that is not Suji.
Nagama-jan 長麻雀 East south Mahjong, It means long mahjong, as it takes longer than boo or three player mahjong.
Nagare 流れ “The flow” – strategy possible based on fortune, superstition, the moon, etc.
Nagareron 流れ論 The idea that mahjong is a flow, and those who “follow” it will prevail. Similar to “occult”.
Nagareru 流れる “To flow”, to appeal to the flow.
Nagashi 流し Abbreviation for Nagashimankan, not used often.
Nagashi-mangan 流し満貫 To win a mangan by discarding only terminals and honors, and to have no tiles called off of you, until the draw is exhausted.
Nakabukure 中ブクレ “middle blister” – A pair within a sequence, such as 23334.
Nakame 中目 Winning tile that is in neither high point or low point, not used often.
Nakanuki 中抜き To discard a tile already in a group when Oriru.
Nakazuke 中付け NO CLUE literal: to make a yaku with a call made before the second win.
Naki 鳴き To call a discard.
Nakima-jan 鳴き麻雀 To play a style of mahjong that emphasizes many calls.
Nakiragu 鳴きラグ To pause before calling.
Naku 鳴く A call.
Namba 南場 The South.
Namboku-senso 南北戦争 Civil War, a rarely used hand based on American Mahjong, that uses the tile sequences 1861 and 1865.
Nampaku-tsukimono 南白つきもの A mahjong saying that those who have the south also have the white dragon (unsubstantiated).
Nan South.
Nanahyaku-sensan ナナヒャクセンサンビャク Scoring term: 700 / 1300.
Nanahyakuo-ru ナナヒャクオール Scoring term: 700 all.
Nananana ナナナナ Scoring term: 7700.
Nanato-ichisan ナナトーサン Scoring term: 700 / 1300.
Nancha 南家 The south player.
Nanikiru 何切る “What would you cut” – chess / Go-style study problems based on scoring and tile efficiency.
Nannyuu 南入 To start the south seat, after 4 seats of east.
Narabitoitsu 並び対子 Two sequenced pairs, such as 4455.
Nashi なし,ナシ,無し “Invalid” – denotes a rule not in effect.
Nashi nashi ナシナシ Ruleset that disallows open tanyao and backdoor wins.
Nashiari ナシアリ Ruleset that disallows open tanyao but allows backdoor wins. Rarely used.
Nashinashi ナシナシ REPEAT.
Nekusuto ネクスト “Next”, determining the dora by the dora indicator.
Neraiuchi 狙い打ち To choose a certain other player to Ron against.
Nerihai 練り牌 Plastic mahjong tiles.
Netto-janshi ネット雀士 Net Mahjong – playing mahjong online.
Netto-keijanshi ネット系雀士 A Net mahjong player – someone who specializes in net mahjong.
Nettoma-jan ネット麻雀 Net Mahjong, to play against player around the Japan and world.
Ni-yomman ニーヨンマル Scoring term: 24,000.
Nicha 2チャ Second place.
Nichaho 二家和 For two player to declare Ron at the same time, If this rule is not used, than Touhane is used.
Nichame 2チャ目 Player who is in second place at that moment.
Nidoburi 2度振り To roll the dice twice to determine the wall break. Currently non-standard.
Nidoke 2度受け To require the same tile in two different ways, for example, 3556 needs a 4 for 35 and for 56.
Nigiri 握り a popular term for ‘uma”. alternately, the grip of a cheating player concealing a tile.
Nigirikomi 握り込み Cheating term: to conceal a tile in your hand.
Nigiritsubusu 握り潰す To keep tiles that other player might be looking for to use.
Niikyu ニイキュー Scoring term: 2900.
Niiroku ニイロク Scoring term: 2600.
Niirokuo-ru ニイロクオール Scoring term: 2600 all.
Niisan ニイサン Scoring term: 2300.
Niisano-ru ニイサンオール Scoring term: 2300 all.
Niiyon ニイヨン Scoring term: 2400.
Nikake 2欠け Parlor term: to be short 2 people for the game.
Nikaku 2確 To definately win at second place.
Nikku ニック Scoring term: 2900.
Nikoniko ニコニコ “smile”, a popular slang term for seven pairs.
Nikoro 二コロ When two player has negative points.
Ninaki 二鳴き To Pon on the second draw.
Ninoninotenho 二の二の天和 Cheating technique – to work with another to load a tenhou into the wall.
Ninuke 2抜け A rule where the second player does not play the next game in a five or more person game.
Nisen ニセン Scoring term: 2000.
Niseno-ru ニセンオール Scoring term: 2000 all.
Nisenzanku ニセンザンク Scoring term: 2000 / 3900.
No ten bappu ノーテン罰符 The payment made by noten players at the end of the hand.
No-chansu ノーチャンス “no chance” – to have no possible way of filling a wait. For example, 79 with all the 8s in the discard.
No-ho-ra ノーホーラ The state of never being in first throughout a game.
No-re-do ノーレート “no rate” – to play without money stakes.
No-tembappu 不聴罰符 A fine that a player pays (in term of point) when a player is not in tenpai.
No-ten 不聴 To not be in Tenpai.
No-ten-oyanagare ノーテン親流れ To pass the deal if the dealer is not tenpai at the end of the hand.
No-tenri-chi ノーテンリーチ To reach without being in tenpai. A major penalty if discovered throughout the course of the hand.
Nobetan 延べ単 A doubled single-pair wait, for example, 4567 waiting on 4 or 7.
Nomi ノミ A hand containing 1 yaku and no dora.
Nomikikku のみキック To “kick the can” (pass the deal) with a 1 yaku hand.
Nomite ノミ手 A hand with only one Yaku, a cheap hand.
Nonrasu-daho ノンラス打法 To play avoid being last.
Nukeban 抜け番 The players not currently playing if you have an imperfect number of people playing mahjong (5,6,7).
Nukidora 抜きドラ An extracted dora – tiles that can be removed from the hand to add a dora, such as North in 3-player.
Nukiutsu 抜き打つ To discard a non-useless tile, sometime a highely efficient tile.
Nukiwaza 抜き技 Cheating term – to pull tiles from the wall.
Nuku 抜く Cheating term, to use a Nukiwaza.
Nurui ヌルい A ‘nice’ way of saying you are bad at mahjong.
O-punri-chi 開立直 A widespread local rule that allows you to show all or part of your hand upon reaching to increase the value of your reach by 1 yaku. shortened to “punri” in many cases.
O-punsen オープン戦 “open warfare”, an “anyone can join” competition.
O-rasu オーラス “All Last” – South 4 in an east-south game, East 4 in an east-only. The possible last hand.
Occult オカルト A school of mahjong strategy that eschews Digital mathematics and believes that the game is based on flow, mahjong demons, anime bullcrap, the moon, psychology, etc.
Ogamiuchi 拝み打ち Dealing a tile with the feeling that it will deal in.
Ogonnoi-shanten 黄金の一向聴 To have both Tanpinsanshoku and Ikkitsukan.
Ohiki お引き Cheating term – to set up a draw for someone.
Oikakeriichi 追いかけリーチ “Reach roulette” – to reach after another has reached, and leave the winner up to the draw.
Oka オカ The first place bonus in uma.
Okizai 置きザイ Cheating term – to roll a desired number.
Okkakeri-chi 追っかけリーチ To reach after other player reached.
Okurikan 送り槓 “tile hog” – to not call a kan for purposes of tile efficiency. For example, 333345 = 333 + 345.
Okurikomi 送り込み Cheating term, to put highely efficient tile into other players wall and have them draw a tile, or putting an effective tile into a allied player.
Omo オモ Abbreviation for the original dora.
Omomo オモオモ Abbreviation for 2 uradora.
Omonote 大物手 “tycoon” – A high-scoring hand, often one large enough to bust another player.
Omote Abbreviation of omotedora.
Omotedora 表ドラ The Usual Dora Tile.
Onaten 同聴 To wait on the same tile as another.
Onizumo 鬼ヅモ To draw a few remaining efficient tile.
Onraimma-jan オンライン麻雀 Online mahjong – an alternate term for net mahjong.
Onri オンリ “Only”, to be in full defense mode. rarely used nowadays.
Oriru オリる To play the game by focussing on discarding safe tile to prevent it from going to other players advantage.
Oriuchi オリ打ち To discard a tile when a player is not aiming for a complete hand or to have a discarded tile Ron against by other player.
Orosu 降ろす For the Dealer to move to the next player.
Osaeru 押さえる To keep tile, especially the dangerous ones.
Oshihiki 押し引き The “push pull” balance of offense and defense central to mahjong.
Otakaze 客風 Winds that are not yaku for you.
Otakaze-sanko 客風三刻 To play 3-play mahjong because a player is missing.
Otosu 落とす To cut a tile, usually to the detriment of your hand, for defense.
Oya The dealer.
Oyabai 親倍 A Dealer Baiman.
Oyagime 親決め To choose the dealer.
Oyakaburi 親かぶり When non-dealer player wins the round. In Mahjong, the dealer has to pay twice the amount to the non-dealer, so the larger the point, the more point that the dealer has to pay.
Oyaman 親満 A Dealer mangan.
Oyanagare 親流れ For the dealer to change to a new player, Same meaning as Oyaochi.
Oyaochi 親落ち For the dealer to change to a new player, Same meaning as Oyanagare.
Oyappane 親ッパネ A dealer haneman.
Oyari 親リー Rule where the dealer gets 1.5 times the normal point.
Oyaware 親割れ For the dealer to start Wareme.
Pa 8.
Pa-renchan 八連荘 To get a yakuman for winning 8 consecutive hands.
Paa 8.
Pai A tile.
Paipan 白板 The official name for white.
Pairyuujoseki 牌流定石 A Mahjong theory proposed by Masaki Kaneko.
Pao A property of certain yakuman that means a player may be responsible for all or part of the cost due to giving the final part of the hand before completion.
Paohai 包牌 A tile that could create a Paohai hand.
Paosha 包者 The person responsible for the last call of a yakuman.
Paosoku 包則 Rule for Pao Yakuman.
Pe-nuki 北抜き A North extracted for dora, used in 3-player.
Pei North.
Peiba 北場 Round wind at the north seat, does not happen at a East-South mahjong.
Peicha 北家 Peicha refers to a player who sit on the right side of the dealer from the dealer’s view. North Wind becomes the player’s Wind tile.
Penchan 辺張 An end wait – 12 waiting on 3, or 89 waiting on 7.
Penchan-machi 辺張待ち Same as Penchan.
Penta 辺塔 Slang for Penchan.
Pi-pai 壁牌 Mahjong wall.
Piano-machi ピアノ待ち a three-sided wait, such as 23456.
Pimpin-roku ピンピンロク Scoring term: 11600.
Pin ピン The gambling rate for 1000 points, 100 yen unless otherwise noted.
Pinchoi 平局 To play without repeat deal increases. Non-standard.
Pinfu 平和 To have no wait, meld, or pair fu.
Pinfute 平和手 A hand that has a high possibility of pinfu.
Pinjan ピン雀 To play mahjong at the rate of 100y per 1000 points.
Pinta ビンタ A specific type of mahjong bet – to be paid based on the number of placement differences.
Pinzu 筒子 Suited tiles, tiles with pictures of circle with hole in the middle (like 100-yen coil).
Pinzu 筒子 The pin tiles, with circles on them.
Po-hoipa-ren 破回八連荘 Rare local Yaku, for the non-dealer player to complete a hand to prevent the dealer from making Paren.
Pon ポン To call a tile to make a meld of three identical tiles.
Ponkasu ポンカス To call the last available tile of a type for a pon.
Ponten ポン聴 To be in a state that you can pon into tenpai.
Ponzai ポン材 Tile to call the Pon.
Punri プンリー Short for “Open Reach”.
Rakuhai 落牌 To drop a tile off the table.
Rakujan 落雀 A puzzle game based on Mahjong.
Raoto-hai 老頭牌 1 and 9 tile.
Rasha ラシャ The cloth played on.
Rasu ラス 4th place.
Rasuagari ラスあがり The person who wins the last hand.
Rasuhai ラス牌 The last tile.
Rasuhan ラス半 The last half of the game.
Rasuhanko-ru ラス半コール Parlor term – to let the parlor know in the last half of a game that the next game is your last for the session.
Rasuichi ラスイチ The last tile.
Rasukaku ラス確 To definately end in last place.
Rasumae ラス前 The game before All Last (South 3).
Rasume ラス目 Fourth place player.
Rasunuke ラス抜け A rule for five or more player where the last place player does not play the next game.
Rasuochi ラス落ち Fourth place player.
Rasuoya ラス親 Dealer on the last round.
Rasuseki ラス席 The dealer during All Last.
Rasuto ラスト Parlor term – to declare the end of a game.
Re-to レート The betting ratio.
Renchan 連荘 A continuation as dealer because either the dealer won or was tenpai at the end of the round.
Renfompai 連風牌 Self Wind seat tile.
Renho 人和 To win before your first draw. Once a Yakuman, now given by many as a mangan, as there is many different thoughts on the matter, it is not employed that often.
Renkaiho 連開花 An old Yaku, If a player Kans twice, he will double twice when he tsumo wins.
Renkan-kaiho 連槓開花 Local Yaku, same mening as Renkaiho.
Renko-yaku 連刻役 Yaku formed from consecutive triplets, no longer commonly used.
Rentairitsu 連対率 Ratio to get first and second place.
Rentei 連底 Total point including all the point stick.
Retsu Partner Player, a player who shares profit.
Ri-chi 立直 To depost 1000 points with a fully closed hand and discarding all draws that would change your hand until winning for 1 yaku. Cannot be done with less than 1000 points.
Ri-chibo 立直棒 The 1000-point stick deposited upon reaching.
Ri-chidori リーチ取り Only the one that reach can take the penalty reach stick.
Ri-chiippatsu 立直一発 To win after reaching and before discarding, for 1 extra han. Another’s call voids this opportunity.
Ri-chima-jan 立直麻雀 The popular japanese variant of Mahjong.
Ri-hai 理牌 The sideways tile reached on.
Riaruma-jan リアル麻雀 Physical mahjong, as opposed to online mahjong.
Riipai 理牌 To arrange the tiles in one’s hand.
Rimpai 零牌 The last tile.
Rinchan 輪荘 When the dealer changes to the other player.
Rinshampai 嶺上牌 A tsumo tile after Kan, A player gets Rinshan kaiho.
Rinshan リンシャン Abbrevation for Rinshan Kaihou.
Rinshankaiho 嶺上開花 To win on the replacement draw of a kan.
Rinshanpai 嶺上牌 The tile drawn after kan.
Rizumu リズム The tempo of a game.
Ro- 6.
Ro-hanyaku 六翻役 Scoring term: 6 yaku.
Ro-karu-yaku ローカル役 Local Yaku – non-standard winning hands.
Ro-karuru-ru ローカルルール Local Rule – non-standard mahjong rules.
Ro-zu ローズ Same meaning as Toshiwaza.
Rokkenzumi 六間積み Cheat term – to put six columns between each tile loaded into the wall (such that both tiles will be drawn by the same person).
Rokumaigiri 六枚切り To discard tiles in rows of six, as is common in mahjong.
Rokunoko 6ノコ The 6 cut – when rolling a 9, the six remaining tiles after the dealer draws.
Rokupa ロクパー Scoring term: 6800.
Rokuyon ロクヨン Scoring term: 6400.
Rompai ロン牌 The tile that ron is called on.
Ron 栄 or ロン To win due to an opponent’s discard.
Ronchan 輪荘 When the dealer changes to the next player, same meaning as Renchan.
Ronho ロンホー To win with Ron.
Roppyaku-senni ロッピャクセンニシャク Scoring term: 600 / 1300.
Rotohai 老頭牌 1 and 9 tile.
Routouhai 老頭牌 Terminals: the tiles 1 and 9.
Rule ルール Rules: often refers to local rules.
Ryampe リャンペー Abbreviation for Ryan pei ko.
Ryampe-ko 二盃口 Two instances of two identical sequences.
Ryan 2.
Ryando-ko 二同刻・両同刻 An old yaku, to create kantsu with 2 style of number tiles.
Ryanhan shibari 二飜縛り A rule where 2 han are required to call a win. Often occurs when the repeat deal count reaches 5.
Ryanhan-yaku 二ハン役 Yaku worth 2 han.
Ryankan REPEAT.
Ryankan 両嵌 or リャンカン A multitile wait formed by you attached middle waits. Examples: 135, 468.
Ryankan-chan リャンカンチャン Same meaning as Ryankan, usually called Ryankan.
Ryankan-machi リャンカン待ち Same meaning as Ryankan.
Ryankan-ryanmen リャンカンリャンメン A ryankan with an internal sequence, such as 245667.
Ryanmen 両面 A multitle connected wait: foreample, the 2-5 wait of a 34.
Ryanmen-machi 両面待ち To wait for outer number next to 2 numbers, such as waiting for 2 and 5 when a player has 3 and 4.
Ryann A pair.
Ryanshanten 二向聴 Two tiles from tenpai.
Ryanshi リャンシ Abbreviation of Ryanshiba.
Ryanshiba リャンしば Abbreviation for Ryanshan-shibari.
Ryanzo-chankan 二索槍槓 An old hand, consisting of winning a chan kan off the 2 sou.
Ryanzoro リャンゾロ Same meaning as BaZoro.
Ryokei 良形 Good shape – a hand with good tile efficiency.
Ryotembin 両天秤 To choose one Yaku from two choices.
Ryu-i-so 緑一色 A yakuman consisting of a legal hand using only tiles from the list 23468sou and green dragon.
Ryu-i-so-rin 緑一色輪 An old yaku, to have 5 banboo rather than green tile.
Ryuu 6.
Ryuufa 緑發 Official term for fa.
Ryuukyoku 流局 The end of a hand where there was no ron or tsumo win.
Ryuukyoku-chombo 流局チョンボ end-of-hand penalties, such as with noten reach.
Saburokyuu 三六九 a 369 wait.
Sai The dice.
Saifu 採譜 A wallet.
Saikokei 最高形 The best possible hand available from a current hand.
Saikoro 骰子 The dice.
Saishuukei 最終形 The final form of a hand,.
Sakigiri 先切り to call ryanmen early in the hand, and to discard tiles that may be dangerous later.
Sakizuke 先付け Disallows a hand from winning that contains its only yaku from the winning discard. Opposite of Atozuke.
Sakizumo 先ヅモ To touch the tile to draw then change your mind and call. A manner violation.
Sakusaku サクサク To proceed the game without any problem.
Sama サマ An abbreviation for cheating.
Samma 三麻 An abbreviation for 3-player mahjong.
Sammemmachi 3面待ち A three-tile-wait, such sa 23456, awaiting 146.
Sammenchan 3面チャン To be waiting for 3 different tile.
Sampongohon サンポンゴホン Scoring term: 300 / 500.
Sampuuko 三風刻 An old Yaku, to create kantsu with three of the four wind tile.
San 3.
Sananko- 三暗刻 Three concealed triplets.
Sanbaiman 三倍満 A hand worth 11-12 han.
Sancha 3チャ Third place.
Sanchaho 三家和 A triple Ron, depending on the rule, may cause Tochu-ryuukyoku (Ending the round with no win).
Sanchaho-nagare 三家和流れ Rule where if three player declares Ron, then the Round will be a no win game (Tochuryuukoku).
Sanchame 3チャ目 The third place player.
Sando-ko サンドーコー Abbreviation for Sanshokudoko.
Sangempai 三元牌 The dragon tile.
Sangempaichi-toi 三元牌七対子 An old Yaku, same meaning as sangenchitoi.
Sangenchi-toi 三元七対子 An old Yaku, hand of Chitoitsu including the three dragon.
Sangenpai 三元牌 The dragon tiles.
Sanhaizumo 三牌ヅモ Cheating term – to draw three tiles at once.
Sanhanyaku 三ハン役 The Yaku that are worth 3 han.
Sankake 3欠け Parlor term – down three players for a game.
Sankaku 3確 To definitely finish in third place.
Sankantsu 三槓子 Three kan.
Sanninron 3人ロン To have three players simultaneously declare Ron.
Sannoko 3ノコ “3 Left”, the columns of tiles left after drawing from a roll of 12.
Sannuke 3抜け Rule where the Top three player does not play the next game in a five or more player mahjong.
Sanrenko 三連刻 A local rule of three consecutive triplets in the same suit, for 2 han. Relatively common for a non-standard rule.
Sanshiki サンシキ Same meaning as Sanshoku.
Sanshoku サンショク An abbreviation for san shoku doujun.
Sanshoku-bukumi 三色含み Hand that has a possibility of turning into a Sanshoku-dojun.
Sanshoku-dojun 三色同順 The same sequence in all three suits.
Sanshoku-doko 三色同刻 The same triplet in all three suits.
Sanshoku-dopon 三色同ポン Refers to Sanshoku-doko.
Sanshoku-ittsu 三色一通 An old term, refers to Sanshoku-tsuukan.
Sanshoku-renko 三色連刻 An old Yaku, to have one of the four wind tile, 2,4,8 circle tile and toitoi with dragon tile.
Sanshoku-tsuukan 三色通貫 An old term, to make Ikkikantsu with three different number tile.
Santya 散家 Non-dealer player, same meaning as Ko.
Sanyon サンヨン Scoring term: 3400.
Sarasu 晒す Same meaning as Naku or call.
Sasaru 刺さる To pay penalty to other player.
Sashikomi 差し込み To intentionally deal into to a hand.
Sashiuma 差しウマ An end-game payment of 4th and 3rd places to 1st and 2nd.
Sawarazuno 触らずの十四枚 The fourteen tiles that are vertically symmetrical.
Seichaku 正着 The most correct tile to discard in term of efficiency.
Seichakuda 正着打 The discarded tile that has the most tile efficiency.
Sekinimbarai 責任払い Certain rule regarding point payment, such as Pao.
Sempai 洗牌 To shuffle the tiles.
Sen セン Scoring term: 1000.
Senchampai 尖張牌 The 3s and 7s.
Sengenhai 宣言牌 The tile reach is declared on.
Sennisen センニセン Scoring term: 1000 / 2000.
Seno-ru センオール Scoring term: 1000 all.
Senpai 尖牌 Same meaning as Senpaihai.
Senseiri-chi 先制リーチ An early reach.
Senten 千点 or センテン A 1000-point hand.
Seori- セオリー Tactics.
Setto セット Parlor term: to rent a table by the hour.
Sha 西 West.
Sha-ba 西場 The west wind seat, Only happens when the game enter west in a east south game.
Sha-cha 西家 Sha-cha refers to a player who sit on the opposite side of the dealer from the dealer’s view. West Wind becomes the player’s Wind tile.
Sha-nyu 西入 Local rule if the top player has point less than 30,000, then the game continues into west round.
Shabo シャボ Abbreviation of Shanpon.
Shaitsu シャイツ Thedice.
Shamisen 三味線 To say things and/or make noise at an attempt to influence the game. “my hand is cheap” , “I am not tempai yet”, and sighing. Manner violation.
Shampommachi シャンポン待ち To have a shanpon wait in tenpai, that is two pairs.
Shampon シャンポン Tenpai with 2 different Toitsu, can be called Shabo.
Shanpon 双ポン or シャンポン Two pairs, the third tile of either will complete the hand.
Shanron-chonchu 双竜争珠 An old Yaku, to have Pinzu pair and manzu, souzu shuntsu triplets.
Shanten 向聴 The number of tiles needed to get to tenpai.
Shanten-modoshi シャンテン戻し To return tile that of yield tanpai. To level down Shanten, for example from ishanten to ryanshanten (to wait for two tile rather than one tile).
Sharinyaku 車輪役 The wheel hands (seven pairs full flush tanyao), local rules.
Shi-aruraotai 十二落抬 An old Yaku, to complete a hand by hadakatanki through Pon or Chi.
Shi-fu-pai 四風牌 The wind tile, that is East, South, West, North tile.
Shi-pai 洗牌 To shuffle the tile in the begining of the game.
Shi-samputo 十三不塔 “Thirteen broken”, a popular local rule. To have thirteen unconnected tiles – no pairs, no two part or three part sequences. Often a Baiman or Yakuman.
Shi-sanrommen 十三龍門 Different name for Kokushimusou.
Shi-sanu-shi 十三無靠 An old Yaku, to have no Mentsu, totsu, toitsu and a different Yakuman.
Shi-sanyaochuu 十三ヤオ九 Different name for Kokushimusou.
Shi-toppu Cトップ Boo Mahjong term. 3 top player.
Shibabo 芝棒 100 point stick.
Shibari 縛り Constraint, such as “minimum 2 yaku needed to win”.
Shibori 絞り To squeeze – to hold onto tiles an opponent would be likely to pon or chi.
Shiboru 絞る To not discard tile that may favor other player, to prevent other player from completing hand.
Shichifukusei 七福星 “Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars”, an old yakuman. seven pairs + all honors.
Shikake 仕掛け To Chi, Pon, Kan, Reach.
Shimbunshi シンブンシ For the first five discard tile to be in the specific order such as west, 2, 3, 2, west, where the outer two tile, the outer middle tile are in pair.
Shimocha 下家 The player to your right.
Shimpai 心牌 Important number tile, usually means the 5 tile.
Shinimentsu 死にメンツ A hand that is close but hard to gets Mentsu.
Shitazumo 下ヅモ Bottom row of the tile wall.
Shizemmeisai 自然迷彩 A naturally camoflauged discard pile.
Shizumu 沈む To sink below the starting number of points.
Sho-su-shi 小四喜 Small Four Winds – Three different triplets of winds, and a pair of the fourth.
Shohai 初牌 When no tile has been discarded yet.
Shoku Suit (color).
Shominkan 小明槓 Same meaning as kan.
Shonpai 生牌 “Live tile” – a tile that has not yet been discarded.
Shori 処理 To discard a tile.
Shosan ショウサン An abbreviation for shou san gen.
Shosangen 小三元 Little Three Dragons – triplets of two dragons and a pair of the third.
Shosharin 小車輪 Small Wheel, an old hand of full flush seven pairs consecutive.
Shouhai 少牌 When a player has less tile in hand than normal, usually means Agarihouki (giving up on win).
Shu-pai 数牌 The number tiles, 1-9.
Shuntsu 順子 A sequence of three tiles, called or concealed.
So-zu 索子 Banboo suit.
Sobaten そばテン When the last tile that a player discarded completes a tenpai of other player.
Socha 荘家 The Dealer.
Sokuhikkake 即ヒッカケ To get Suji tile right after calling Reach.
Sokuri 即リー An abbreviation for an immediate reach.
Sokuri-chi 即リーチ To reach immediately upon gaining tenpai.
Someru 染める A dyed hand – something that is likely to be a half or full flush.
Somete 染め手 One color hand, such as Chinitsu, Honitsu.
Soryuusoju 双竜争珠 An old yaku, to have pinzu pair and 2 juntsu with number suit and banboo suit.
Sotogawa 外側 Outer number, usually the 1 and 9 number.
Souuma 総ウマ Uma by all player.
Souzu 索子 The bamboo suit.
Su- 4.
Su-an スーアン An abbreviation for suu ankou.
Su-anko 四暗刻 Four completely concealed triplets.
Su-ankotanki 四暗刻単騎 To have four completely concealed triplets, waiting to complete a pair to make a valid hand.
Su-chari-chi 四家立直 To have all four players in reach,often considered an abortive draw.
Su-fu-chi-toitsu 四風七対子 An old yaku, Same meaning as Su-fu-chi-toitsu.
Su-fu-haichi-toitsu 四風牌七対子 An old yaku, Same meaning as Su-fu-chi-toitsu.
Su-fu-nagare 四風流れ Same meaning as su-fu-renda.
Su-fu-renda 四風連打 To have all players discard the same wind on the first go around, causing an exhaustive draw.
Su-hanyaku 四ハン役 A yaku that makes four han. Logistically does not exist, but Shosangen and.
Su-kaikan 四開槓 Rule if 2 or more player calls a total of 4 kan, they must Tochuryukyoku (end the game without any win).
Su-kannagare 四槓流れ Same meaning as Su-kaikan.
Su-kansanra 四風子連打 Four kans declared by two or more players total. Often signifies an abotrive draw.
Su-kantsu 四槓子 A single player kanning four times. The most difficult yakuman.
Su-renko 四連刻 To have four consecutive triplets in the same suit. An old hand.
Su-shi-chi-toitsu 四喜七対子 An old yaku, to have chi-toitsu including all of the wind tiles.
Su-shi-ho 四喜和 A collective term for Shosushi and Daisushi.
Su-shi-puto 十四不塔 Same meaning as shisansushi.
Su-tsu-ko- 四字刻 Yaku with 4 kantsu using character tile.
Suji “Muscle” – the tiles that complete ryanmen waits. The basis of many theories of wait-reading.
Suji-hikkake スジ引っかけ To wait specifically on tiles that suji reading deems relatively safe. For example, to have discarded a 4, but wait on a 1 or a 7.
Suji-machi スジ待ち Same meaning as Sujihikake.
Sujipaiko 筋牌刻 An old yaku, to make three kantsu as in 1-4-7, 2-5-8, 3-6-9 in same number suits.
Sutehai 捨て牌 Discarded tile and discarded tile wall.
Sutehai-meisai 捨て牌迷彩 To make it easier to complete a hand by making it harder for other player to know what tile the player wants.
Sutehai-yomi 捨て牌読み To “read” other player’s hand through discard tiles.
Suteru 捨てる To discard.
Suttan スッタン Abbreviation for Su-ankotanki.
Suu 4.
Suupai 数牌 The number tiles, 1-9.
Ta-cha 他家 Term for other player.
Ta-hai 多牌 To have more tile in hand then normal, may have to pay fine or force give up.
Ta-tsu 塔子 two tiles of a three tile triplet or sequence. 12, 13, 23, etc.
Tachiban 立ち番 Parlor term – people not part of the games (such as a tea pourer, or hospitality clerk).
Tachioya タチ親 Starter, east seat player.
Taikyoku 対局 A Mahjong game.
Taikyokukan 大局観 The overall view, from the whole day to whole year.
Taimurasu タイムラス “Time last”, a parlor term – a way of calling a limited amount of time remaining.
Taitorusen タイトル戦 The title fight / final table in a mahjong tournament.
Takame 高目 In a multi-tile wait, the tile that grants the most points.
Takehai 竹牌 Tiles whose backs are made of bamboo.
Takeyabu-yaketa タケヤブヤケタ For the first and last, second and sixth, third and fifth discard tile to be in pair.
Taku Mahjong table. Used in referenced to yearly play.
Takudai 卓代 The price to rent a mahjong table.
Takuso 卓掃 Parlor term – to clean a table and tiles.
Takuware 卓割れ To not have enough players to play.
Tamenchan 多面張 To wait on multiple different tile. to be waiting on three tile is sanmenchou and to wait on four tile is yonmenchou.
Tampin タンピン An abbreviation for Tanyao+Pinfu.
Tanfonho 断紅和 A recent established yaku, to create four mentsu and a pair or chitoitsu with no red tile at all.
Tanki 単騎 Waiting on a single tile to complete a pair.
Tankihasha-demate 単騎は西で待て A mahjong phrase “Wait for tanki at the west”. It is said to Tankimachi at west seat.
Tankimachi 単騎待ち To be waiting for one tile to finish a Toitsu.
Tankisen 短期戦 Short game with few rounds.
Tanron 単竜 An old Yaku, to Tankimachi for Sanshokutsukan.
Tanyao タンヤオ To have a valid hand containing only number tiles from 2 to 8.
Tanyaochu 断ヤオ九 Official name for Tanyao.
Tataku 叩く “To hit” – a common term for a pon.
Tatechin タテチン Single color closed hand.
Tatehon タテホン Many color closed hand.
Te the tiles in your hand.
Tebiroi 手広い To be open on any drawn tile.
Tedashi 手出し To discard a tile originally from hand.
Tegawari 手変わり When the hand structure changes after a player draw a tile and discard a different tile.
Tehai 手牌 Each player’s tiles.
Tejun 手順 The order to cut the tiles.
Tembo 点棒 Thin sticks, used to represent score.
Tembo-jokyo 点棒状況 The point count of each player.
Tempai 聴牌 To be in a state where one more tile completes your hand.
Tempai-kei 聴牌形 To be in tenpai.
Tempai-renchan テンパイ連荘 A rule where the dealer stays dealer if they are tenpai after an exhaustive draw.
Tempai-yame テンパイやめ An agreement that a dealer in tenpai at all last can choose to pass the deal – thereby ending the game.
Tempane 点パネ To have just enough minipoints to round up – 32, 42, etc.
Tempin テンピン Parlor term – gambling rate of 100 yen for 1000 points.
Tenari 手なり To continue the round based on the tile a player draws.
Tenbou 点棒 Point sticks used for manual scoring.
Tengo 点五 Parlor term – gambling rate of 10 yen for 1000 points.
Tenho 天鳳 Tenhou is a popular online Mahjong game.
Tenho- 天和 Yaku when the dealer wins.
Tenichi 点一 Parlor term – gambling rate of 10 yen for 1000 points.
Tenimuho 天衣無縫 Same meaning as Churenpoutou, not used often.
Tenni 点二 Parlor term – gambling rate of 100 yen for 1000 points.
Tenochi 手の内 Tile in hand.
Tenpai 聴牌 A hand that is only one tile away from completion.
Tenpane テンパネ To have just enough minipoints to round up – 32, 42, etc.
Tenri-da 点リーダー Automatic points scoring, generally with the point sticks being read by the table in some way.
Tensan 点三 Parlor term – gambling rate of 30 yen for 1000 points.
Tensuu 点数 The score.
Tensuu-hayamihyo 点数早見表 A han-fu calculation reference sheet.
Tensuu-keisan 点数計算 To calculate your score.
Tensuu-keisanhyo 点数計算表 A han-fu calculation reference sheet.
Teppo 鉄砲 Refer to 7 pin, or to gamble all money.
Terasen 寺銭 The banker fee, such as table costs.
Tetsuman 徹マン To play mahjong all night.
Teyaku 手役 Yaku based on hand, not on Dora.
Teyaku-bukumi 手役含み To be in a situation where there is still chance of completing a hand.
Teyakuha 手役派 To play based on Tile combination and high points.
Tezumi 手積み To manually stack up tile walls without using auto-tables.
Tobi トビ Bankrupt (having less than 0 points).
Tobibappu 飛び罰符 A rule where going bankrupt has an aoodional el.
Tobidoitsu 飛びトイツ two pairs a with a one-tile wait, such s 33 55.
Tobirasu 飛びラス 0 point fourth place.
Tobishuuryo 飛び終了 To automatically end the game after a player hits 0 point.
Tobu 飛ぶ When you have lost all your points.
Tochaohan-chanshue 独釣寒江雪 An old hand – having a naked wait of white dragon.
Tochu-ryuukyoku 途中流局 Rule that ends the game half way through, usually decided before the game starts.
Tochuu ryuukyoku 途中流局 Abortive draw – certain events that immediately end a hand.
Tohai 闘牌 “The frozen tiles” – the patterns and flows of a mahjong battle. Colloquial term that expresses the struggle.
Tohoku-jidoshado 東北自動車道 An old yaku, to complete a hand with 2, 4, 6 pin and east and north tile (It is a literal name for one of the highway route that goes through northeastern japan).
Tohoku-shinkansen 東北新幹線 An old yaku, to make a trio with east and north tile and make Ikkitsukan with the other three tile (literal name of a shinkansen aka bullet train route).
Toicha 対家 Player on the opposite side of the table.
Toijuuichi 対11 “Opposite 11”, the place to begin drawing from on the roll of an 11.
Toimen 対面 The player across from you.
Toinana 対7 “Opposite 7”, the place to begin drawing from on the roll of an 7.
Toipai 推牌 Having few draws remaining in the wall.
Toisan 対3 “Opposite 3”, the place to begin drawing from on the roll of an 3.
Toishi 対死 To have two player in Mochimochi (for two player to have same two tile) for a character tile.
Toisuji 遠い筋 A tile pattern showing the outside of two ryanmen waits. 1-7, 2-8, 3-9.
Toitoi トイトイ All triplets hand. Popular with beginning players.
Toitoiho 対々和 The official name for toi toi.
Toitsu 対子 A pair of identical tiles.
Toitsuba 対子場 A mutual discard field that leads to a higher likelihood of pairs in the hand.
Toitsuotoshi 対子落とし To discard a paired tile.
Tokanho 頭槓和 An old yaku, To kan on the first round and Rinkankaiho (to win after calling kan).
Tokuten 得点 Point score.
Tokuten-hayamihyo 得点早見表 A scoring reference table.
Tokuten-keisanhyo 得点計算表 A scoring reference table.
Tokutenryoku 得点力 Ability to get high point.
Tokyuuken 特急券 “express ticket” – a fast hand, that can be won early.
Tomato トマト To discard the same tile on the first and third go around, similar to the characters in “tomato”. for example, West, 3, West.
Tomba 東場 For wind seat to be at the east.
Tompatsu 東パツ The notion tha playres with Easts also have Green dragons (no substantiation).
Tompatsu-tsukimono 東發つきもの Mahjong saying, those who holds East also holds Dragon tile.
Tompe-sen 東北戦 Mahjong game where the next seat seat after East is North, when usually it is South.
Tompuuso 東風荘 An East round only game.
Ton East.
Toncha 東家 The dealer.
Tonn 幢 (トン) Two tile on the tile wall, one that is stacked on top of other.
Tonnansen 東南戦 A general game consisting of 2 rounds: East and then South. Also called Hanchan (half-game).
Tonnanso 東南荘 Online mahjong game (East south).
Tonrasu 東ラス East 4.
Tonsha-sen 東西戦 An East round – West round game. nonstandard.
Tontonsen 東東戦 A double-East Round game. nonstandard.
Topai 倒牌 To “open” hand when declaring a win.
Toppan トッパン Same meaning as Baiman.
Topparai とっぱらい One round game.
Toppuburi トップ振り For the Top player to role the dice to decide the first player.
Toppudori トップ取り “Top up”, a rule that at the end of a game, any remaining deposited points go to first place.
Toppume トップ目 Current top player.
Toppurasuma-jan トップラス麻雀 Player who wins first most game.
Toppusho トップ賞 The top prize.
Torabari-chi 通らばリーチ To be in permanent furiten if you pass up a win while in reach.
Torazu 取らず “to not dare the tiger” – to choose to bail rather then get into tenpai.
Toripuru トリプル Triple Yakuman.
Toripururon トリプルロン Triple ron – occasionally, an abortive draw.
Toriron トリロン Abbreviation for Triple Ron.
Tororo トロロ For second and Third discarded tile to be in a pair as in ToRoRo.
Toshi 通し If no other player Ron after a player discards a tile.
Toshiwaza 通し技 To alert other players through signs or codes the tiles that deal in.
Totenko 東天紅 3 player mahjong rule (mostly in Tokyo Area).
Touma 外ウマ Outside bets.
Tse-i-men 絶一門 To discard the same suit as another, to greatly increase the chance of dealing in or being dealt into.
Tsu-hai 字牌 The wind and dragon tiles.
Tsu-hairi 2入り Parlor term – two persons entering as a single player.
Tsu-i-so 字一色 To have a legal hand made of only dragons and winds.
Tsu-kake 2欠け Parlor term – down two people for a game.
Tsubame-gaeshi 燕返し Cheating term – to swap one’s hand at one time with the tiles in the wall.
Tsukamidori 掴み取り Easy way of choosing position, 4 people will choose one of 4 flipped wind tile.
Tsukampo ツカンポ To be in bad luck, Same meaning as tsukan.
Tsukamu 掴む To discard tile that is in favor of other player.
Tsukan ツカン To be in bad luck, Same meaning as tsukanbo.
Tsukanko ツカンコ Player in bad luck.
Tsuki ツキ To be in good luck.
Tsumeshibo ツメシボ Parlor term – a cold towel.
Tsumibo 積み棒 Each time a player Rensou or ryukyoku shows the number of deals.
Tsumifu 積み符 When a player wins, player gets 300 points for each tsumibo stick.
Tsumikomi 積み込み Cheating term – to load tiles into the wall.
Tsumo 自摸 A self-drawn tile. Commonly used to denote the tile drawn to complete a hand.
Tsumoagari ツモあがり To win via a self-drawn tile.
Tsumoban ツモ番 Next player to draw tile.
Tsumoberi ツモ減り Pointing system in a three player mahjong game.
Tsumofu ツモ符 2 stick that player gets after completing a hand.
Tsumogiri ツモ切り To immediately discard the same tile you have drawn, also “Tsumokiri”.
Tsumoho 自摸和 Same meaning as menzen Tsumoyaku.
Tsumojun ツモ巡 Order of drawing tile.
Tsumorare-bimbo ツモられ貧乏 To tsumo a cheap hand just to maintain dealership.
Tsumori ツモり To win through Tsumo, not through Ron or any other way.
Tsumori-sananko ツモり三暗刻 To have Sananko (Three concealed triplets) through Tsumo, not through Ron or any other way.
Tsumori-suanko ツモり四暗刻 To have Suanko ( Four concealed quadruple) through Tsumo, Not through Ron or any other way.
Tsumosu- ツモスー Short for tsumo+suu annkou.
Tsumosuji ツモ筋 Order of tile bound for each player to draw. Doesn’t change until someone calls.
Tsumu 積む To add point stick through Rensou or Ryukoku, etc… It could also refer to Tsumikomi.
Tsupparu 突っ張る To be offensive and discard dangerous tile.
Tsurigei 吊り芸 Cheating term – to have tiles hidden on one’s person for use.
Tsuriwaza 吊り技 Cheating term – to have tiles hidden.
Tsuyoki 強気 To be aggresive and discard dangerous tile.
U- The number 5.
U-hanyaku 五ハン役 Five hann yaku, only with Called Chinitsu.
U-mensai 五門斉 An old yaku, completed hand using character, pin, banboo, wind, dragon tile.
U-pinkaiho 五筒開花 An old yaku, Rinshankaiho with 5 pin as drawn winning tile.
U-shintsuukan 五心通貫 An old yaku, to have 12346789 with one suit and wait for 5 tile (Kanchan) to win.
Uchigawa 内側 Middle number, as 5 tile is the most center tile.
Uchikake 打ち掛け To adjourn a game prematurely.
Uchikakeshuuryo 打ち掛け終了 To finish the game prematurely after finishing current round.
Uchikiri 打ち切り To finish the game prematurely after a certain time.
Uchiko 打ち子 Mahjong parlor worker who only discard tiles.
Uchisuji 内筋 Tile that player bound to draw on specifc draw phase.
Uchite 打ち手 Opponent player.
Ugoki 動き To call or cause action, such as adding point stick.
Ujuu 右10 “Right 10” – a position to start drawing tiles from after the opening roll.
Ukaseuchi 浮かせ打ち To wait for Kutsuki (Number tile that sandwich certain number tile) on an isolated tile, Such as waiting for 2 and 4 tile for isolated 3 tile.
Uke 受け Abbreviation for Ukeire.
Ukeire 受け入れ The number of tiles that will get your hand one less draw to tenpai.
Uki 浮き When one tile is isolated from other tile.
Ukihai 浮き牌 Isolated tile.
Uku 浮く To have point that is higher than original point.
Uma ウマ A scoring adjustment made at the end of the game, based on ante, points, and placement.
Uni 右2 “Right 2” – a position to start drawing tiles from after the opening roll.
Uradora 裏ドラ The hidden dora given to those that reach and win. the indicators are those underneath all reavealed dora indicators.
Uradorahyojihai 裏ドラ表示牌 Uradora indicators.
Uragei 裏芸 Cheating.
Urahyo ウラ表 Abbreviaiton for Uradorahyojihai.
Urame 裏目 To fail on Mentsu selection.
Uramen 裏メン Undercover mahjong parlor worker acting as a customer, used when there isn’t enough customer/player to play the game.
Urameru 裏目る Verb phrase for Urame.
Urasuji 裏スジ The ryanmen wait to the outside of a discarded tile. Used in discard reading theory. A discarded 3 denotes 4-7. 4 is 5-8. 5 is both 1-4 and 6-9.
Uraura ウラウラ Having 2 Uradora.
Uroku 右6 “Right 6” – a position to start drawing tiles from after the opening roll.
Usui 薄い To be waiting for few tile, or having few effective tile.
Utisuji 打ち筋 The flow of Discard tile in a game, such as timing and time.
Utsu 打つ To discard a tile.
Uu 5.
Uwazumo 上ヅモ The top tile of tile wall.
Uwazumosurikae 上ヅモすり替え Cheating term, To switch tile on wall tile by remembering what each top tile of tile wall is.
Wampai 王牌 The dead wall – tiles not drawn through the normal course of the game.
Wampaitorikiri 王牌取り切り Three player Mahjong rule, to use all wampai and draw tile right until Dorahyojihai.
Wanchansu ワンチャンス “one chance” – a tile that there is only one of hidden. For example, if there are three 8s discarded, there is one chance that a player has an 8.
Wangake ワン欠け Parlor term – one player short for a game.
Waniri ワン入り Parlor term – one player has entered for a game.
Wanpai 王牌 The dead wall – tiles not drawn through the normal course of the game.
Wanzu 萬子 The character tiles.
Wareme 割れ目 A nonstandard rule that the player behind the wall broken at the start of a hand pays and receives points as a dealer.
Waremede-pon われめDEポン Same meaning as Warepon.
Warepon われポン A mahjong variety show on Fuji TV.
Waru 割る To lose point.
Washizuma-jan ワシズ麻雀 A special kind of mahjong, where three of each tile are clear and publically visible in a hand, made famous by “Akagi”, a popular mahjong manga.
Watari 渡り To keep Shanten tile and Tenpai, while changing into a more efficient hand.
Watariotsu 渡りを打つ Same meaning as Watari.
Watariuchi 渡り打ち Same meaning as Watari.
Yakitori 焼き鳥 A rule that requires a player to win at least one hand during a game, or they must pay a penalty.
Yaku A tile pattern that allows a player to win a hand.
Yakuhai 役牌 A triplet that is a Yaku – the dragons, the player wind, and the table wind.
Yakuman 役満 The highest standard scoring hand – 13 han or more.
Yakunashi 役無し To be in Tenpai-kei but have no yaku, Player gets Chonbo if a player wins with no yaku.
Yama “mountains” – refering to the wall.
Yamagiri 山切り The cuts made after rolling to determine where to start drawing.
Yamagoshi 山越し To lose chance of completing a hand and to have other player win after he/she discards a tile.
Yamayomi 山読み To read the tiles in the wall.
Yamiten 闇聴 To have tenpai menzen, but not reached, can be called Damaten.
Yaoa-ru ヤオ二 Point ratio for dealer and non-dealer. Usually 1 to 2 ratio for non-dealer, dealer. Term not used often.
Yaochu-pai ヤオ九牌 Number 1 and 9 tile, can be called 19jihai.
Yaochuuhai 幺九牌 The 1, 9, and honor tiles.
Yasuagari 安和了 To win with low point hand.
Yasume 安目 Hand that generates the lowest point when player wins.
Yasume 安目 The tile in a multi-tile wait that awards the least points.
Yasute 安手 A hand with a low score.
Yohai 要牌 A significant tile – one that is key to something.
Yojohai 余剰牌 The leftover tiles.
Yomma ヨンマ 4 person mahjong, 3 player mahjong is Sanma.
Yommai-zukai 4枚使い To have quadruple tile (4 same tile) in hand without kan.
Yompa ヨンパー Scoring term – 4800.
Yomu 読む To predict. To predict opponents hand through discard tile.
Yonchame 4チャ目 To currently finish last/fourth place.
Yongo ヨンゴー Scoring term – 4500.
Yonhon-happon ヨンホンハッポン Scoring term – 400 / 800.
Yonhon-nanahon ヨンホンナナホン Scoring term – 400 / 700.
Yoninri-chi 四人立直 (ヨニンリーチ・よにんりーち) When all four player to call Reach, may end the game based on decided rules.
Yonkake 4欠け When all 4 players quit playing at the same time.
Yonkaku 4確 A player with definite 4th place. Also known as Yonchakaku and Rasukaku.
Yonkenri-chi 四軒立直 When all 4 players are reached.
Yonnoko 4ノコ “4 across” – the 4 tiles left when rolling 11 on initial draw and drawing the first 4 tiles.
Yonsenchi 4センチ To call 3 times and have only 4 tiles in hand.
Yoreru よれる To not be able to draw efficient tile.
Yoseru 寄せる To collect the tiles around a certain tile.
Yowaki 弱気 A state when you lose the will to attack and go defense instead due to other player calling riichi or using tricks and so on.
Yubirozu 指ローズ Cheating term – to use the fingers to pass information, such as wait.
Yuukohai 有効牌 Effective tile refers to a good tile to use to spread the wait and acceptance.
Zanku ザンク Scoring term – 3900.
Zankuo-ru ザンクオール Scoring term – 3900 all.
Zanni ザンニ Scoring term – 3200.
Zannio-ru ザンニイオール Scoring term – 3200 all.
Zenjidotaku 全自動卓 A fully automatic table – ones that shuffles tiles and builds walls. requires two full sets of tiles. Newer models track points, and perform initial draws and indicator flip.
Zentaiyaku 全体役 General term for the scoring combination that all tiles in hand must fulfill the condition. Examples are Tanyao and Chi-toitsu (Seven Pairs).
Zentsuppa 全ツッパ An all-out strategy, attempting to win without any care of dealing in to another.
Zetsu-ichimon 絶一門 Situation when you lost a kind of pin, man, or sou from hand.
Zogehai 象牙牌 Tiles that are made of ivory. They are rather high quality.
Zorome ゾロ目 A state in which faces of 2 dices are identical.

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