Japanese Mahjong Scoring (Toudai-Shiki)

Table of Contents

• 0. Introduction
• 1. Terminology
• 2. Scoring
• 3.1. Multipliers
• 4. Examples
• 5. Exercises
• 6. Variations
• 7. Links

There is a lack of English description of Japanese mahjong scoring. Here I attempt to describe it. Please forward all comments and corrections to me. This page is a revision of a text file I wrote back in 1998.

The most common version of Japanese Mahjong (Maajan [麻雀]) is Toudai-shiki [東大式], which means "version as used by Tokyo University" (I think, I'm not sure). It is one of the "Big 3" Japanese professional Mahjong associations. This is the version I try to describe here.

1. Terminology

The names I will use are in capitals. Alternative names are listed in parentheses. I will try to provide Japanese kanji (in square brackets, using Unicode) and romaji pronunciation when possible. All Japanese vowels are short! This means that "oo" is pronounced like a lengthened short "o," as in "Noooo!!" and "ee" is pronounced like a lengthened short "e," as in "Heyyyyyy!!"

1.1 Scoring Counters

At the beginning of the game, each player receives 27,000 points in counters:

• One 10000 point counter;
• Two 5000 point counters;
• Six 1000 point counters;
• Ten 100 point counters.

1.2 Tile Classification

There are 136 tiles, composed of four copies of a 34 tile set. The set of tiles is called Jan-pai [雀牌]. ("Pai" means "tile" or "card"; possibly the term is simplified from Majan-pai [麻雀牌], but no one calls them that.) If you have a Chinese set (or some Japanese sets), your set may come with flowertiles and extra blank tiles. These are not used in Japanese Mahjong.

The tiles can be subdivided into four groups:

• DOTS (balls, circles, coins, buckets, units, pin-zu [筒子]):
  
• BAMS (bamboos, sticks, hundreds, sou-zu [索子]):
  
• CRAKS (characters, wan, ten thousands, man-zu [萬子]):
  The original Japanese name is "wan-zu", but "man-zu" is more common.
  
• CHARS (honors, characters, ju-hai [字牌]):
  

The Dots, Bams, and Craks are called the three SUITS, and are numbered from 1 through 9. As a group, all of them are called NUMBERS ([数牌] officially shuu-pai, commonly zu-hai). ("Dot," "Bam," and "Crak" are actually rather poor names, as they completely ignore the meanings of the symbols, but they are so common in English we're stuck with them.) The Japanese names for number tiles are created by combining a Chinese number prefix with a suit suffix, but with some idiomatic differences (shown in bold:

	1 "Ii"	2 "Ryan"	3 "San"	4 "Suu"	5 "Uu"	6 "Ryuu"	7 "Chii"	8 "Paa"	9 "Chuu"
Dot "pin"	Iipin	Ryanpin	Sanpin	Suupin	Uupin	Ryuupin	Chiipin	Paapin	Chuupin
Bam "sou"	Iisou	Ryanzou	Sanzou	Sussou	Uusou	Ryuusou	Chiisou	Passou	Chuusou
Crak "wan"	Iiwan	Ryanwan	Sanwan	Suuwan	Uuwan	Ryuuwan	Chiiwan	Paawan	Chuuwan

The Chars are subdivided into four WINDS ([風牌] officially fon-tsu, commonly kaze-hai) and three ELEMENTS (dragons, sangen-pai [三元牌]). Their individual names are:

• Ton [東]: East Wind
• Nan [南]: South Wind
• Shaa [西]: West Wind
• Pei [北]: North Wind
• Haku [白] (officially paipan [白板]): White Board (White Dragon)
• Hatsu [発] (officially ryuufa [緑発]): Green Prosper (Green Dragon)
• Chun [中] (officially honchun [紅中]): Red Middle (Red Dragon)

In most Japanese sets, the Haku will be completely blank, but in most Chinese sets, they will depict a black rectangle. (Here I'm using the rectangle to distinguish from the blank tiles that some sets give.)

Note that the ordering of the elements (white-green-red) are reversed from traditional Chinese ordering (red-green-white).

Some other card terms:

• The twos through eights of the suits are called MIDDLES (Chun-chan-pai [中張牌]).
• The ones and nines of the suits are called TERMINALS (what's the Japanese term for this?).
• The terminals and chars as a group are called ENDS (Yao-chuu-hai [幺九牌], literally "smallest-(and)-nine-tiles", which is somewhat misleading).

This table summarizes these terms:

		Ends		Middles
		Chars	Terminals
Suits	Dots
	Bams
	Craks
Winds
Elements

Of the four winds, one is a ROUND WIND (bakaze [場風]), determined by which round the game is in; one is a POSITION WIND (menfon [門風] "door wind" or tsufon [自風] "self wind"), determined by the position the player is sitting in relative to the dealer (dealer's wind is East, player after dealer is South, player after South is West, player after West is North). If the round wind and the position wind is the same, it is called a DOUBLE WIND (renhoupai, dabu-kaze [ダブ風]). (Sometimes the wind name is in Japanese, e.g., "dabu-ton" is a double East.) All other (two or three) winds are called GUEST WINDs (ota-kaze [客風]).

Most Japanese only play two rounds, so West and North are rarely round winds.

Each tile has a successor. A suit tile's successor is simply a tile in the same suit that is one larger than it. A 9 tile's successor is a 1 tile. Among the winds, the succession sequence is East, South, West, North (the successor of East is South, etc.). Among the elements, the succession sequence is White, Green, Red.

1.3 Hand Composition

A Winning hand is, except for two exceptions, composed of four MELDS (mentsu [面子]) and a PAIR (jantoo, [雀頭]). The two exceptions are the SEVEN PAIRS (chiitoitsu [七対子]) hands (covered in a later section) and the THIRTEEN ENDS (kokushimusoo [国士無双]) hands (covered later in the special hands section).

A pair is two identical tiles.

There are three types of melds:

• SEQ (sequence, shuntsu [順子]): three numbers in a row in the *same suit*. Example:
• TRI (triple, koutsu [刻子]): three identical tiles. Example:
• QUAD (quadruple, kantsu [槓子]): four identical tiles. Example:

This means that a winning hand must have 14+K tiles, where K is the number of quads in the hand.

1.4 Win Taxonomy

A hand can be won in (basically) two ways:

• won on DISCARD, in which case the winning tile is some other player's discard;
• won on SELF-DRAW (tsumo [自模]), in which case the winning tile is drawn by the winning player.
• (there is a third way, where the dealer is dealt a winning hand at the start of the game (tenhoo [天和]). This will be covered in the special hands section.)

A meld is OPEN (min [明] "exposed") if it was melded by the discards of another player (including a win on discard). Otherwise it is CLOSED (an [暗] "dark") if it was melded "naturally" in one's hand.

A hand is CLOSED (menzen [門前] "door front", short for menzenchin [門前清] "door front pure") if *all* melds that do not contain the winning tile (there are at least three, and four if the winning tile completes a pair) are closed. Otherwise the hand is OPEN. In other words, a closed hand is one where the player never called "chi," "pon," or "kan." (But he may have called "riichi," "tsumo," or "ron.")

A hand is STRONGLY CLOSED if it is closed and was won on self-draw.

A hand is WEAKLY CLOSED if it is closed and was won on discard.

1.5 Pre-win Taxonomy

Before a hand gets the winning tile, it must necessarily be in a WAITING (tenpai [聴牌] "listening to tiles") state, where the (usually 13-tile) hand needs one more tile to win.

2. Scoring

If the winning hand is a special hand, the tally and exponential method is not used.

2.2 Calculating the Tally

[Note: this section has been revised heavily since the last version. Either they revised the rules, or, more likely, I got a lot of stuff wrong.]

The tally is a sum of five numbers; a BASE score, a CLOSURE bonus, a SELF-DRAW bonus, a COMPOSITION score, and a WAITING score. However, there are two exceptions: the SEVEN PAIRS (chiitoitsu [七対子]) hands and the ALL SEQUENCE (pinfu [平和]) hands.

In this section, the term "points" is used to represent tally points and has no relation with the final points.

2.2.1 Base Score (fuudii [副底] or kihonfu [基本符])

The Base score is always 20 points.

2.2.2 Closure Bonus (menzenron-agari [門前ロンアガり])

If the hand is weakly closed (player won by opponents discard, but has not used any other discards), add 10 points.

2.2.3 Self-draw Bonus (tsumo-agari [ツモアガり])

If the hand was won by self-draw, add 2 points. (But note the exception for ALL SEQUENCE hands, below.)

2.2.4 Composition Score

This score is based on the composition of the hand, regardless of readiness or openness.

The pair is worth:

• 4 points -- double (round and position) wind;
• 2 points -- round wind but not position wind;
• 2 points -- position wind but not round wind;
• 2 points -- element;
• no points -- guest wind;
• no points -- suit.

Each seq is worth:

• no points.

Each tri is worth:

• 8 points -- closed end;
• 4 points -- open end;
• 4 points -- closed middle;
• 2 points -- open middle.

Each quad is worth:

• 32 points -- closed end;
• 16 points -- open end;
• 16 points -- closed middle;
• 8 points -- open middle.

2.2.5 Ready Score

This score is dependent on how exactly the winning tile came into the hand. There are five essential ways:

1. TWO-SIDED (ryanmen [両面]) -- the tile completed a seq meld that could have been completed by another number three away from it. For example, holding a and readying for a or .
2. CENTRAL (kanchan [嵌張]) -- the tile completed a seq that was between two numbers. For example, holding a and readying for a .
3. EDGE (penchan [辺張]) -- the tile completed a seq that was at the end, and not two-sided or central. For example, holding a and readying for a .
4. HANGING (danki [単騎]) -- the tile completed the pair.
5. DOUBLE-PON (shanpon) -- the hand had two pairs, and the tile made one of them a tri. (AKA "None of the above.")

Note that a hand may be readying to win in more than one way. For instance, a hand may have three melds and the tiles 5557 in one suit. Then it is a central win if the winning tile is a 6, but a hanging win if the winning tile is a 7.

The readying score is calculated like this:

• 0 points -- two-sided;
• 2 points -- central;
• 2 points -- edge;
• 2 points -- hanging;
• 0 points -- double-tri. (Some books may give this points -- however, it is because they are including composition points.)

A rule of thumb to remember this is to think of the 2 points only given if the ready tile was "unique". But this is misleading because of hands that are ready to win in more than one of the five ways.

2.2.6 Exception: Seven Pairs (chiitoitsu [七対子])

A Seven Pairs hand gets a tally of 25 points.

2.2.7 Exception: All Sequence (pinfu [平和])

An All Sequence Hand gets a tally of 30 points if won by opponent's discard, and 20 points if won by self-draw. (Note that there is no self-draw bonus.)

2.3 Calculating the Exponential (fan [翻])

The exponential (fan [翻]) is a sum of three numbers; the MULTIPLIER (yaku [役]) count, the DORA count, and a BASE exponential (bazoro [場ゾロ]).

The multipliers are the crux of the game, and have their own section.

The dora count is based on the dora tile(s), but is only counted for closed hands. At each game, a tile near the end of the wall is turned over, called the dora tile. The successor of that tile is now a scoring tile, adding one to the exponential count for each such tile the player has. Also note these common variants:

• Although not part of Toudai-shiki, some players play with an "ura-dora" (裏ドラ) rule, which creates more dora tiles in the event of a "riichi." When a player wins with riichi, the tile underneath the dora tile is also revealed, and becomes another dora tile.
• Also not part of Toudai-shiki, but also common, is the "kan-dora" rule. When there is a quad meld, another dora tile is flipped over. (It will created another ura-dora tile if those rules are also used.)

The base exponential is always 2.

2.4 Final Score, Limit Checking

2.4.1 Calculation

Start with the tally. If it is even, round it up to the nearest multiple of 10. (The only possible case where the tally is not even is when it is 25 from a Seven Pairs hand.) and multiply it by 2^exponential (two raised to the power of the exponential score). This is the HAND VALUE.

If the player was dealer, multiply the hand value by 6 (representing each other player paying twice the hand value). If the player was not dealer, multiply the hand value by 4 (representing dealer paying twice the hand value, and the other two players paying the hand value). The resulting product is called the PAYOFF, and should represent approximately what the winner should get.

If the hand was won by discard, then the discarder pays the winner the entire payoff, rounded to the nearest hundred. (If the discarder is dealer, he does not pay double.)

Otherwise, the hand was won by self-draw. Then each player pays the winner the hand value, rounded up to the nearest hundred. (The hand value is doubled if either the winner or the payer is dealer.)

Note that the winner should receive a total amount close to that of the payoff.

2.4.2 Limits

If the hand value is greater than 2000, then instead of using the "actual" hand value, the hand value is reduced to a LIMIT (mankan [満貫]) of 2000 points. (This is reached at about 3 exponentials for tallys greater than 70, about 4 exponentials for tallys greater than 40, and 5 exponentials for smaller tallys.) (Some books will refer to the limit as 8000 or 12000 points. They're talking about the PAYOFF limit.)

The only way to get more than the limit as a hand value is to have a lot of exponentials. The higher values are:

• LIMIT-AND-A-HALF (haneman [ハネ満]): 3000 points. 8 or 9 exponentials.
• DOUBLE LIMIT (baiman [倍満]): 4000 points. 10, 11, or 12 exponentials.
• TRIPLE LIMIT (sanbaiman [３倍満]): 6000 points. 13 exponentials or more.
• QUADRUPLE LIMIT (yakuman [役満]): 8000 points. Special hands.
• SEXTUPLE LIMIT: 12000 points. Really special hands. Not possible in Toudai-shiki, but counted by some variants.
• OCTUPLE LIMIT (daburu yakuman): 16000 points. Some players use this instead of sextuple limits.

2.4.3 Charts

Hand value chart. The following represents how much each hand is worth. This is the amount that would be paid, if there were no dealer bonuses, no limits, and cash were not rounded to 100s. Asterisks represent hand values that are over the limit cutoff (2000). Note that exponentials of less than 3 are not possible in a normal game (there's a base of 2, and a minimum of 1 multiplier).

Tally	Exponential
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
20	40	80	160	320	640	1280	2560*
25	50	100	200	400	800	1600	3200*
22-30	60	120	240	480	960	1920	3840*
32-40	80	160	320	640	1280	2560*	5120*
42-50	100	200	400	800	1600	3200*	6400*
52-60	120	240	480	960	1920	3840*	7680*
62-70	140	280	560	1120	2240*	4480*	8960*
72-80	160	320	640	1280	2560*	5120*	10240*
82-90	180	360	720	1440	2880*	5760*	11520*

Dealer wins by self-draw, each player pays twice the hand value, rounded up:

Tally	Exponential
	3	4	5	6	7	8-9	10-12	13+	Special
20	NP	700	1300	2600	4000 (limit)	6000 (1.5x limit)	8000 (2x limit)	12000 (3x limit)	16000 (4x limit)
25	NP	NP	1600	3200
22-30	500	1000	2000	3900
32-40	700	1300	2600	4000 (limit)
42-50	800	1600	3200
52-60	1000	2000	3900
62-70	1200	2300	4000 (limit)
72-80	1300	2600
82-90	1500	2900

(It is impossible for a player to get only 4 exponentials with a tally of 25 and win by self-draw, as 25 requires a seven pairs hand, so the player will get at least 2 exponentials for base, 2 exponentials for seven pairs, and 1 exponential for strongly closed hand.)

Dealer wins by discard, the discarding player pays six times the hand value, rounded up:

Tally	Exponential
	3	4	5	6	7	8-9	10-12	13+	Special
20	NP	2000	3900	7700	12000 (limit)	18000 (1.5x limit)	24000 (2x limit)	36000 (3x limit)	48000 (4x limit)
25	NP	2400	4800	9600
22-30	1500	2900	5800	11600
32-40	2000	3900	7700	12000 (limit)
42-50	2400	4800	9600
52-60	2900	5800	11600
62-70	3400	6800	12000 (limit)
72-80	3900	7700
82-90	4400	8700

Non-dealer wins by self-draw, non-dealer players pay the hand value, rounded up:

Tally	Exponential
	3	4	5	6	7	8-9	10-12	13+	Special
20	NP	400	700	1300	2000 (limit)	3000 (1.5x limit)	4000 (2x limit)	6000 (3x limit)	8000 (4x limit)
25	NP	NP	800	1600
22-30	300	500	1000	2000
32-40	400	700	1300	2000 (limit)
42-50	400	800	1600
52-60	500	1000	2000
62-70	600	1200	2000 (limit)
72-80	700	1300
82-90	800	1500

(Note that the Tally 30, 4 exponentials (and Tally 60, 3 exponentials) is 2000 but is not a limit, as it was rounded up from 1920.)

Non-dealer wins by self-draw, dealer pays twice the hand value, rounded up:

Tally	Exponential
	3	4	5	6	7	8-9	10-12	13+	Special
20	NP	700	1300	2600	4000 (limit)	6000 (1.5x limit)	8000 (2x limit)	12000 (3x limit)	16000 (4x limit)
25	NP	NP	1600	3200
22-30	500	1000	2000	3900
32-40	700	1300	2600	4000 (limit)
42-50	800	1600	3200
52-60	1000	2000	3900
62-70	1200	2300	4000 (limit)
72-80	1300	2600
82-90	1500	2900

(Note that this is the exact same chart as when dealer wins by self-draw. Dealer has to pay a self-draw hand what he himself would've received for that hand.)

Non-dealer wins by discard, the discarding player pays four times the hand value, rounded up:

Tally	Exponential
	3	4	5	6	7	8-9	10-12	13+	Special
25	NP	1600	3200	6400	8000 (limit)	12000 (1.5x limit)	16000 (2x limit)	24000 (3x limit)	32000 (4x limit)
22-30	1000	2000	3900	7700
32-40	1300	2600	5200	8000 (limit)
42-50	1600	3200	6400
52-60	2000	3900	7700
62-70	2300	4500	8000 (limit)
72-80	2600	5200
82-90	2900	5800

(Note that it is impossible for such a hand to have a tally of 20.)

2.5 Drawn Games (ryuukyoku [流局])

When the last tile is drawn and discarded with no wins, each player shows their hand and announces whether they are ready (tenpai, one tile away from winning) or not ready (noo-ten). The non-ready players have to give a penalty tally (bappu [罰符]), a collective amount of 3000, to the ready players:

• If three people are ready, then the fourth pays 1000 to each one;
• If two people are ready, then they are paid 1500 each -- and each of the other two pays out 1500;
• If one person is ready, he receives 1000 from each of the others.

Obviously, if all four are in the same status, then no money is exchanged.

If the game is drawn in some other fashion besides running out, then this does not apply.

2.5.1 Ways to draw a game

1. When the tiles run out.
2. When a player is dealt nine DIFFERENT ends, he may declare a drawn game at his FIRST turn AFTER drawing a tile. (The tile may count as one of the nine ends.) This is called "kyuushu yaochuu" [九種幺九].
3. When all players discards the SAME WIND tile in the first round, it is a draw. This is called "suufontsu renda" [四風子連打].
4. When there have been four quads declared, the game is drawn after the next discard. [四開槓], or sometimes "suukansanra" [四槓算了].
5. When four players declare riichi, it is a draw. [四家立直]
6. When three players can all win on the same discard, it's a draw. [三家和], also known as "toriburu ron" ("triple ron").

2.6 Dealer Ante (tsumi)

First off, a dealer may continue to be dealer as long as he wins. (If a situation such as (2.5) occurs, being ready is enough to let the dealer continue.)

For every "extra" dealer round (i.e., for every round the same person remains dealer except the initial), the dealer takes out a single 100 unit stick and places it on his right. There may be many such sticks if the dealer has remained dealer for a long time.

When dealer wins, in addition to the normal payment, they collect 300 points for each such stick placed out. This payment comes from the discarder if it is a win by discard, and split among the players if it is a win by self-draw. (Another way to think of it is that all players must pay the amount that is in the pot, but in the case of a discard, the discarder pays for the other players as well.)

Once another player has won, the dealer takes these sticks back.

However, if it is a drawn game and dealership changes, then the sticks are "passed" on to the next player, who adds a stick of his own.

2.7 Cashing Out

At the end of the agreed upon number of rounds (usually two rounds, an East round and a South round, composed of at least eight hands), points are converted into "final scores" as follows:

First, everyone subtracts 30,000 from their score. Then, the player who has the most points gets a 12,000 bonus (called an "oka").

Another way to think of this is: Every player started with 30,000 points, but contributed 3,000 each to a "pot," which is given to the winning player.

The four scores should add up to 0. These values are then converted to money or match points linearly, as the case may be. Note that this means you could end up with more points than you started with (e.g., 29,000) and still be losing money!

(Sometimes these scores will be rounded to the nearest 1000.)

A strongly closed hand (i.e., closed and won on self-draw) gives an exponential.

3.1.0.2 (1) SPECIAL CHARS (fanpai [翻牌], yakuhai [役牌])

A hand with no end cards.

3.1.0.5 (1*) DOUBLE SEQUENCE (sister sequence, iipeekoo [一盃口])

Two completely identical seqs in the same suit. This hand *must* be closed.

Some players play that the horizontal discarded tile is necessary for the riichi; if it is taken, the player must call riichi again on their next turn.

3.1.0.7 (1) FLOWER ON THE MOUNTAIN (rinjankaihoo [嶺上開花])

One multiplier when the winning tile is a result of drawing the extra tile after completing a quad. The win counts as a self-draw win regardless of how the quad was completed. Some players will play a variant where the payment is all paid by the discarding player if the quad was completed by a discard.

3.1.0.8 (1) QUAD STEAL ("Rob a kong", chankan [槍槓])

Winning on the last legal tile in the wall. (The identity of that tile changes during quads, of course.)

3.1.0.10 (1) SCOOPING THE FISH FROM THE RIVERS (houdei raoyui [河底撈魚])

Three melds are composed of the tiles from 1 through 9 of the same suit.

3.1.1.2 (1/2*) (DIRTY) END-FULL (hon chanta yaochuu [混全帯幺九])

Every meld must have at least one end card, and the pair must be of an end card.

3.1.1.3 (1/2*) THREE SUIT SAME SEQUENCE (sanshokudoujun [])

The same numerical triple in all three suits. Some play this as worth 3 multipliers.

3.1.2.2 (2*) SEVEN PAIRS (chiitoitsu [七対子])

No melds, just seven pairs. The seven pairs must be distinct (you cannot have four identical tiles and call them two pairs), although some variants relax that restriction. This hand is necessarily closed, and can be combined with exponents that are not meld-specific, such as End-Less.

3.1.2.3 (2) DOUBLE-DOUBLE (toitoihou [対々和])

No seq melds. Note that if this hand is closed, it will also score for Three Closed Triples or Four Closed Triples.

3.1.2.4 (2) THREE CLOSED TRIPLES (sanankou [三暗刻])

Three melds are tris or quads *and* are closed. (The other meld and the pair need not be closed.)

3.1.2.5 (2) THREE QUADS (sankantsu [三槓子])

Three melds are quads. Some variants have this as three multipliers.

3.1.3 Two Multipliers if Open, Three if Closed

All tiles are in the same suit or a char. (I.e., two suits are completely absent.) There must be chars in the hand (otherwise the hand is a Pure One-Suiter instead).

3.1.3.2 (2/3*) PURE END-FULL (jun chanta yaochuu [純全帯幺九])

3.1.4.1 (3*) DOUBLE DOUBLE SEQUENCE (double dragon, ryanpeikou [二盃口])

Two pairs of completely identical seqs. This hand *must* be closed. Three multipliers. (Actually one multiplier, added to two multipliers from each of the Double Sequences.)

Some variants play this as only two multipliers (i.e., no bonus, as if it were just two doubles).

Cannot be combined with Seven Pairs.

3.1.4.2 (4) LITTLE THREE ELEMENTS (shou-sangen [小三元])

Two melds and a pair of the three elements. Technically, only two multipliers, but two are added from

All tiles are ends. Technically, only two multipliers -- add two for the Double-double and one for the End-Full (but no bonus, even if the hand is closed) to get a total of 5.

If the hand is a Seven Pairs, it's only four multipliers -- two from Dirty Terminals, two for the Seven Pairs. Sometimes such a hand is called "honroochiitoi."

Some variants play this as only four multipliers total instead of five.

3.1.4.3 (5/6*) ONE-SUITER (chiniisoo [清一色])

All tiles are of one-suit. Cannot add extra suit exponentials like Dirty One-Suiter -- that's already counted. 5 multipliers if open, 6 if closed.

3.1.5 Special (yakuman) Hands (X = hextuple limits, if playing with them)

Note that once a hand is special, all other multipliers are irrelevant. "Doubly-special" hands are meaningless (unless previously agreed upon).

3.1.5.1 (S) BIG THREE ELEMENTS (dai-sangen [大三元])

Three melds of the elements.

Responsible Player: If all three melds are open, the player who discarded the tile leading to the third open meld is responsible.

3.1.5.2 (S) LITTLE FOUR JOYS (shou-suushi [小四喜])

Three melds and a pair of the winds.

Responsible Player: If all three melds are open, the player who discarded the tile leading to the third open meld is responsible.

3.1.5.2 (X) BIG FOUR JOYS (dai-suushi [小四喜])

Four melds of the winds. To distinguish this from the Little Four Joys, some people will play this as a octuple limit, even when they are not playing with sextuple limits.

Responsible Player: If all four melds are open, the player who discarded the tile leading to the fourth open meld is responsible.

3.1.5.3 (SX) FOUR CLOSED TRIPLES (suu-ankou [四暗刻])

Four melds of tris or quads, all closed. Sextuple limit if the winning tile is part of the pair.

3.1.5.4 (S) FOUR QUADRUPLES (suu-kantsu [四槓子])

Four melds of quads. Note that this is very difficult as the matching tile must be drawn immediately after the fourth quad. (This is because the fourth quad causes a drawn game.)

3.1.5.5 (S) PURE CHARS (tsu-iisou [字一色])

All chars. Can also be seven pairs (rather rare, of course).

3.1.5.6 (S) PURE TERMINALS (chinroutou [清老頭])

All terminals.

All tiles are "green only"; i.e., a winning hand composed only of . (These tiles are usually all green in Japanese sets, but not so in most Chinese sets.)

3.1.5.8 (S*) THE NINE LANTERNS (nine gates, chuuren-pootoo [九連宝灯])

1112345678999 in one suit, and any other tile in that suit. (Note that no matter what the number the other tile is, the hand can be made into four melds and a pair.) Must be closed, although some variants relax that restriction.

Sextuple limit if the actual ready hand is 1112345678999.

3.1.5.9 (SX*) PEERLESS KINGDOM (kokushi-musou [国士無双])

One of each of the 13 ends, and any other end. Note that the extra end need not be the winning tile -- but if it is, it's a sextuple limit.

3.1.5.10 (S*) HEAVEN (going out of the gods, tenhou [天和])

3.1.6.2 (2*) OPEN RIICHI (oopun riichi)

3.1.6.3 (2) ONE SUIT TRIPLE SEQUENCE (sanrenpon)

3.1.6.4 (1) LITTLE THREE SUIT SAME TRIPLE (sanshokushodoukoo [三色小同刻])

3.1.6.4 (L) END DISCARDS (nagashi mankan [流し満貫])

3.1.6.5 (S*) MAN (renhou)

Some play this as a simple limit, some play this as a triple limit, and some play this as a yakuman.

3.1.6.6 (S) THIRTEEN BROKEN (shiisanbudoo [十三不塔])

3.1.6.7 (S) THE CHARIOT (daisharin [大車輪])

3.1.6.8 (S) ONE SUIT FOUR SEQUENCES

3.1.6.9 (S) DEALER EIGHT TIMES

Some players force the dealer to "retire" after this win, others allow the dealer to continue, winning a yakuman each time from then on.

4. Examples

5. Exercises

6. Variations

Here are some variations I've heard of or seen. These are definitely not Toudai-shiki, and I'm not sure I got all of these right. Some don't really apply to scoring.

6.0 STARTING SCORE

6.1 RED TILES (akapai, akago)

6.2 DOUBLE WIN (daburon)

6.3 SOUTH SIDE NOT READY ([南場不聴])

6.4 DEALER DIFFICULTY ([２翻しばり])

6.5 GO WEST ([西入])

6.6 GO NORTH ([北入])

6.7 YAKITORI ("roast bird" [焼鳥])

6.8 YAKIBUTA ("roast pig" [焼豚])

6.8 UMA ("Horse")

6.9 NO QUAD AFTER RIICHI

6.10 NATURAL WINS

7. Links

• Alan Kwan's mahjong page. Alan's a friend of mine. This document isn't based on his, though, even though it may seem like it.
• Tom Sloper's site doesn't really cover Japanese mahjong scoring, but it sure covers a lot.
• Hiroyuki's Page covers the gameplay but not the scoring, so it complements this page nicely, I guess.
• Laurent Delfosse's page was something I came up across while doing this update. He updates this a bit more than me (hopefully that will change).
• I stole the money counter icons from here. (I forgot where I stole the mahjong icons from, though.)