Mahjong Yaku Guide: Riichi Patterns and Han

A Mahjong yaku is a recognized condition that makes a valid riichi hand eligible to win. Four sets and a pair can be structurally complete yet still fail because it has no yaku. Each ordinary yaku contributes han; dora adds bonus han only after the hand already qualifies.

Yaku, han, fu, and dora

Mahjong Yaku Guide: Riichi Patterns and Han: Term, Job

Term	Job
Yaku	Makes the hand eligible to win and awards han
Han	Measures yaku and dora value
Fu	Minipoints from groups, waits, pairs, and win method
Dora	Bonus tiles worth one han each; not a yaku
Yakuman	Limit-class yaku scored separately from ordinary han

This guide follows the World Riichi Championship Rules 2025. Online clients and local leagues may add red fives, change rare yaku, or handle limits differently. Check the room rules before relying on a complete list.

Beginner yaku to learn first

You do not need to memorize every yaku before playing. Begin with patterns that arise often and teach an important rule.

Mahjong Yaku Guide: Riichi Patterns and Han: Yaku, WRC value, Core condition

Yaku	WRC value	Core condition
Riichi	1 han	Declare ready with a closed hand
Menzen tsumo	1 han	Win by self-draw with a fully concealed hand
Tanyao	1 han	Use only numbered tiles 2–8
Yakuhai	1 han each	Triplet/quad of a dragon, seat wind, or round wind
Pinfu	1 han	Closed all-sequence hand with a valueless pair and two-sided wait
Toitoi	2 han	Four triplets/quads and a pair
Chiitoitsu	2 han	Seven different pairs in a closed hand
Hon’itsu	3 closed, 2 open	One suit plus honors
Chin’itsu	6 closed, 5 open	One suit with no honors

These values are not a ranking of strategy. A fast one-han hand may be better than chasing an unlikely flush while opponents advance.

Closed-only yaku

A hand is closed when you have not made a meld by claiming another player’s discard. Winning by ron does not retroactively open an otherwise closed hand.

Closed status gives access to riichi, menzen tsumo, pinfu, iipeikō, double riichi, chiitoitsu, and several rare yaku. It also preserves the higher value of yaku that lose one han when open.

Declaring a concealed kan does not normally open the hand, but kan procedure after riichi has strict limits. A call for chii, pon, or an open kan does open it. Before calling, identify the yaku that will remain.

Yaku that work in an open hand

Open tanyao is legal under WRC rules. Yakuhai, toitoi, sanshoku dōkō, san’ankō under its concealment conditions, sankantsu, honrōtō, and shōsangen can also work without a fully closed hand.

Several sequence and suit yaku remain legal but lose one han when open:

• Ittsū: 2 han closed, 1 open;
• Sanshoku dōjun: 2 closed, 1 open;
• Chanta: 2 closed, 1 open;
• Junchan: 3 closed, 2 open;
• Hon’itsu: 3 closed, 2 open; and
• Chin’itsu: 6 closed, 5 open.

This reduction is often called kuisagari. It makes an open hand legal but may change the final score more than a beginner expects.

Event-based yaku

Some yaku describe how or when you win rather than the final tile pattern. Ippatsu applies after riichi when you win before your next discard and no intervening call or kan breaks the opportunity. Chankan is winning by robbing a promoted kan. Rinshan kaihō is winning on a replacement tile after a completed kan.

Haitei is self-drawing the last live-wall tile; hōtei is winning on the discard after that draw. These are valid yaku, but they are poor primary plans because the timing is rare. Treat them as recognized opportunities.

Dora cannot rescue a yakuless hand

Suppose a complete open hand has three dora but matches no yaku. It cannot win. Dora contributes three han only after at least one yaku qualifies.

The distinction prevents bonus indicators from replacing hand structure. A yakuhai pung plus three dora is a legal four-han contribution before fu. The same tiles without yakuhai or another yaku are only a complete shape, not a winning hand.

Red fives, when a ruleset uses them, are also dora rather than yaku. WRC 2025 does not use red fives, although many online and Japanese rules do.

Yakuman are limit yaku

Yakuman include Thirteen Orphans, Nine Gates, Four Concealed Triplets, Four Quads, All Honors, Big Dragons, and Big Winds. They are not simply “13 han yaku.” Genuine yakuman use limit scoring, and multiple genuine yakuman can combine under WRC rules.

Do not build your beginner strategy around them. Learn to recognize dangerous exposed dragon or wind sets, but improve ordinary hand speed and tile safety first.

A practical yaku decision order

On every hand, ask:

1. Is the hand closed? If yes, riichi and closed-only patterns remain available.
2. Do I already have a simple yaku? Check tanyao, yakuhai, and menzen tsumo routes.
3. What does a call remove? Name the yaku and han before exposing.
4. What is the wait? Pinfu and furiten depend on the actual completing tiles.
5. Where is the bonus? Count dora only after the yaku path is secure.

The WRC rulebook includes a printable yaku list in its annex. Keep that list beside the table, but learn families rather than isolated names: closed-hand, sequence, triplet, terminal/honor, suit, event, and yakuman. That structure turns a long Riichi Mahjong yaku list into a small set of decisions.