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MahjongSetGuide
Guide

Every mahjong tile, named and explained

A mahjong set looks like 144 different pictures. It is really six kinds of tile, repeated. Once you know the six, every set — Chinese, Japanese or American — reads the same way.

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How many tiles are there?

  • Chinese: 144 tiles.
  • Japanese Riichi: 136 tiles — the same set without flowers and seasons.
  • American: 152 tiles in play — the Chinese 144 plus eight jokers. Sets are often boxed as 166 with spares.

Dots (circles, pin)

One to nine circles, four of each number. Called dots in English-language play, circles in some books and pin in Japanese. The one-dot is usually a large decorated circle.

Bamboo (bams, sou)

One to nine bamboo sticks, four of each. The one-bamboo is almost always drawn as a bird — often a sparrow or peacock — which is the tile beginners most often fail to recognise.

Characters (craks, man)

One to nine, written as a Chinese numeral above the character for ten thousand. American sets print an Arabic numeral in the corner of these, which is why American tiles are the easiest to learn.

Winds

East, South, West and North, four of each. Winds give the order of play and, in Chinese and Riichi scoring, extra value for sets matching your seat or the round.

Dragons

Red, green and white, four of each. The red dragon carries the character for "middle", the green the character for "prosper", and the white is either blank or a framed border. In American play each dragon is paired with a suit — red with craks, green with bams, white with dots — and the white dragon, nicknamed soap, can stand for zero in hands built around the year.

Flowers and seasons

Eight bonus tiles, numbered one to four in two sets. In Chinese play they are set aside when drawn and replaced, and add points. Riichi does not use them. In American play all eight are simply called flowers and are used in hands like any other tile.

Jokers

Only in American sets: eight jokers that can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more, but never in a pair. A Chinese set has none, which is the whole difference in count between the two.

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