English -> English -> Japanese Glossary



[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z]

Reach Mahjong's very own Glossary! Terms used on the site! Soon to also include an easy cross reference between English and Japaense terms! Finally, we can use English to play Reach Mahjong! E-mail Jenn to request more terms!

Term Definition Original Japanese Term A.K.A.
A
Active Hand A hand that has 13 tiles. A game in progress should have 4 Active Hands. Žè
Te
Hand in Play
Add-a-Quad Adding a 4th identical tile to an already bumped group of trips. ‰ÁƒJƒ“
Kakan
All Bumps A hand consisting of 4 triples (or quads), plus a pair (head) ‘ÎX˜a
Toitoi-ho
All Trips
All Triples
All Pungs
All Concealed Triples A hand consisting of 4 triples (or quads), plus a pair (head) with no bumped groups. ŽlˆÃ
Su-Anko
Four Concealed Triples
All Pairs A hand consisting of 7 groups of 2 tile pairs, or 7 heads ޵‘ÎŽq
Chi-toitsu
Seven Pairs
All Pungs A hand consisting of 4 triples (or quads), plus a pair (head) ‘ÎX˜a
Toitoi-ho
All Trips
All Triples
All Bumps
All Simples A hand consisting entirely of tiles between 2 and 8. In other words, it contains no 1, 9 or Honors. ƒ^ƒ“ƒ„ƒI
Tanyao
Inside Hand
Two thru Eight
All Terminals A hand consisting of one each of the Honors, 1 and 9 tiles plus one more of one of any of those to make a "head" (or "eyes"). ‘Žm–³‘o
Kokushi Musou
Thirteen Orphans
All Triples A hand consisting of 4 triples (or quads), plus a pair (head) ‘ÎX˜a
Toitoi-ho
All Trips
All Bumps
All Pungs
*A-Rules JPML set of rules, which does not include bonus Hand Points for 1st Turn Reach Wins, Hidden Drags, Quad Drags or Hidden Quad Drags. Aƒ‹[ƒ‹
A Ru-ru
Competition Rules
B
Balls Colored Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the circles indicating the number of the suit. –ÝŽq
Pinzu
Dots
Pips
Wheels
Bamboo Green/Blue Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by matchsticks or bamboo shoots õŽq
Souzu
Bams
Sticks
Bams Green/Blue Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by matchsticks or bamboo shoots õŽq
Souzu
Bamboo
Sticks
Bark To take a tile from another player's discard by declaring "Chow", "Bump" or "Quad" –‚­
Naku
Steal
*Base Points The basic point unit in Reach Mahjong. Points are awarded for difficulty in combinations and then doubled according to Hand Points for the final score.
Fu
*Belly-Buster An incomplete run, missing the middle tile. eg. 4-6 waiting for 5 ›Æ’£‘Ò‚¿
KanChan-machi
Inside Straight Draw
Middle Wait
Blue Dragon Green/Blue tile representing fortune. á¢
Hatsu
Green Dragon
Fortune Dragon
Bones White (or colored) sticks used to keep track of a score during a game of Mahjong. “_–_
Tenbo
Scoring Sticks
Checks
Bump A move allowing a player to create a group of 3 identical tiles by calling "Pung" or "Bump" to steal another player's last discard. The other two tiles must already be in the calling player's hand. ƒ|ƒ“
Pon
Pung
Pon
Bumped Quad Bumping a tile from another player to combine with 3 identical tiles hidden in a player's hand to complete a Quad –¾ƒJƒ“
Minkan
C
Casino-Style Mahjong Mahjong played for money at a Mahjong Parlor where the game is organized by the Mahjong Parlor. ƒtƒŠ[–ƒ
Furi Majan
Free Mahjong
Center Dragon Red tile representing either 'China' (homeland) or possibly success. ’†
Chun
Red Dragon
Characters Red Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the Chinese Character for 10,000 äÝŽq
Wanzu
Grands
Cracks
Checks White (or colored) sticks used to keep track of score during a game of Mahjong. “_–_
Tenbo
Scoring Sticks
Bones
Chow A move allowing a player to create a run of 3 tiles by calling "Chow" to steal another player's last discard. The other two tiles must already be in the calling player's hand. Chow may only be declared from the player's discard to your left. ƒ`[E‡Žq
Chi
Run
Straight
Colored Dragons Honor Tiles worth one hand point for each group. Always Value tiles. ŽOŒ³”v
Sangenpai
Dragons
Colored Dragons
Colors Honor Tiles worth one hand point for each group. Always Value tiles. ŽOŒ³”v
Sangenpai
Dragons
Colors
*Competition Rules Set of Rules determined by a group to increase skill required and decrease Luck factor. (eg.. JPML's A-Rules and B-Rules) ‹£‹Z–ƒ
Kyougi Mahjong
A-Rules
B-Rules
Concealed Hand A hand with no stolen tiles. ƒƒ“ƒ[ƒ“Žè
Menzen te
Concealed Quad A group of 4 identical tiles all drawn from the wall into a players hand. ˆÃƒJƒ“
Concealed Self-Draw A hand with no stolen tiles, won on a draw from the wall. 1 Hand Point. ƒƒ“ƒ[ƒ“ƒcƒ‚
Menzen tsumo
An-Kan
*Continuance The event that the dealer may continue being the dealer for the next hand because s/he either won the hand or held a Ready Hand in a Draw. ˜A‘‘
Renchan
Cracks Red Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the Chinese Character for 10,000 äÝŽq
Wanzu, Manzu
Grands
Characters
D
Dead Wall The 14 tiles directly to the right of the cut in the Mountain. These will remain unused at the end of the game. ‰¤”v
Wanpai
King's Tiles
Dealer The first person to act in the round. The Dealer's score is 1.5 times that of the non-dealers, and the pay-out for self-drawn wins is double that of a non-dealer. e
Oya
Dice 6 sided cubes used to decide seating, dealers and the deal. æÎŽq
Saikoro
Directions 4 Tiles representing wind direction. Consists of East, South, West and North •—
Kaze
Winds
Discard To choose one tile in your hand you will not use and placing it in the Discard Pile. ŽÌ‚Ä‚éA‘Å”v
Suteru, Dahai
Throw Away
Discard Pile The pile of tiles discarded by a player. In Reach Mahjong these tiles must be lined up from Left to Right. ŽÌ‚Ä”v
Sute-hai
Dots Colored Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the circles indicating the number of the suit. –ÝŽq
Pinzu
Balls
Pips
Wheels
*Double Value Tile A Value tile worth double for being both the player's Seat Wind and the Round Wind (eg. East is a Double Value Tile for the Dealer in the East Round)
Double Run ‚swo of exactly the same runs in the same suit. Must be a concealed hand ƒC[ƒy[ƒR[
Iipeko
Drag A tile that adds one extra hand point for being a part of a winning hand. The Lucky Dragon is always the next number in sequence after the Lucky Dragon Indicator. Also special red tiles (usually 5's) ƒhƒ‰
Dora
Lucky Dragon
Dragons Honor Tiles worth one hand point for each group. Always Value tiles. ŽOŒ³”v
Sangenpai
Colored Dragons
Colors

E
East Wind Tile representing the wind from the East. Denoted by E “Œ
Ton

Eyes The one Pair needed to make a complete hand. All hands require at least one Pair that is not part of a 3 or 4-of a kind group. һEһ
Atama, Jantou
Head
F
Fan Points given for certain tile combinations. –|
Fan
Hand Point
Han

Flower Tiles Decorative tiles that are not used in Reach Mahjong, but complete a set of Chinese tiles. ‰Ô”v
Fortune Dragon Green/Blue tile representing fortune. á¢
Hatsu
Blue Dragon
Green Dragon

Four of a Kind A group of 4 identical tiles. ƒJƒ“Žq
Kantsu
Quads
Kong
Free Mahjong Mahjong played for money at a Mahjong Parlor where the game was organized by the Mahjong Parlor. ƒtƒŠ[–ƒ
Furi Majan
Casino-Style Mahjong
Full Flush A Hand containing only one suit (any suit). Concealed: 6 Hand Points, Including Stolen Tiles: 5 Hand Points ƒ`ƒ“ƒCƒc
Chinitsu
*Full Straight Three consecutive runs all in the same suit, plus another group which can be a triple or run, and a head, of any suit or Honor tile. IE. A straight from 1-9. ˆê‹C’ÊŠÑEˆê’Ê
Ikki-Tsuukan/Ittsuu
One Suit Straight
G
*Go Out To win a Hand by declaring Mahjong ˜a‚ª‚é
Agaru
Grands Red Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the Chinese Character for 10,000 äÝŽq
Wanzu, Manzu
Cracks
Characters
Green Dragon Green/Blue tile representing fortune. á¢
Hatsu
Blue Dragon
Fortune Dragon
Group Three or Four of a Kind –ÊŽq
Mentsu
Three or Four of a Kind
H
Half Flush A hand containing only Honor Tiles and one suit (any suit). Concealed: 3 Hand Points, including Stolen Tiles: 2 Hand Points ƒzƒ“ƒCƒc
Honitsu
*Half Game The most common length for a game, consisting of one east and one south round. ”¼‘‘
Hanchan
Han Points given for certain tile combinations. –|
Fan
Hand Point, Fan
Hand in Play A hand that has 13 tiles. A game in progress should have 4 Hands in Play. Žè
Te
Active Hand
Hand Point Points given for certain tile combinations. –|, –ð
Fan, Yaku
Han
Fan
Head The one Pair needed to make a complete hand. All hands require at least one Pair that is not part of a 3 or 4-of a kind group. һEһ
Atama
Eyes
Honors All unsuited tiles including all Winds and Dragon Tiles. Žš”v
Jihai
Character Tiles
Horse A bonus paid by the 3rd and 4th place losers to the 1st and 2nd place winners at the end of a game. ”n
Uma
Placing Bonus
House Wind The Wind that counts as everyone's Value tile at the table. Denoted by the Round Indicator. A group of 3 or 4 is worth 1 Hand Point. ê•—
Bakaze
Prevailing Wind
Round Wind
I
Inside Hand An incomplete run, missing the middle tile. (eg.. 4-6 waiting for 5) ƒ^ƒ“ƒ„ƒI
Tanyao
All Simples
Two thru Eight
*Inside Straight Draw It is just a hand consisting entirely of tiles between 2 and 8. In other words, it contains no 1, 9 or Honors. ›Æ’£‘Ò‚¿
KanChan-machi
Middle Wait
Belly-Buster
J
Japan Professional Mahjong League A group of Mahjong Players in Japan that endorse Mahjong products, games and books, including the popular RonRon and Konami's Mahjong Fight Club. They also host multiple tournaments throughout the year. “ú–{ƒvƒ–ƒ˜A–¿
Nihon Puro Majan Renmei
Japanese Mahjong The set of rules most often used in Japan and spreading throughout the rest of the world because of the competitiveness and required high-skill level. ƒŠ[ƒ`–ƒ
Ri-ichi Mahjong
Ri-chi Mahjong, Reach Mahjong
Jokers Tiles used in the American rules, but have no place in the Reach Mahjong rules.
K
King's Tiles The 14 tiles directly to the right of the cut in the Mountain. These will remain unused at the end of the game. ‰¤”v
Wanpai
Dead Wall
Kong A group of 4 identical tiles. ƒJƒ“Žq
Kantsu
Quads
Four of a Kind
L
Limit Hand A hand worth the highest point limit. 32,000 Points for non-dealers and 48,000 for dealers. –ð–ž
Yakuman
Super Hand
*Lonely Wait A Ready Hand waiting only for a pair to be completed (IE. 5 waiting for 5 or East waiting for another East) ’P‹R‘Ò‚¿
Tanki-Machi
Lost Hand A hand that is Ready (one-away), but cannot be won off someone else's discard due to the fact that the owner of the hand already threw a winning tile in their own discard. ƒtƒŠƒeƒ“
Furiten
Sacred Discard
Missed Win
Lucky Dragon A tile that adds one extra hand point for being a part of a winning hand. The Lucky Dragon is always the next number in sequence after the Lucky Dragon Indicator. ƒhƒ‰
Dora
Drag
Lucky Dragon Indicator The tile that shows which tile will be the Drag. It is the 3rd tile in the top tier from the end of the Dead Wall. The Lucky Dragon is always the next number in sequence after the Lucky Dragon Indicator. ƒhƒ‰•\ަ”v
Dora Hyouji hai
M
Mahjong Fight Club (Konami) An online arcade game in Japan and Hong Kong. Endorsed by the Japan Professional Mahjong League. –ƒŠi“¬‹äŠy•”
Majan kakuto Kurabu
Mahjong Parlor A place solely for the purpose of playing Mahjong. Must have Mahjong tables. ‘‘
Jansou
Mat A must for those hoping to play Mahjong without ruining their tables. ƒ}ƒbƒg
Matto
*Middle Wait It is just a hand consisting entirely of tiles between 2 and 8. In other words, it contains no 1, 9 or Honors. ›Æ’£‘Ò‚¿
KanChan-machi
Middle Wait
Belly-Buster
Missed Win A hand that is Ready (one-away), but cannot be won off someone else's discard due to the fact that the owner of the hand already threw a winning tile in their own discard. ƒtƒŠƒeƒ“
Furiten
Sacred Discard
Lost Hand
*Mixed Outside Hand A hand consisting only of Runs or Groups and a Pair that all contain a 1, 9 or Honor tile. ‘S‘Ñ
Chanta
Mondo 21 A Satellite TV channel in Japan whose main focus is entertainment activities such as Mahjong, Slot Machines and other forms of gambling. ƒ‚ƒ“ƒh‚Q‚P
Mondo niju ichi
Mountain The remaining undelt 'deck' of Mahjong. These are the tiles that no one has seen yet. ŽR
yama
Wall
N
North Wind Tile representing the wind from the North. Denoted by N –k
Pei
O
Off the Wall To pick the next tile from the wall (mountain) ƒcƒ‚
Tsumo
Draw, Self-Draw
Official International Rules Common way to refer to the Chinese Official Rules. *Reach Mahjong.com does not recognize the Chinese Official Rules to be the Official International Rules and rather sees all Mahjong Rules as equal in status ‘Û–ƒ
Kokusai Ma-jan
One Away A Hand in Play that only contains one incomplete set. Complete the final set and you win! ’®”v
Tenpai
Ready
*One Suit Straight Three consecutive runs all in the same suit, plus another group which can be a triple or run, and a head, of any suit or Honor tile. IE. A straight from 1-9. ˆê‹C’ÊŠÑEˆê’Ê
Ikki-Tsuukan/Ittsuu
Full Straight
*One-Sided Wait An incomplete run including 1 or 9, waiting for the end tile. (eg. 1-2 waiting for 3) •Ó’£‘Ò‚¿
Penchan-matchi
Open-Ended Wait An incomplete run that can be completed by 2 different tiles, e.g., 4-5 waiting for the 3 or 6 —¼–ʑ҂¿
Ryanmen-machi
P
Pair A group of 2 identical tiles. ‘ÎŽq
Toitsu
Two of a Kind
Peace Hand A hand containg all runs and waiting on 2 types of tile (open-ended wait). 1 Hand Point. •½˜a
Pinfu
Pips Colored Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the circles indicating the number of the suit. –ÝŽq
Pinzu
Balls
Dots
Wheels
Placing Bonus A bonus paid by the 3rd and 4th place losers to the 1st and 2nd place winners at the end of a game. ”n
Uma
Horse
Prevailing Wind The Wind that counts as everyone's Value tile at the table. Denoted by the Round Indicator. A group of 3 or 4 is worth 1 Hand Point. ê•—
Bakaze
Round Wind
House Wind
Pung A move allowing a player to create a group of 3 identical tiles by calling "Pung" or "Bump" to steal another player's last discard. The other two tiles must already be in the calling player's hand. ƒ|ƒ“EŽq
Pon, koutsu
Bump
Trips
Three of a Kind
*Pure Outside Hand A hand consisting only of Runs or Groups and a Pair that all contain a 1 or 9. ƒ‘S
Jun-chan
Q
Quad A group of 4 identical tiles. ƒJƒ“Žq
Kantsu
Four of a Kind
Kong
R
Rate The amount of money riding on each 1,000 points. ƒŒ[ƒg
Re-to
Rate-Free A way of playing Mahjong without betting money on the game. ƒm[ƒŒ[ƒg
No Re-to
Reach A move which, in addition to counting as a hand point, warns everyone that youfre only 1 tile from completing your hand and now you can go out if you draw or anyone discards your winning tile. To declare eReachf, your hand needs to be ready and you need to turn your declaring discard tile perpendicular to the rest of your tiles and throw out an extra bet of 1,000 points. After this declaration, you are no longer allowed to change the contents of your hand except for Quads. ƒŠ[ƒ`
Ri-chi
Reach Mahjong Rules The set of rules most often used in Japan and spreading throughout the rest of the world because of the competitiveness and required high-skill level. ƒŠ[ƒ`–ƒ
Ri-ichi Mahjong
Ri-ichi Mahjong, Japanese Mahjong
Ready A Hand in Play that only contains one incomplete set. Complete the final set and you win! ’®”v
Tenpai
One Away
Red Drag Red and gold 5's used in a Mahjong Parlor. They always count the same as a Drag (lucky dragon), giving you one extra hand point for each hand won. In addition, there is a monetary bonus for using red and gold 5's. Don't mix it up with the Red (center) Dragon!!! Ô
Aka
Red Five
Red Lucky Dragon
Red Dragon Red tile representing either 'China' (homeland) or sometimes success. ’†
Chun
Center Dragon
Red Five Red and gold 5's used in a Mahjong Parlor. They always count the same as a Drag (lucky dragon), giving you one extra hand point for each hand won. In addition, there is a monetary bonus for using red and gold 5's. Don't mix it up with the Red (center) Dragon!!! Ô
Aka
Red Drag
Red Lucky Dragon
Red Lucky Dragon Red and gold 5's used in a Mahjong Parlor. They always count the same as a Drag (lucky dragon), giving you one extra hand point for each hand won. In addition, there is a monetary bonus for using red and gold 5's. Don't mix it up with the Red (center) Dragon!!! Ô
Aka
Red Five
Red Drag
Ri-ichi Mahjong The set of rules most often used in Japan and spreading throughout the rest of the world because of the competitiveness and required high-skill level. ƒŠ[ƒ`–ƒ
Ri-ichi Mahjong
Reach Mahjong, Japanese Mahjong
*River Win A Hand won from someone else's discard. o˜a‚ª‚è
Deagari
RonRon An online internet Mahjong game and community endorsed by the Japan Professional Mahjong League. ƒƒ“ƒƒ“
Ronron
Round A Round consists of 4 Hands (not including Continuances). A division of Round of Play. There are 4 Rounds in a Full-Game (each with one wind name) and 2 Rounds in a Half-Game (the most common length of Reach Mahjong Games) ê
Ba
Round Indicator A card, cube or plate indicating which Round is currently underway.
Round Wind The Wind that counts as everyone's Value tile at the table. Denoted by the Round Indicator. A group of 3 or 4 is worth 1 Hand Point. ê•—
Bakaze
Prevailing Wind
House Wind
Run A set of 3 tiles in sequential order. ‡Žq
Shuntsu
Straight
Chow
S
Sacred Discard A hand that is Ready (one-away), but cannot be won off someone else's discard due to the fact that the owner of the hand already threw a winning tile in their own discard. ƒtƒŠƒeƒ“
Furiten
Lost Hand
Scoring Sticks White (or colored) sticks used to keep track of a score during a game of Mahjong. “_–_
Tenbo
Bones
Checks
Season Tiles Decorative tiles that are not used in Reach Mahjong, but complete a set of Chinese tiles.
Self-Draw To pick the next tile from the wall (mountain) ƒcƒ‚
Tsumo
Off the Wall, Draw
*Session A set of Half-Games of Mahjong. Used in Leagues and Tournaments ß
Setsu
Seven Pairs A hand consisting of 7 groups of 2 tile pairs, or 7 heads ޵‘ÎŽq
Chi-toitsu
All Pairs
Simples The suited tiles from 2 to 8.
South Wind Tile representing the wind from the South. Denoted by S “ì
Nan
Sticks Green/Blue Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by matchsticks or bamboo shoots õŽq
Souzu
Bamboo
Bams
Straight A set of 3 tiles in sequential order. ‡Žq
Shuntsu
Run
Chow
Super Hand A hand worth the highest point limit. 32,000 Points for non-dealers and 48,000 for dealers. –ð–ž
Yakuman
Limit Hand
Supplementary Tile The extra tile taken from the King's Tiles to make up for the extra tile used in a Quad. ƒŠƒ“ƒVƒƒƒ“”v
Rinshan-hai
T
*Terminals All Honors, 1's and 9's in the deck. Œö‹ã”v
Yaochuu-hai
Thirteen Orphans A hand consisting of one each of the Honors, 1 and 9 tiles plus one more of one of any of those to make a "head" (or "eyes"). ‘Žm–³‘o
Kokushi-Musou
All Terminals
*Three Concealed Triples A Hand containing 3 concealed groups (quads or triples). ŽOˆÃ
San-An-Ko
Three of a Kind A group of 3 identical tiles. Žq
Koutsu
Trips
Pung
Throw Away To choose one tile in your hand you will not use and placing it in the Discard Pile. ŽÌ‚Ä‚éA‘Å”v
Suteru, Dahai
Discard
Tiles The essence of mahjong. ”v
Pai
Tofu White tile sometines considered to represent purity. ”’
Haku
White Dragon
*Tournament A set of games with 5 or more people made to decide 1 First Place winner. ”’
Haku
White Dragon
Trips A group of 3 identical tiles. ‘å‰ï
Taikai
Two of a Kind A group of 2 identical tiles. ‘ÎŽq
Toitsu
Pair
Two thru Eight Is a hand consisting entirely of tiles between 2 and 8. In other words, it contains no 1, 9 or Honors. All Simples
Inside Hand
U
V
Value Tiles Includes all three Dragons, Round Wind and Seat Wind. A group of 3 or 4 is worth 1 Hand Point. –ð”v
Yakuhai
W
Wall The remaining undelt 'deck' of Mahjong. These are the tiles that no one has seen yet. ŽR
Yama
Mountain
West Wind Tile representing the wind from the West. Denoted by W ¼
Sha
Wheels Colored Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the circles indicating the number of the suit. –ÝŽq
Pinzu
Dots
Balls
Pips
White Dragon White tile representing possibly purity. ”’
Haku
Tofu
Winds 4 Tiles representing wind direction. Consists of East, South, West and North •—
Kaze
Directions
Winning Hand A hand with 14 tiles including 4 sets of 3 and one pair (except for the 7 pairs hand and the 13 Honors hand)
Winning Tile The tile needed to complete a Hand-in-Play to make it a Winning Hand. ˜a—¹”v
Agari-Hai
Final Tile
X
Y
Z