Japanese -> English 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! This section introduces the terms by the original Japanese reading! Finally, we can use English to play Reach Mahjong! E-mail Jenn to request more terms!
| Japanese Term | English Terms | Definition | Original Japanese Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | |||
| A Ru-ru | A-Rules Competition 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‹ |
| Agari-Hai | Final Tile Winning Tile |
The tile needed to complete a Hand-in-Play to make it a Winning Hand. | ˜a—¹”v |
| Agaru | Go Out | To win a Hand by declaring Mahjong | ˜a‚ª‚é |
| Aka | Red Drag Red Five 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 |
| An-kan | Concealed Quad | A group of 4 identical tiles all drawn from the wall into a players hand. | ˆÃƒJƒ“ |
| Atama | Eyes 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 |
| B | |||
| B Ru-ru | B-Rules Competition Rules |
JPML set of rules, which includes bonus Hand Points for 1st Turn Reach Wins, Hidden Drags, Quad Drags or Hidden Quad Drags. | Bƒ‹[ƒ‹ |
| Ba | 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 |
| Bakaze | Prevailing Wind Round Wind 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•— |
| C | |||
| Chanta | 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 |
| Chi | Chow Run Straight |
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. | ƒ`[ |
| Chi-Cha Ma-ku | Round Indicator | A card, cube or plate indicating which Round is currently underway. | ‹N‰Æƒ}[ƒN |
| Chinitsu | Full Flush | A Hand containing only one suit (any suit). Concealed: 6 Hand Points, Including Stolen Tiles: 5 Hand Points | ƒ`ƒ“ƒCƒc |
| Chi-toitsu | All Pairs Seven Pairs |
A hand consisting of 7 groups of 2 tile pairs, or 7 heads | Žµ‘ÎŽq |
| Chun | Center Dragon Red Dragon |
Red tile representing either 'China' (homeland) or possibly success. | ’† |
| Chuuchan-hai | Simples | The suited tiles from 2 to 8. | ’†’£”v |
| Chuugoku Koushiki Ru-ru | Chinese Mahjong Chinese Official Rules *International Rules |
Commonly mistakenly referred to as the "Official International Rules", rules established by China for their national sport. This set of rules has gained popularity mainly in Europe and is practiced in some other parts of the world as well. *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 | ’† |
| D | |||
| Dahai | Discard Throw Away |
To choose one tile in your hand you will not use and placing it in the Discard Pile. | ‘Å”v |
| Dora | Drag, 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. | |
| Dora Hyouji Hai | 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‰ |
| E | |||
| F | |||
| Fan | Fan Han Hand Point |
Points given for certain tile combinations. | –| |
| Fu | 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. | •„ |
| Furi- Majan | Casino-Style Mahjong Free Mahjong |
Mahjong played for money at a Mahjong Parlor where the game was organized by the Mahjong Parlor. | ƒtƒŠ[–ƒ |
| Furiten | Lost Hand 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“ |
| G | |||
| H | |||
| Hai | Tiles | The essence of mahjong. | ”v |
| Haku | White Dragon Tofu |
White tile sometimes considered to represent purity. | ”’ |
| Han | Fan Han Hand Point |
Points given for certain tile combinations. | –| |
| Hanapai | Flower Tiles | Decorative tiles that are not used in Reach Mahjong, but complete a set of Chinese tiles. | ‰Ô”v |
| Hanchan | Half-Game | The most common length for a game, consisting of one east and one south round. | ”¼‘‘ |
| Hatsu | Blue Dragon Fortune Dragon Green Dragon |
Green/Blue tile representing fortune. | ᢠ|
| Honitsu | 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 |
| I | |||
| Ikki-Tsuukan, Ittsuu | Full Straight 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 |
| I-pe-ko- | Double Run | ‚swo of exactly the same runs in the same suit. Must be a concealed hand | ƒC[ƒy[ƒR[ |
| J | |||
| Jansou | Mahjong Parlor | A place solely for the purpose of playing Mahjong. Must have Mahjong tables. | ‘‘ |
| Jantou | Eyes 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 |
| Jihai | Honors Letter Tiles |
All unsuited tiles including all Winds and Dragon Tiles. | Žš”v |
| Jikaze | Seat Wind | Ž©•— | |
| Jun-chan | Pure Outside Hand | A hand consisting only of Runs or Groups and a Pair that all contain a 1 or 9. | ƒ‘S |
| K | |||
| Ka-kan | Add-a-Quad | Adding a 4th identical tile to an already bumped group of trips. | ‰ÁƒJƒ“ |
| KanChan-machi | Inside Straight Draw Middle Wait Belly-Buster |
An incomplete run, missing the middle tile. (eg.. 4-6 waiting for 5) | ›Æ’£‘Ò‚¿ |
| Kantsu | Four of a Kind Kong Quad |
All unsuited tiles including all Winds and Dragon Tiles. | Žš”v |
| Kaze | Directions Winds |
4 Tiles representing wind direction. Consists of East, South, West and North | •— |
| Kokusai Ma-jan | *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 |
| Kokushi Musou | All Terminals 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 |
| Koutsu | Three of a Kind Trips |
A group of 3 identical tiles. | Žq |
| Kyoku | Hand | A division of Round of Play. There are 4 Hands in each Round. | ‹Ç |
| Kyougi Mahjong | Competition Rules A-Rules B-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 |
| L | |||
| M | |||
| Majan Faito Kurabu | Mahjong Fight Club (Konami) | An online arcade game in Japan and Hong Kong. Endorsed by the Japan Professional Mahjong League. | –ƒŠi“¬‹äŠy•” |
| Matto | Mat | A must for those hoping to play Mahjong without ruining their tables. | ƒ}ƒbƒg |
| Mentsu | Group Set |
Three or Four of a Kind | –ÊŽq |
| Menzen Te | Concealed Hand | A hand with no stolen tiles. | ƒƒ“ƒ[ƒ“Žè |
| Menzen Tsumo | Concealed Self-Draw | A hand with no stolen tiles, won on a draw. 1 Hand Point. | ƒƒ“ƒ[ƒ“ƒcƒ‚ |
| Min-Kan | 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“ |
| Mondo Nijuu Ichi | 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 |
| N | |||
| Naku | Bark Steal |
To take a tile from another player's discard by declaring "Chow", "Bump" or "Quad" | –‚ |
| Nan | South Wind | Tile representing the wind from the South. Denoted by S | “ì |
| Nihon Puro Mahjan Renmei | 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–¿ |
| No-Re-to | Rate-Free | A way of playing Mahjong without betting money on the game. | ƒm[ƒŒ[ƒg |
| O | |||
| Oya | 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 |
| P | |||
| Pei | North Wind | Tile representing the wind from the North. Denoted by N | –k |
| Pinfu | Peace Hand Pinfu |
A hand containg all runs and waiting on 2 types of tile (open-ended wait). 1 Hand Point. | •½˜a |
| Pinzu | Balls Dots Pips Wheels |
Colored Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the circles indicating the number of the suit. | –ÝŽq |
| Pon | Bump 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“ |
| Q | |||
| R | |||
| Renchan | 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‘‘ |
| Re-to | Rate | The amount of money riding on each 1,000 points. | ƒŒ[ƒg |
| Ri-ichi | 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-ichi Mahjong | Japanese Mahjong Reach Mahjong Rules 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 |
| Rinshan-hai | 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 |
| RonRon | RonRon | An online internet Mahjong game and community endorsed by the Japan Professional Mahjong League. | ƒƒ“‚Q |
| Ryanmen Machi | Open-ended wait | An incomplete run that can be completed by 2 different tiles, e.g., 4-5 waiting for the 3 or 6 | ƒŠƒƒƒ“ƒƒ“‘Ò‚¿ |
| Ryuha | Blue Dragon Fortune Dragon Green Dragon |
Green/Blue tile representing fortune. | ᢠ|
| Ryukyoku | End in Draw | A way to end a hand if no usable tiles remain and nobody has won the hand. | —¬‹Ç |
| S | |||
| Saikoro | Dice | 6 sided cubes used to decide seating, dealers and the deal. | æÎŽq |
| San-An-Ko | Three Concealed Triples | A Hand containing 3 concealed groups (quads or triples). | ŽOˆÃ |
| Sangenpai | Colored Dragons Colors Dragons |
Honor Tiles worth one hand point for each group. | ŽOŒ³”v |
| Setsu | Session | A set of Half-Games of Mahjong. Used in Leagues and Tournaments | ß |
| Sha | West Wind | Tile representing the wind from the West. Denoted by W | ¼ |
| Shuntsu | Run Straight |
A set of 3 tiles in sequential order. | ‡Žq |
| Souzu | Bamboo Bams Sticks |
Green/Blue Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by matchsticks or bamboo shoots | õŽq |
| Su-Anko | All Concealed Triples Four Concealed Triples |
A hand consisting of 4 triples (or quads), plus a pair (head) with no bumped groups. | ŽlˆÃ |
| Sute-hai | 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 |
| Suteru | Discard Throw Away |
To choose one tile in your hand you will not use and placing it in the Discard Pile. | ŽÌ‚Ä‚é |
| T | |||
| Taikai | Tournament | A set of games with 5 or more people made to decide 1 First Place winner. | ‘å‰ï |
| Tanki-machi | 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‚¿ |
| Tanyao | All Simples Inside Hand Two thru Eight |
A hand consisting entirely of tiles between 2 and 8. In other words, it contains no 1, 9 or Honors. | ƒ^ƒ“ƒ„ƒI |
| Te | Hand in Play | A hand consisting entirely of tiles between 2 and 8. In other words, it contains no 1, 9 or Honors. | Žè |
| Tempai | Ready Hand | A Hand in Play that only contains one incomplete set. Complete the final set and you win! | ’®”v |
| Tenbo | Bones Checks Scoring Sticks |
White (or colored) sticks used to keep track of a score during a game of Mahjong. | “_–_ |
| Toitoi-ho | All Triples All Trips All Bumps All Pungs |
A hand consisting of 4 triples (or quads), plus a pair (head) | ‘ÎX˜a |
| Toitsu | Pair Two of a Kind |
A group of 2 identical tiles. | ‘ÎŽq |
| Ton | East Wind | Tile representing the wind from the East. Denoted by E | “Œ |
| Tsumo | Off the Wall Self-Draw |
To pick the next tile from the wall (mountain) | ƒcƒ‚ |
| U | |||
| Uma | Horse 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 |
| V | |||
| W | |||
| Wanpai | Dead Wall 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 |
| Wanzu | Characters Cracks Grands |
Red Suit in Mahjong. Denoted by the Chinese Character for 10,000 | äÝŽq |
| X | |||
| Y | |||
| Yaku | Value | Hands that consist of points | –ð |
| Yakuhai | Value Tiles | Includes all three Dragons, Round Wind and Seat Wind. A group of 3 or 4 is worth 1 Hand Point. | –ð”v |
| Yakuman | Limit Hand Super Hand |
A hand worth the highest point limit. 32,000 Points for non-dealers and 48,000 for dealers. | –ð–ž |
| Yama | Mountain Wall |
The remaining undelt 'deck' of Mahjong. These are the tiles that no one has seen yet. | ŽR |
| Yaochuu-hai | Terminals | All Honors, 1's and 9's in the deck. | Œö‹ã”v |
| Z | |||