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Four players arrange mahjong tiles at a green table with low walls and face-up discards

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Mahjong: play your first Japanese riichi hand

Cost to start
US$0 with a borrowed set

Home practice estimate; club and travel costs may vary

Difficulty
Beginner

A teacher handles the deal and scoring while you learn turns

First result
60–90 minutes

Recognize a hand shape and complete one coached practice hand

Learn the tile groups in Japanese riichi mahjong, then follow one coached practice hand with three other players and a borrowed set.

What you need to know

  1. A teaching table

    Arrange three other players, including someone who knows riichi. Ask whether a club teaches beginners and charges a table fee.

  2. A borrowed set

    Use 136 tiles, two dice and the teacher's scorekeeping supplies. Ask the teacher to set aside any extra tiles from other variants.

  3. A tile and yaku reference

    Keep a tile key and a short list of qualifying hand patterns beside the table so you can check unfamiliar shapes.

Multiplayer mahjong differs from tile-matching solitaire, and tables use different rules. This first session uses Japanese riichi. If your friends play another variant, learn their rules instead. Agree to play for points only, with an experienced player coaching. If you have no group yet, learn the tile faces from the beginner materials while arranging one.

Build a hand you can recognize

Sort the borrowed set into dots, bamboo and characters, each numbered 1–9, plus winds and dragons. Lay out a face-up demonstration. A sequence has three consecutive numbers in one suit; winds and dragons cannot make sequences. Three matching tiles make a triplet, and two make a pair.

Most winning hands contain four sets and a pair. Every win also needs a yaku, or qualifying pattern. Try this 14-tile example: 2-3-4 dots, 6-7-8 dots, 3-4-5 bamboo, three 6-characters and two 8-bamboo. Its tiles are all numbered 2–8, giving it the all-simples yaku. This is a teaching arrangement; keep your tiles concealed during a normal hand. The 2025 World Riichi Championship rules are the reference if a shape is disputed.

Follow one practice hand

Let the teacher build the walls, deal and explain where discards go. On an ordinary turn, draw one tile and discard one face up, keeping 13 tiles between turns. Look for groups forming in your hand, and leave your discards visible. Do not combine numbers from different suits into a sequence.

Keep the hand closed for now. Ask before taking another player’s discard, since calls can change the turn order and can affect which yaku you can make. Ask before declaring a win from a discard too; the teacher should check whether furiten prevents the claim and handle scoring. Finishing the hand, even without winning, gives you a full turn sequence to discuss.

For the next session, use the same rules and learn a few more yaku and the full furiten rule before trying a complete match. The Riichi Nomi beginner materials include a short yaku sheet and setup videos for that practice.

Learn riichi and find players

Beginner Sports Mahjong