Jikaze
| 東 3 局 | 西家 23100 点 |
|
| 北家 24000 点 |
 |
南家 24000 点 |
| 東家 27900 点 |
 1 1
|
Jikaze 「自風」, or seat winds, are assigned to each player at the start of the game. There are four seat winds: East 「東」, South 「南」, West 「西」, and North 「北」. After the dealer fails to repeat the hand, each player's seat wind rotates in that order.
Your seat wind determines your physical position and turn order. Relative to East: South is to the right, West is across, and North is to the left. When a hand starts, players take turns in counter-clockwise order, i.e. East -> South -> West -> North.
East is always the dealer, who receives special bonuses. Your seat wind also determines which wind tile is yakuhai.
Rule overview
At the start of the game, each player is assigned a wind seat. A number of methods can be used to determine it; different organizations and tournaments have their own systems.
Properties of your seat wind:
- East is the dealer.
- Seat wind determines play order: East is first, South is second, West is third, North is fourth.
- Your seat wind rotates, assuming no renchan occurs. This means that your position at East 1 determines when you will be dealer. At East 1: the East player will be the first dealer, South will be the second dealer, and so on.
- Your seat wind affects the value of wind tiles. A wind tile that matches your seat wind is yakuhai.
- Tie-breakers: Some rulesets use your seat wind in East 1 to determine ties. Assuming tiebreakers are used: when a tie occurs The East player at East 1 has priority, followed by South, then West.
Initial wind order
for the initial wind designations.
Yakuhai
Players who collect corresponding wind tiles to their wind seat gains possesses 1-yaku, and in turn, 1-han. If a player's wind also corresponds with the round wind, then collection of their own wind is double, or worth 2-han. Commonly, the round wind is limited to either East or South. Some games may extend into the West round.
Orientation relative to self
In addition to wind designations, three terms are used to designate other players relative to oneself. They are:
- Shimocha 「下家」, or player to the right
- Toimen 「対面」, or player across
- Kamicha 「上家」, or player to the left
These designations do not necessarily take into account of wind position, which changes in relation to each other. As the wind designations change, the relative position to oneself does not.