List of yaku

A yaku is a certain pattern in a mahjong hand, or a special condition under which a win is declared.

A player requires at least one yaku to declare a win.

The game rules define lots of different yaku, worth a different amount of han based on their difficulty. A player can incorporate several different yaku in the same hand and add their han values for high-scoring hands.

Dora are not considered yaku, even though they provide han. A hand having no yaku may not win, even if it has multiple dora.

One han closed only

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed [[Menzen tsumo]] 「門前清自摸和」 Closed only This yaku may apply to any closed hand. Any player who draws a winning tile with a closed hand is awarded this yaku. [[Riichi]] 「立直」 Closed only This is a special yaku applied to closed tenpai hands, which requires the player to make a declaration and "wager". [[Ippatsu]] 「一発」 Closed only This is applied when the player calling riichi wins within 4 tile draws/discards. In addition, the cycle must not be interrupted by tile calls. [[Pinfu]] 「平和」 Closed only Typically known as "all sequences", this is a hand that does not gain fu based on composition, other than that of a closed ron. Agari: or [[Iipeikou]] 「一盃口」 Closed only This hand includes two identical sequences.

One han

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Haitei raoyue	海底撈月	May be open
The hand is completed with the last tile on the wall.
Houtei raoyui	河底撈魚	May be open
The hand is completed with the very last discarded tile.
Rinshan kaihou	嶺上開花	May be open
This yaku is awarded upon winning with a tile from the dead wall.
Chankan	搶槓
The winning tile for a hand is called on another player's Kan. Essentially, the tile needed to complete a Kan is stolen to complete a winning hand.
Tanyao	断幺九	May be open (Closed only on variation)
Agari: or
A hand composed of only inside (numbers 2-8) tiles
Yakuhai	役牌	May be open
Agari: or
A hand with at least one group of dragon tiles, seat wind, or round wind tiles. This hand can be valued at 1 han for each group.

Two han

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Double riichi	ダブルリーチ	Closed only
Riichi is declared with a dealt hand before the first discard.
Chanta	全帯幺九	May be open (Loses 1 han)
Agari: or
All melds contain at least 1 terminals or honor.
Sanshoku	三色同順	May be open (Loses 1 han)
Agari:
Three sequences have the same number across the three different suits.
Ittsu	一通貫	May be open (Loses 1 han)
This hand has a complete sequence of 1 through 9 of a single suit. As a note, the sequence of 1-9 are actually three groups of sequences numbered 123, 456, and 789.
Toitoi	対々	May be open
Agari: or
The entire hand is composed of triplets.
Sanankou	三暗刻	May be open
Agari: or
The hand includes three sets of triplets that have been formed without calling any tiles. The fourth set can be an open triplet or sequence.
Sanshoku doukou	三色同刻	May be open
Agari:
The hand includes three groups of triplets with the same number.
Sankantsu	三槓子	May be open
Agari:
Three kans are called for this hand.
Chiitoitsu	七対子	Closed only
Agari:
This hand is composed of seven pairs. It is one of two exceptions to the standard 4 melds and a pair pattern.
Honroutou	混老頭対々和	May be open (Consider as 4 han †)
Agari: or
The hand is composed of nothing but all terminals and honors. This hand may be considered as 4 han, because it is impossible to score this hand without either chii toitsu or toi toi.
Shousangen	小三元	May be open (Consider as 4 han †)
Agari: or
The hand contains two sets of 3 dragon tiles and a pair of the third dragon tiles. This hand may be considered as 4 han, because it is impossible to score this hand without two sets of yakuhai, from the two sets of dragons.

Three han

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Honitsu	混一色	May be open (Loses 1 han)
Agari: or
This is a single suit hand mixed with some honor tiles.
Junchan	純全帯么	May be open (Loses 1 han)
Agari:
All sets contain at least one terminal.
Ryanpeikou	二盃口	Closed only
Agari:
This hand has two sets of "iipeiko". This hand does not combine with chii toitsu, even though the hand can be interpreted as one.

Six han

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Chinitsu	清一色	May be open (Loses 1 han)
Agari: or
This hand is composed entirely of tiles from only one of the three suits. It is the only yaku set at 6 han, where the number drops to 5 han when opened.

Yakuman

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Kazoe yakuman	数え役満	May be open
This is a special class of yakuman, where a hand is composed of 13+ han based on the combination of above regular yaku and/or dora.
Kokushi musou	国士無双 or 国士無双１３面待ち	Closed only
Agari:
This hand has one of each of the 13 different terminal and honor tiles plus one extra terminal or honour tile. Some rules may allow double yakuman for a 13-wait set.
Suuankou	四暗刻 or 四暗刻単騎	Closed only
Tsumo: or
This hand is composed of four sets of closed triplets. When this hand has a shanpon pattern and the win is via ron, then it would not be counted as suu ankou.
Daisangen	大三元	May be open
Agari:
This has possesses three groups of all the dragons.
Shousuushi	小四喜	May be open
Agari:
This hand has three groups of the wind tiles plus a pair of the fourth kind.
Daisuushi	大四喜	May be open
Agari:
This hand has four groups of all four wind tiles.
Tsuuiisou	字一色	May be open
Agari: or
Every group of tiles are composed of honor tiles.
Chinroutou	清老頭	May be open
Agari: or
Every group of tiles are composed of terminal tiles.
Ryuuiisou	緑一色	May be open
Agari: or
A hand composed entirely of green tiles: 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 Sou and/or Hatsu.
Chuuren poutou	九連宝燈 or 純正九蓮宝燈	Closed only
Agari: Any manzu.
A hand consisting of the tiles 1112345678999 in the same suit plus any one extra tile of the same suit.
Suukantsu	四槓子	May be open
Agari:
This hand with four Kan's.

Initial yakuman

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Tenhou	天和	Closed only
The dealer hand is a winning hand even before discarding a tile.
Chiihou	地和	Closed only
The non-dealer hand is a winning hand after the first draw.

Special case

This yaku does not specifically deal with a player's hand, but rather the player's discards. In addition, the hand may or may not be at tenpai upon scoring. By default, this hand is set to mangan.

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Nagashi mangan	流し満貫	Closed only
All the discards are terminals and/or honors. In addition, none of these discards were called by other players.

Optional

Yaku	Japanese	Open/Closed
Renhou	人和	Closed only
A non-dealer player wins on a discard at the first round. Variance may set this to mangan, or not used at all.

External links

• Yaku frequency among Tenhou.net players (Japanese)

Lists all the yaku occurrences in Tenhou.net by percentages and by room

• Yaku short list

Pointing out which yaku to learn first