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
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
One han
| Yaku | Japanese | Open/Closed
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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
- Pointing out which yaku to learn first