The Ultimate Guide to Every Yaku in Riichi Mahjong

Let's take a deep dive into every single yaku in Riichi Mahjong. As a beginner, understanding all of the specific tile combinations that award you Yaku is essential to improving your score and strategy in the game.
This ultimate guide to every yaku in riichi mahjong will go over how every yaku is formed and what they're called in both English and Japanese. You will learn how to identify them and get real examples of how they are incorporated into gameplay.
By the end of this video, you'll have a comprehensive understanding of every yaku in Riichi Mahjong, and be well on your way to mastering the game!
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[@JouzuJuls]

**EDIT: I was recently able to go to Japan for the first time and challenged myself to speak Japanese only while I was there, check out how it went! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZ3Tp5Rvr65qaKs . I use a lot of Japanese terms when making these videos because I started playing Mahjong out of interest from learning Japanese! Watch this video to find out the easiest way to not only remember these Mahjong terms, but Japanese words as well! kzbin.info/www/bejne/epS8Y4asqJibbq8

[@CurryNearMe]

mahjong soul should totally sponsor you. you make the best mahjong tutorials!

[@JouzuJuls]

Dunno why I never thought of that. Actually Yostar, the company behind the game, is ALREADY SPONSORING ME to play Arknights on my other channel 😂 . I might just reach out to them and see if they're interested in sponsoring this too 😂

[@CurryNearMe]

please do! that will be extremely poggers

[@gatotatipya120]

​@@JouzuJuls wait really? What is the name of your other channel? Because im playing arknight too

[@JouzuJuls]

@@gatotatipya120 TeamWnJ I don't post there anymore tho

[@gatotatipya120]

@@JouzuJuls that's unfortunate

[@The_Chris_D]

Thank you for making this! I’ve tried explaining it to new players with little to no success but this is so clear and succinct

[@JouzuJuls]

Thank you very much! Hope this video helps you bring more new players in too!

[@lilwyvern4]

So many hands...

[@Luuuwun]

Bruh, I don't know if it was fate or coincidence, but right after I watched this video, I booted up MS (had been on a bit of a frustrating losing streak) and got a counted Yakuman in East 2. 13 han with 12 Dora. After looking back on the log, the player I called Ron on had the other 2 players winning tile as well and it would have been a DOUBLE Ron for them. I actually lost my mind when the score screen came up. You have earned my sub lol 🀄

[@Akiorinn]

I started playing mahjoung souk cus of this new blue archive collab and what makes me much more impressed is how these people understand the game.

[@JouzuJuls]

We take it a step at a time The easiest way to get into Mahjong is to learn how to call Riichi as that move will already make you have a 25% winning chance (and is responsible for 40-60% of all victories in Mahjong) Instead of remembering the full list, just watch this video and remember how to Riichi first! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pajCiKZnp8prptk

[@Akiorinn]

@@JouzuJuls I had time to learn so I guess play a bit more and get myself hooked up to the game would be good to understanding the fundamental, thx you man.

[@irfanramli3740]

​@@JouzuJulsMay I know, do you have the order of learning so I can master at playing mahjong(or at least good at it)?

[@JouzuJuls]

@@irfanramli3740 Sure, I have a playlist on the channel that has every video in order: kzbin.info/aero/PLAaPL96Q8dWHY6JlPh_SHjO4oX0Bpi8yp

[@imacutebear468]

Every Yaku Timestamps: 1 Han Yaku 0:20 Riichi(Menzenchin) 0:49 Tanyao/All Simples 0:55 Tsumo/Fully Concealed Hand 1:14 Seat Wind 1:18 Table Wind 1:30 Dragons 1:35 Pinfu(Menzenchin) 3:05 IIpeikou 3:23 Chankan 3:43 Rinshan 4:16 Hotei & Haitei/Under The Sea & Under The River 4:32 Ippatsu 2 Han Yaku 4:51 Daburii 5:00 Sanshoku Doukou/Triple Triplets 5:12 Sankantsu 5:22 Toitoi 5:32 Sananko 5:54 Shousangen/ Little Three Dragons 6:10 Honroutou 6:25 Chiitoitsu 6:40 Chanta 7:16 Ittsuu 7:56 Sanshoku Doujyun 3 Han Yaku 8:13 Ryanpeikou(Menzenchin) 8:37 Jyunchan 9:10 Honitsu 6 Han Yaku 9:26 Chinitsu/Full Flush

[@JouzuJuls]

Thanks for timestamping!

[@blue5406]

your visual examples including movement is so helpful thank you

[@niquel5831]

One thing you forgot to mention for pinfu is that the pair can't be made with dragon tiles, your seat wind, or the round wind.

[@JouzuJuls]

Yep, totally forgot to mention that! Thank you for adding!

[@ResolvedRage]

Too many routes to win! Started playing mahjong soul today and your videos have helped.

[@JouzuJuls]

Indeed! That's why for beginners it's crucial to just work out how to win with Riichi first! Welcome to Mahjong Soul btw! . Just in case you haven't seen it, this is a must watch for beginners! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pajCiKZnp8prptk

[@fusupavih]

You explain all yaku is so clear.Thank you

[@JouzuJuls]

Glad you found the video helpful!

[@tertiaritus]

You're so good at explaining things! I wish my friends were into mahjong, got a set but nobody wants to learn the rules so I'm stuck online

[@JouzuJuls]

Sorry for the late response! Thank you very much! To be honest Mahjong is very overwhelming when you need to explain Yaku. I recommend just explaining riichi to them and nothing else just to get them started and to allow them to win their first game. I have a video for absolute beginners that explains just that too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pajCiKZnp8prptk Check it out and lemme know what you think!

[@neltion2450]

I appreciate the explanations as someone new to mahjong! 🙂

[@JouzuJuls]

Glad you found it helpful! Welcome to Mahjong! :D

[@grrman]

Been playing for a few months and this is actually pretty helpful at properly explaining things. Also, screw Robbing a Kan and Mangan at Draw, that never happens...

[@buddabudda]

Been playing the Yakuza series from 0 all the way through Like a Dragon, and Judgement is the very first game where I've manage to accomplish anything in Mahjong. The basics are simple enough, but learning and keeping track of all the different Yaku is a nightmare!

[@chamcham123]

I recommend creating short videos for every yaku in the game. Learning all Yaku in one video is too much information for most beginners. It would help more if beginners could learn one yaku at a time. Also, judging by the comments, there were some specific details that were missed for some yaku. So you can address all those issues in new videos.

[@eduardoxenofonte4004]

very good video! just some minor things you forgot to mention pinfu: the video already suggests so, but i'd just like to clarify that waiting on more than 1 tile is not enough to fullfil the wait requirement for pinfu. a 4567 + three sequences hand would not be awarded pinfu upon winning on the 4 or the 7, as both of those complete a pair, and not a sequence iipeikou: keep in mind it's menzenchin only sanshoku doukou: i might be mistaken, but i don't hear sanshoku doukou be referred to as "sanshoku", as that name is usually used to refer to its counterpart, sanshoku doujun, which happens a lot more common sanankou: calling pon opens a triplet, of course, but so does calling ron (even though the hand is still considered closed). if you have two concealed triplets in tenpai, and call ron on a shanpon (double pair) wait, you are NOT awarded sanankou. however, if you win by tsumo, you can still form a concealed triplet with your winning tile; shousangen: the 2 han from the dragon triplets are also awarded to the hand, as well as the 2 han from shousangen, which makes the hand at least 4 han honroutou: you can't make any sequences for honroutou, but you can make pairs. it's possible to get honroutou and chiitoitsu (7 pairs) chiitoitsu: all pairs have to be distinct, 4 of the same tile cannot count as 2 pairs sanshoku doujun: this is what is usually meant when people say "sanshoku". it's a lot more common than sanshoku doukou

[@JouzuJuls]

Thank you for watching and commenting! . Yes! Forgot to mention 4567! That's not a ryanmen either, that's a rare shape called "Nobetan". . I figured it literally says on the screen that it is menzenchin only so there was no need to reiterate that for iipeikou. . Sanshoku completely depends on context as you can't have both at the same time. It literally translates to "3 colors" and no matter whether its doukou or doujyun, people can say simply "sanshoku". It would be more common and applicable to say "sanshoku" and immediately assume doukou in sanma because doujyun is not possible there. . Yes, I should've emphasized that point for sanankou as well but I felt my explaination for the "tsumo" yaku should we covered that too. I'll definately re-explain that on the yakuman video where I explain suuankou. . I think my explaination that it must contain ONLY terminals and jihai should've covered chiitoi as well. . Also UNIQUE pairs as a note for Chiitoi should've been mentioned yes. I remember having a kan when I was first starting and wondering why I didn't get the riichi button for my chiitoi. . Again, thanks for the comment and suggestions for what to add! Anybody confused about these details will definately find your comment useful! 😁

[@danmatakizawa]

As someone coming into Riichi from HK style, the complexity of yaku is pretty interesting. It feels like these yaku originate from gambling roots to make the make less predictable and more reliant on arcane knowledge, and dora/red fives does the role of flowers in HK style (edit: by this I mean, dora and red fives add chance into the scoring in the same way flowers add fan in HK style) By comparison, HK style is far simpler on the rules and is more accepting of open hands. Even now when I play riichi I tend to open my hand if I have the right winds or dragons and fall back on all simples / riichi when my hand has nothing of interest. Thanks for reviewing the yaku, this is a valuable video!

[@JouzuJuls]

HK gang let's gooo!! But yea for real HK mahjong is so much more simple and (imo random and unpredictable), but as a result, I feel like the skill required to get good at Riichi is a lot higher as it relies less on luck. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@danmatakizawa]

I think it’s true that you need to be more skilled to take advantage of all the yaku etc. however stuff like uradora leaves winnings to chance! Thanks for replying!

[@M3rtyville]

another thing is regarding pinfu, if you are tenpai and you have a 3456p, meaning you wait on 3p or 6p that is not ryanmen thus not pinfu either.

[@AhriFae]

Fuckkkkkkk this video was a blessing!!! I feel way more comfortable now!

[@milktea2364]

I like how they call them terminals for 1 and 9 instead of orphans like canto majong

[@JouzuJuls]

Only in English are they called terminals though, in Japanese they're called 老頭牌, "old head tiles".

[@Rococo_]

I detest you for that operator dying sound I WAS ON AUTO DEPLOY but good guide tho keep it up bro

[@JouzuJuls]

HAHAHA SORRY! Glad you enjoyed the video tho!

[@orcus6893]

Damn, I still have a lot to learn, the only Yaku I know and do are all simples, prevalent wind, seat wind and dragon hahahahahahaha

[@canismajor1186]

In three player mahjong you can chankan the pei when it's put aside to draw/add dora. I call it Peiday!

[@JouzuJuls]

Indeed! But note that it does NOT count as Chankan when you ron the pei! Nice name tho!

[@kennymurakami225]

Hey Chief! Loving your Mahjong content!! Where can I contact you for a possible collaboration? I’m based in Japan and would love to find a way to get your viewers to play Richi Mahjong here in Japan.

[@JouzuJuls]

Hello hello! You can contact me via Discord, my username is just "itscheif". Or visit my channel page and look in the about section to find my business email!

[@MrMikk532]

3:52 why is this a win when you have an open hand and you have a 1 dot? Is it okay because you drew it? As in, you can't steal it from someone else? And then you make the Yaku (rinshan) you're describing? What if you draw it not immediately after? It seems like it's risky for that specific hand. (Sorry mega newbie here and I'm so confused haha)

[@JouzuJuls]

I have 3 Yaku there. White, Toitoi (all triplets), and Half Flush 👌

[@MrMikk532]

Ohhh so you can win even when the Yaku is in your open hand???? And in order to win, you only need a single Yaku? So lets say I have two white dragons in a closed hand, pon it to my open hand, I can then win if I complete out the rest of my hand regardless of what's in it?

[@MrMikk532]

​​@@JouzuJulssomething that I am also completely lost by is why can I not always win if someone else puts my winning hand down? I can always do it if I'm in riichi, but there have been times where I thought I won, but I couldn't get the tile. Thank you so much for responding!!!!!

[@JouzuJuls]

@@MrMikk532 Yep! The default rules in Mahjong Soul & the Yakuza games (and most places irl) is that 1 Yaku is the minimum. It's possible to change the rules but that's weird so don't worry about it. The reason I advise for not opening your hand is because Riichi is a Yaku itself, so closed hand + Riichi is guaranteed to have at least 1 Yaku.

[@JouzuJuls]

@@MrMikk532 If you have a Yaku and are looking for a specific tile, and that tile comes and you can't Ron, it's because of something called Furiten, which I will make a video on later :)

[@prestonpoirier5892]

Will you make a video about how the points system works please?

[@JouzuJuls]

Sure, once I get the more gameplay affecting stuff out of the way, I'll explain the points as simply as possible. It's not really necessary to know in detail unless you're playing in real life though imo, in games, just know that the bigger the number, the better 🤣.

[@fore6972]

Hi. I played a game without the red numbers atop the tiles. I cant find that game in my log...Please help.

[@notbulger]

9:12 What is that unholy hand???

[@JouzuJuls]

Dora moment 😭

[@lkjkhfggd]

Mahjong IMO has a problem of a lack of 'real' yaku, and by real I mean yaku you can actually feasibly get often enough to justify its existence. The only real yaku are riichi, yakuhai, tanyao, pinfu, toitoi, san ankou, sanshoku doujin, ittsu, chiitoitsu, honitsu, and chinitsu. The rest are completely luck dependent or so rare they aren't worth enough han to justify their existence. Ryanpeiko and Sankantsu are so rare to form that they may as well not exist, or if they must, they should be worth enough to validate their rarity, maybe 6 han. There are 3 yaku that depend on having terminals and/or honors (chanta, honroutou, junchan), and it seems almost pointless because of how hard it is to make any of them. They all should get buffed in value at least. Sanshoku Doukou and Nagashi mangan may as well be a yakuman given how hard they are to form. I hope someday Mahjong Soul adds a ranked ladder I can play that incorporates the unofficial yaku. That helps with the problem, though with some creativity, many more yaku could be created and added to the game. Too much of the game is all about declaring riichi and hoarding dora tiles, and that's simply because that's the only consistent way to give your hand value. It is so difficult to make a hand with multiple yaku in it, when I think it should be the norm. The best you can typically do is riichi + either tanyao and pinfu, or honitsu and yakuhai.

[@JouzuJuls]

I think the "problem" you're talking about it more the fact that the Yakus' points does not accurate represent their rarity.

[@lkjkhfggd]

@@JouzuJuls It would possibly help if yaku like chanta was slightly more valuable, as it would justify going for it more. But the situation would still be the same, where a typical valuable hand would be riichi, dora 2x, ura dora 2x, and insert 1 yaku (tanyao, yakuhai, ippatsu, etc). Ultimately, my problem is with dora tiles, specifically red dora and ura dora. Clearly the game functions fine, so it's not technically a problem. But I find 4p really boring to play and watch because of the significance of dora tiles. It's just too hard to form a hand that's worth much without the aid of red dora and ura dora. It's pure luck if you draw the former, and you have to riichi to gain access to the latter. I'm a fan of normal dora as it adds variety to every round and you can play around it by keeping tiles near the dora just in case you draw one. Are you going to go out of your way to hold a solo 4s just in case you draw red 5s? Probably not worth it.

[@Jobocan.]

I feel like this video was made to show off completely insane hands that happened to include the yakus. Yeah totally needed to show a 19 han hand for that honitsu example :)

[@JouzuJuls]

It's totally necessary 😎

[@kaedeshinomiya]

I'm quite dumb but Mahjong made me realize I'm actually really dumb 🗿👍

[@nosouponhead]

Add chapters to this video please 🙏

[@vance101]

Are the links wrong?

[@Random-tsuki-fan]

What is kan again??

[@aaronjackson1875]

Taking the fourth tile in a set of identical tiles when you already have 3 of them.

[@infamoushx9869]

This is too much, I’m honestly just hoping for a pair and 4 threes of any kind.

[@JouzuJuls]

I am fully aware that this is too much for most beginners, which is why in my first video on how to play Mahjong, I only teach the 1 and only yaku you need to remember to automatically have a 25-33% chance of winning every game. Check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pajCiKZnp8prptk

[@HISTW3008]

So complicated

[@JouzuJuls]

That's why beginners shouldn't worry about Yaku at all until you've got the fundamentals down. I recommend watching this video first if you are an absolute beginner: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pajCiKZnp8prptk

[@beatyeah8840]

Bro... what? you... huh??

[@toondemaere3080]

So strange that people talk about this game as if its a "skill based" game.

[@ThatVeryArtGal]

Wow, could you go faster? I actually understood some of that. Seriously though, why talk so fast with something and complex to beginners as this?

[@Beaniboi]

because most people don’t want to sit through a seminar on how to play The Japanese Tile Game

[@LotusBlade-e6v]

Well, now i understand why noone ever creates real mahjong games on playmarket... And i understand why noone copied old game called Isle Of Four Winds, which uses same rules but 99% more simple. No sane person will play this, cancelled game download in the middle of watching you video xD Even fore free it's a NO.

[@trejkaz]

Bad guide. Goes through some things too fast to get them. Goes through other things too slowly to be interesting. 4/10

[@yuiamori]

ive been looking for a guide this easy to understand. thank you

[@OsehShalomTV]

Your speaking literally fast, my brain cant catch up what you said 😅

[@JouzuJuls]

Please use the pause button, CC button, or play speed button to slow down the video! 😉