Mahjong (麻雀, Mājan) is a minigame featured in the Yakuza series, first appearing in Yakuza 2.
This article is an abridged guide for beginners. Common English terms are used where practical and key terms are given in bold text where they are introduced and defined.
Tournament[]
Several games give the option to register for a mahjong tournament. Registration costs a one-time fee of 50,000 Yen (or 50,000 Mon in Ishin), after which participation is free. It is possible to win various prizes which are worth much more than the initial entry fee.
Tiles[]
Japanese mahjong is played with 136 tiles with four copies each of 34 different designs.
There are three suits with tiles numbered 1 to 9. The three suits are commonly known as Craks (or Characters), Dots and Bams (or Bamboos). There are also four winds (compass directions) and three dragons (colors) which are collectively known as Honors. The 1s and 9s of each suit are collectively known as Terminals.
Starting with Yakuza 6, the Craks tiles are denoted with the numbers 1 to 9 and the winds with the initials E, S, W and N. In previous titles it is necessary to know the characters on the tiles to read them.
Match Format[]
A standard match with the modern Japanese mahjong rules is played over two rounds.
In the first round, the prevalent wind or round wind is east (東) and in the second round it's south (南). In the rule options, there is a choice to play for two rounds (east then south) or one round (east). In some games these two options are labelled half game and quarter game, while in others they are called "full game" and "half game".
At the start of the match each of the four players is assigned a seat wind (east, south, west or north) but these labels rotate around the table as the match progresses.
Each round is played over four numbered hands and the seat winds rotate one place after each hand so that every player gets each of the winds over the duration of the round. However an extra hand is played (with the same number and seat winds) whenever a hand ends in a win for the current east player or a draw where the east player had a ready hand (one tile away from being complete).
| East 1 | East 2 | East 3 | East 4 | South 1 | South 2 | South 3 | South 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | East | North | West | South | East | North | West | South |
| Player B | South | East | North | West | South | East | North | West |
| Player C | West | South | East | North | West | South | East | North |
| Player D | North | West | South | East | North | West | South | East |
The current prevalent wind (east or south) and the number of the current hand (1 to 4) are shown in the center of the screen, either in English (e.g. East 1) or Japanese (e.g. 東一局 or 東1).
Each player's current seat wind is shown next to their name, using either letters (N/E/W/S) or the same kanji characters from the wind tiles:
- 東 = east
- 南 = south
- 西 = west
- 北 = north
Hand Structure[]
Each player starts with thirteen tiles. Players take turns in counter-clockwise order around the table - on each turn a player draws a tile and then discards one. The goal is to be the first player to make a complete hand composed of four sets and one pair, and which also has at least one Yaku.
There are three types of set:
- Sequence - three consecutive tiles in the same suit (also called a Chow)
- Triplet - three identical tiles (also called a Pung)
- Quad - four identical tiles* (also called a Kong)
*A quad is declared either when four matching tiles are in a hand, or when a triplet is made by stealing a tile and the fourth matching tile is drawn. 
/
displays the Kong or Kan (カン) command. An extra tile is then taken to complete the hand.
Sets can overlap, for example 566778 in one suit counts as two sequence sets (567 and 678). However the same tile cannot be used for more than one set.
In addition to the four sets, a hand will also need one pair of two identical tiles. Japanese mahjong does also recognize a valid hand of seven pairs (these must be seven different pairs).
Hand Building[]
The wind and dragon tiles are the least versatile because they can only be used to make triplet/quad sets and pairs while the suit tiles can also be used to make sequence sets. Tiles numbered 1 or 9 can make one type of sequence (e.g. 123), tiles numbered 2 or 8 can make two types (e.g. 123 or 234) and the tiles from 3 to 7 are the most versatile because they can make three types (e.g. 123, 234 or 345).
With a pair of dragons, prevalent wind or seat wind, it is possible to steal the third to make a triplet that counts as a Yaku, otherwise it is recommended to discard any lone winds and dragons first, followed by any isolated ones and nines, and then any isolated twos and eights.
Sequence sets are easier to make. Since there are four copies of each tile, having two identical tiles means there are only two others that could complete the triplet (e.g. 33 makes 333). In the case of 12, 89 or two tiles that are two apart (e.g. 57) there are four copies of the one tile that could complete the sequence set. A good basic structure to have is two consecutive suit tiles between 2 and 8, because there are four copies each of the two tiles that would complete the sequence (e.g. 56 makes 456 or 567).
In the following case, a recommended example play is to keep the complete sequence and pair in the Craks suit and the efficient 67 shape in Bams. This is done by discarding the wind and dragon first, then the lone 9 Dots and 2 Bams. If the 3 Dots is drawn, the 24 will become a sequence; if 5 Dots is drawn, the shape is now 45 and the 2 Dots can be discarded.
Stealing Tiles[]
It is possible to take a tile that an opponent has just discarded and use it to complete a set.
- Pon or Pung (ポン) takes a tile from any opponent to complete a triplet set.
- Chi or Chow (チー) takes a tile from the player to your left to complete a sequence set.
- Kan or Kong (カン) takes a tile from any opponent to complete a quad set.
Any set completed with a stolen tile is locked - the tiles cannot be discarded. Additionally, stealing tiles causes a hand to no longer be considered concealed, and instead becomes exposed.
Keeping a hand concealed can be beneficial since stealing tiles will sometimes leave a hand without any possible Yaku, preventing it from winning. Some Yaku (including the major ones Riichi and Pinfu / No-Points Hand) are disallowed in a hand with stolen tiles and several other Yaku score less with an exposed hand. A concealed hand also has better potential for defending and winning by Tsumo with a concealed hand awards the Yaku Fully Concealed Hand.
Stealing can be beneficial as long as there is at least one valid Yaku in the exposed hand, for example All Simples (specifically when the Kuitan rule option is applied) or a triplet of dragons, prevalent wind or seat wind. This is an easier way for beginners to get a winning hand or to win more quickly with a valuable hand (e.g. with several Dora bonus tiles or a Full Flush). Additionally, if it looks like a hand is going to end in a draw, tiles can be stolen to have ready hand (one tile away from complete) to receive points in the payout on the draw.
Common Yaku[]
To be able to declare a win, a complete hand must always have at least one Yaku (also known as a scoring element). Multiple Yaku can be claimed in the same hand.
The in-game help pages illustrate all the Yaku that are recognized in the modern Japanese rules. The valuable Yakuman (limit hands) are very rare and difficult to build.
This section lists only the most common Yaku (most frequent first); these are the best ones to learn.
Riichi and Pinfu / No-Points Hand are important Yaku as they are both relatively easy to use.
Each Yaku is worth a certain number of Han (also called Fan) which adds to the value of your hand.
Riichi[]
Declaring Riichi is like making a bet that one will win the hand. It has the following four requirements:
- Your hand must have no sets made by stealing tiles
- You must have a ready hand (one tile away from a complete hand)
- You must have 1,000 points available to pay for it
- There must be at least four tiles remaining to be drawn
In order to display the Riichi (リーチ) command, / should be pressed during a player's turn. There are no penalties for pressing the button when Riichi cannot be called, meaning pressing the button on every turn is a safe way to check if one's hand is ready.
After declaring Riichi, turns are taken as normal, with the exception of the whole hand being locked, with the only moves allowed being discarding the drawn tile, declaring a win or making a quad set if possible.
Winning the hand after declaring Riichi refunds the 1,000 points and awards the Riichi Yaku in addition to any other applicable Yaku. Riichi can be used to add the necessary Yaku to a hand that does not qualify for any others.
In the event of a draw, any Riichi bets stay on the table and will be collected by the next player to win a hand. The number in the center of the screen next to a bar with a single red dot indicates the number of unclaimed Riichi bets left on the table, each worth 1,000 points.
Winning a hand with Riichi can give two additional luck-based benefits:
- Winning after declaring Riichi but before discarding another tile awards the Yaku Ippatsu
- An extra Dora bonus tile is applied
To avoid wasting points, it is often best to use Riichi only when several turns remain and when there are two or more different tiles that would complete the hand. With the exception of Yakuza 2, all games have a pop-up that appears when choosing Riichi which shows possible winning tiles and how many of each have not been drawn.
Riichi is worth one Han. It is not valid in a hand with stolen tiles.
After declaring Riichi, if a player forms a quad set with Kan and the resulting hand is no longer considered ready, the player receives an "Illegal Riichi" penalty and must pay out a large sum of points to the other players. As an example, if the hand has three 1s of the Dot suit, two of which constitute as the hand's pair while the third is part of a 1-2-3 Dot sequence, then the resulting quad of four 1s will remove the pair and break a sequence, disrupting the formerly-ready hand.
If all four players declare Riichi, the round will end in a Four Riichi Draw.
Triplet of Dragons, Seat Wind or Prevalent Wind[]
Every triplet set of red dragon, white dragon, green dragon, your current seat wind (shown next to your name) or the prevalent wind (shown in the centre of the display) counts as a valid Yaku.
This will usually give a relatively cheap hand unless you can combine it with Dora bonus tiles or a Half Flush, however it's one of the easiest ways to get the Yaku required to declare a win. If you have two matching tiles you can steal the third to complete the set and, since the hand is already exposed, you might as well steal more tiles to complete the hand faster.
Each triplet is worth one Han (with or without steals). If your seat wind matches the prevalent wind (for example when you have the east seat in the east round) then it's counted twice.
(In Judgment the family name of Toru Higashi is spelled using the same kanji as "east" (東). For the Western release of the game this was translated correctly into English as Higashi but the same translation was also applied to a scoring triplet of east tiles in the mahjong minigame! So if you see Higashi on the score-sheet for a winning hand in Judgment [or Yakuza: Like a Dragon for that matter!] it should say East.)
All Simples / Tanyao[]
The simples are the suit tiles numbered 2 to 8 inclusive so the requirement for this Yaku is that your hand contains no ones, nines, winds or dragons. This is another easy choice for novices to get a Yaku.
All Simples is worth one Han. It's always valid in a hand without steals but it can only be claimed in a hand with steals when the Kuitan rule option is applied.
Pinfu / No-Points Hand[]
Pinfu has the following four requirements:
- Your hand must have no sets made by stealing tiles
- All four sets must be sequence sets
- The pair cannot be made of dragons, the prevalent wind or your seat wind
- You must finish the hand by completing the fourth sequence set from two consecutive suit tiles as shown below (there must be two possible winning tiles so the two consecutive tiles cannot include a 1 or a 9)
With the right tiles Pinfu can be combined with Pure Double Chow, Mixed Triple Chow or Full Straight.
Pinfu is worth one Han. It is not valid in a hand with stolen tiles.
Fully Concealed Hand[]
This applies to any concealed hand (no steals) which is won by Tsumo so the sets and the overall hand are all completed without taking any tiles from your opponents.
Since a concealed hand is required for both Riichi and Pinfu this can often be combined with those.
Fully Concealed Hand is worth one Han. It is not valid in a hand with stolen tiles.
Ippatsu[]
This is a potential bonus applied when you win immediately after declaring Riichi. To get the "One-Shot" win for Ippatsu you must either win by Ron off the next discard from any of your three opponents or by Tsumo off the tile you draw on your next turn. If another player steals a tile after you declare Riichi, Ippatsu cannot be claimed.
Ippatsu is worth one Han. It is not possible in a hand with stolen tiles.
Half Flush[]
This is a hand containing only one of the three suits plus at least one triplet (or a pair) of winds or dragons - in other words the hand has two suits completely excluded. The value can be increased by including triplets of dragons, seat wind or prevalent wind.
Half Flush is worth three Han (no steals) or two Han (with steals).
Pure Double Chow / Identical Sequences[]
This Yaku requires two identical sequences (same suit and same numbers) in a concealed hand (no steals); since the tiles are displayed in numerical order, the two sets will overlap (334455 = 345 + 345).
Pure Double Chow is worth one Han. It is not valid in a hand with stolen tiles.
All Pungs / All Triplet Hand[]
This applies to a hand of four triplets and one pair. Quad sets can also be used instead of any triplets.
This can sometimes give a quick and cheap win if you have a hand with several pairs and you're happy to steal tiles, but generally it's not a great choice.
All Pungs is always worth two Han (with or without steals).
Mixed Triple Chow / Three Color Straight[]
This combo requires three sequences with the same numbers, one set in each suit.
Mixed Triple Chow is worth two Han (no steals) or one Han (with steals).
Seven Pairs[]
An exception to the usual structure of four sets and a pair, this hand has seven pairs instead.
The pairs must be unique - you cannot use four identical tiles (an undeclared quad set) as two pairs.
Seven Pairs is worth two Han. Since it has no sets it's not possible to steal tiles when building this hand.
Pure Straight / Full Straight[]
This Yaku requires three consecutive sequence sets (123, 456 and 789) all in the same suit. Any of the four sets can be completed by stealing and any tiles can be used for the fourth set and the pair.
Pure Straight is worth two Han (no steals) or one Han (with steals).
Dora (Bonus Tiles)[]
The Dora system is a handy way to boost your score. The tile shown in the centre of the screen is the Dora indicator and the next sequential tile is the Dora. Each Dora tile in your hand is worth one Han, for example if the indicator is 2 Dots and you have a pair of 3 Dots in your hand then you have two Dora worth two Han.
The numbers wrap so a number 9 indicator will make the Dora number 1 in the same suit and the dragons and winds follow the sequences shown in the diagram below.
Here are four examples applying these rules:
When a player wins a hand after declaring Riichi an extra indicator tile (called a Reverse Dora, Underside Dora or Ura-Dora in various Yakuza games!) will be revealed under the standard Dora indicator and applied.
After a quad set is declared an additional Dora indicator will be revealed in the centre of the virtual tabletop and then if a player wins with Riichi the extra Reverse Dora indicators will be flipped under both the standard Dora indicator and the extra quad Dora indicator.
(The additional Dora tile/s resulting from declaring a quad set can often give a significant boost to the value of a hand so it's usually best to only make a quad when you're close to winning a hand. It can be very dangerous to do it after another player has declared Riichi since two extra Dora would be applied if they win.)
Winning[]
When you have a ready hand (one tile away from being complete with four sets and a pair) and it qualifies for at least one Yaku there are two ways to complete it and declare a winning hand.
- Tsumo (ツモ) is when you win off a tile you drew yourself. All three opponents pay a share.
- Ron (ロン) is when you win off an opponent's discarded tile. The discarder pays the full amount.
Declaring a win is sometimes called "going out" or "calling mahjong" in English.
If you have a ready hand that could be completed by any of the tiles that you've already discarded yourself then you are Furiten and you cannot declare a Ron win on any tile. You can still win by Tsumo or you can change your hand structure so you are no longer Furiten.
Scoring[]
In modern Japanese mahjong each player usually starts a match with the standard total of 25,000 points each. Usually if you're not playing in the tournament you'll need to buy your first points from the parlour receptionist.
The value of a winning hand is calculated from two numbers:
- Minipoints or Fu - you can pretty much ignore these since scores are calculated automatically
- Han or Fan - these are also known as "doubles" since each one will double the value of your hand
Each Yaku is worth one or more Han and each Dora bonus tile is worth one Han too, so for example a typical winning hand with Riichi, Pinfu and All Simples Yaku plus one Dora scores four Han.
The value of the hand is doubled once per Han but with higher value hands a series of tiered limits or caps is applied to the points won, e.g. Mangan (5 Han), Haneman (6 or 7 Han), Baiman (8, 9 or 10 Han), etc.
If the supply of tiles is depleted without a win being declared then the hand ends in a draw. In this situation a total of 3,000 points is shared between the players who have ready hands (one tile away from complete) paid by the other players whose hands are not ready.
The player whose seat wind is currently east (東) - commonly known as the dealer in English - receives 50% extra points each time they win a hand so you should try to take advantage when you have the east seat. You will remain east in an extra hand (in addition to the standard four per round) whenever you win a hand or it ends in a draw where you have a ready hand.
Every consecutive hand that results in either a win for the east player or a draw will add one to the Honba counter in the centre of the screen next to a bar with eight dots. This indicates the number of 300 points bonuses that will be added to the value of any winning hand (e.g. 3 x 300 pts = 900 pts). When any player other than the east player wins a hand the Honba counter is reset to zero.
At the end of a match the player with the highest score wins and then a final exchange of points between players is applied. Traditionally the amounts traded are symmetrical, for example with 3rd place paying 10,000 pts to 2nd and 4th place paying 20,000 pts to 1st, however in the earlier Yakuza games they're skewed - typically with 1st place receiving 10,000 pts from 3rd and 15,000 pts from 4th. This will never change the final positions but if you're gambling it will affect the amount of money you win - or lose!
Defending[]
Once you've won some points you'll want to keep them. If an opponent declares a Ron win off one of your discarded tiles then you pay the full amount for their win so sometimes you'll need to play defensively. If another player declares Riichi you know they're only one tile away from winning and the safest action is to dismantle your hand so that you can discard safe tiles. This is a tough lesson to learn but sometimes you need to "lose a battle in order to win the war"!
The best tiles to discard are ones that the Riichi player has already discarded (because they will be Furiten on them). It's also good to discard any tiles that you or the other players have discarded since the player declared Riichi (because the previous ones weren't taken for a win).
Defence is a good reason for not stealing tiles from your opponents - the tiles in your exposed sets are locked so you have fewer to choose from when "folding" your hand like this.
Rule Options[]
The mahjong minigame has the four options detailed below.
In the original Japanese games the rule settings are 採用 (use) and 不採用 (don't use).
For reference the table difficulties are 弱 (weak), 中 (intermediate) and 強 (strong).
Game Style (Match Length)[]
Half Game - A standard "half game" (半荘戦) is played over two rounds* (east and south). If you're trying to get a big score for completion this gives you more chances to win some hands.
Quarter Game - A "quarter game" (東風戦) is played over a single round (east). You can pick this option if you want shorter matches, perhaps to farm money off the final bonus or to save time on tournament progression.
(These options are not translated consistently across the series. If the two options given are "full" and "half" (for example in Yakuza 2, Yakuza 6 and Judgment) then a "full game" has two rounds and a "half game" has one.)
*A full game in the classical Chinese mahjong rules is played over four rounds.
Kuitan[]
Use - With Kuitan (食いタン) the Yaku All Simples / Tanyao (only suit tiles numbered two to eight) can be claimed on an exposed hand (with one or more sets made by stealing tiles). This is one of the easiest ways to win with steals and you can use it to get a quick win when your hand has several Dora bonus tiles.
Don't Use - All Simples can only be claimed on a concealed hand (no steals).
Two Fan Minimum[]
Use - With the Two Fan Minimum (二翻縛り), also called the Two Fan Requirement or Two Han Minimum, your hand must have either one or two Yaku worth two or more Han in total to declare a win whenever the Honba counter shows 5 or more. (Han from Dora bonus tiles don't count.)
Don't Use - A hand can always be won with any one Yaku. This option lets you win more easily with a cheap hand when the Honba counter is wound up to 5 or more.
Red Dora[]
Use - With Red Dora (赤ドラ) four of the number 5 suit tiles are replaced by special versions with pure red markings. Each red five in a winning hand is worth one Han just like the normal Dora bonus tiles. This option can be used to boost the value of your winning hands.
Don't Use - Red fives are not used.
Completion[]
This appendix details the completionist requirements in all RGG Studio games that feature mahjong.
(Some names here are English translations of text from the Japanese game editions.)
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth[]
Completion (Ichiban):
- Win twenty hands
- Win a match on both tables at Fantasia Mahjong (Hawaii)
- Play with friends five times
Completion (Kiryu):
- Win twenty hands
- Win a match on both tables at Citron Mahjong, Vista Mahjong and Lullaby Mahjong (Japan)
- Play with friends five times
"Having Fun Yet?" Trophy: Play ten different minigames
Like a Dragon: Gaiden[]
Completion:
- Win ten hands
- Win one match at each difficulty (four levels)
"The Man Who Had Too Many Hobbies" Trophy: Play ten different minigames
Cheat Item: "Nine Gates Tile"
This powerful mahjong cheat item (see previous games below) can be bought from Akame's store (level 3) for 6,500 pts.
Like a Dragon: Ishin![]
Completion: Finish a match with 35,000 pts or more (before the final bonus)
(See tips for Ishin (2014) below which also requires a high score for completion.)
"The Man Who Does It All" Trophy: Play all minigames
"Taskmaster" Trophy: Achieve 100% completion
Friendship: Mahjong Parlor
The friendship gauge is progressed by playing a mahjong match and then exiting the mahjong parlor.
Lost Judgment[]
Mahjong can be played at Lullaby Mahjong (麻雀ららばい) in Kamurocho and at Citron Mahjong (麻雀しとろん) and Vista Mahjong Club (麻雀倶楽部 花鳥風月) in Yokohama. A third table at Vista can be unlocked by winning three matches there.
Cheat Item: "Nine Gates Tile"
The Lantern Tile (宝燈の牌) or Nine Gates Tile can be bought for 30,000 SP from Onodera's Wares in the Yokohama homeless camp. In your inventory this looks like a white mahjong tile marked with a red kanji (燈). After starting the Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun side-case you can also get one by finding the squirrel graffito at the entrance to Yokohama 99, using your detector gadget to find footwear (in a bush to the south) and exchanging these with Futaba.
Like in Judgment, the Nine Gates Tile gives you a ready hand for Pure Nine Gates which is the special version of one of the very valuable Yakuman (limit hands). Keep those thirteen tiles and keep discarding the other one until you can declare a win off any Craks tile. This will be a double Yakuman worth 96,000 pts but if you're lucky enough to win by Tsumo on your first turn you'll get a triple Yakuman worth 144,000 pts!
Shop Missions:
- Win five hands at Lullaby Mahjong
- Win ten hands at Lullaby Mahjong
- Achieve 1st place on two tables at Lullaby Mahjong
- Win five hands at Citron Mahjong
- Win ten hands at Citron Mahjong
- Achieve 1st place on two tables at Citron Mahjong
- Win five hands at Vista Mahjong
- Win ten hands at Vista Mahjong
- Achieve 1st place on all tables at Vista Mahjong
"TownGo Casual" Trophy: Completed 30 stores in TownGo's Shop Missions.
"TownGo Whale" Trophy: Completed all of TownGo's Shop Missions.
"TownGo Master" Trophy: Achieved 100% completion of TownGo.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon[]
In Isezaki Ijincho, Yokohama, Mahjong can be played at "Vista Mahjong" (麻雀倶楽部 花鳥風月, Mahjong Kurabu Kachōfūgetsu) in Chinatown and at Mahjong Citron (麻雀しとろん) at the west end of the basement level in the large building (THE ビル) in Koreatown. Other locations include Lullaby Mahjong (麻雀ららばい) in Kamurocho and at Riichi Towers (麻雀 リーチ楼) in Sotenbori.
After playing on all tables at Citron you can pay 50,000 Yen to enter the Shochu Cup (焼酎杯).
By playing mahjong you gain Intelligence (知性) which is one of the six 人間力 (character powers).
Challenge Quests:
After joining Part-Time Hero in Chapter 5 you can complete Challenge Quests including these mahjong ones:
- Win 1 match on any table at Mahjong Citron
- Win 3 matches on any table at Mahjong Citron
- Win matches on all tables at Vista Mahjong
- Win matches on all tables at Riichi Towers
- Win matches on all tables at Lullaby Mahjong
- Win 5 hands
- Win 10 hands
- Win 30 hands
Completing each of these contributes to your Mental (メンタル) or Confidence power.
"Wide Range of Hobbies" Trophy: Play at ten minigame locations
Judge Eyes / Judgment[]
This game introduced the Open Riichi rule. Whenever you have the option to declare Riichi you will also be offered Open Riichi (オープンリーチ). This still costs 1000 points but it's worth two Han (instead of the usual one), however your hand is displayed to your opponents so they can see what tile/s you need! You are more likely to win when you declare Open Riichi early, when you have two or more winning tiles and when other players have already "reached" (so they cannot choose which tiles to discard).
The two Han value applies if you win by Ron when the discarder has declared Riichi or if you win by Tsumo. If you win by Ron with Open Riichi when the discarder hasn't reached then it's scored at the top limit (Yakuman) which is 48,000 pts as east or 32,000 pts otherwise! This should be unlikely but it can happen.
Friendship: Yurika Tachibana
The idol Yurika (ゆりか) is the assistant on a real-life mahjong TV show called The Wareme de Pon. From Chapter 2 she'll appear after you play mahjong - this will give you access to a third mahjong parlour called Mahjong Tachibana which is located a couple of blocks south of the Millennium Tower.
This parlour uses a fixed rule-set including some special rules from the TV show. Matches always last for one round, each hand starts with two Dora indicators (instead of the usual one) and if a player gets busted they pay a penalty of 10,000 pts to the player that busted them.
Additionally the Wareme rule is applied. One player is selected at random in each hand and indicated with the Wareme (割れ目) marker. If this Wareme player wins a hand, they receive double points but if another player wins, the Wareme player pays double.
To progress friendship with Yurika, it is necessary to play a match with the Wareme rule (at her parlour) and then win a hand with the Wareme bonus applied. This cannot be done while accompanied by an NPC and if it is required to win a hand, it is likely that the full match needs to be completed.
Minigame cheat items can be earned by winning hands with Yaku she requests. She uses childish names for Japanese mahjong terms - Pinfu is "Pin Who", All Triplets (Toi-Toi) is "Toy Toy", Half Flush (Hon'itsu) is "Honey Sue" and Nine Gates (Chūrenpōtō) is "Churning Potato" plus she refers to Wareme as "Wear Me".
- Lucky Hanafuda (幸運花札) for Pinfu
- Royal Joker (ロイヤルジョーカー) for All Triplets
- Bust Amulet (バストのお守り) for Half Flush
- Blackjack Amulet (BJのお守り) for Nine Gates (see below)
Cheat Item: "Nine Gates Tile"
From Chapter 5 the Lantern Tile (宝燈の牌) or Nine Gates Tile can be bought for 10,000 SP from Onodera in the sewers. In the inventory this looks like a white mahjong tile marked with a red kanji (燈).
If activated before a match, the seat will start as east and the first hand will have 1112345678999 in the Craks suit - a ready hand for Pure Nine Gates which is the special version of one of the very valuable Yakuman (limit hands). Keep those thirteen tiles and keep discarding the other one until a win can be declared off any Craks tile. This will be a double Yakuman worth 96,000 pts (or more with Wareme) but winning by Tsumo on your first turn will result in a triple Yakuman worth 144,000 pts.
Shop Missions:
- Achieve 1st place on weak, intermediate and high-rate tables at Mahjong Lullaby
- Win 5 hands at Mahjong Lullaby
- Win 10 hands at Mahjong Lullaby
- Achieve 1st place on intermediate and strong tables at Modern Mahjong
- Win 5 hands at Modern Mahjong
- Win 10 hands at Modern Mahjong
- Win 10 hands at Mahjong Tachibana
- Win 1 hand with Wareme at Mahjong Tachibana
- Win 30 hands at Mahjong Tachibana
- Win 5 hands with Open Riichi at Mahjong Tachibana
- Achieve 1st place on weak, intermediate and strong tables at Mahjong Tachibana
The high-rate table at Mahjong Lullaby (麻雀ららばい) is in a secret area which needs to be unlocked - literally unlocked with the Mysterious Key (謎の鍵).
After the Panty Professor (Twisted Professor) side case, go to the Men's Entertainment Box north of the Millennium Tower. Talk to Yosuke (陽介) to start your friendship with him and then go to the Apple Pie (あっぷるパイ) "Sexy Club" in the same building as Mahjong Lullaby. Talk to the receptionist, meet with Madoka (まどか) and then talk to Yosuke in the Kamuro Theatre smoking room. Unlock the Heavy Drinker (酒豪) skill, return to Apple Pie, talk to the receptionist and sit with Madoka again to start your friendship with her. At some point you'll be able to chat with Madoka's two colleagues in the "Staff Only" room at the back of Apple Pie. After talking to them several times you'll receive the Mysterious Key and then you can finally access Mahjong Lullaby's high-rate table via the door behind the elevator in the corridor.
City Missions:
(These are called "Complete Missions" (コンプリート ミッション) in the original Judge Eyes.)
- Win 3 hands at the Mangan limit (5 Han) or higher
- Win 1 hand with Ippatsu
- Win 1 hand with Three Color Straight
- Win 1 hand at the Haneman limit (6 or 7 Han) or higher
For Three Color Straight you need sequence sets with the same numbers (e.g. 456) in all three suits (plus any other set and a pair). This Yaku is valid in an open hand so you're free to steal tiles but make sure you take the correct ones, e.g. if you have 123 in two suits plus 23 in the third, don't steal 4 to make 234.
(See tips for Kiwami below which also requires Mangan, Haneman and Ippatsu wins.)
It'll be easier to earn more Han at Mahjong Tachibana due to the additional Dora there. The Yakuman from winning with the cheat item should count as your Haneman win and one of your Mangan wins.
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"KamuroGo Socialite" Trophy: Cleared all KamuroGo (KAMGO) shop missions "KamuroGo Guide" Trophy: Cleared all KamuroGo city missions "KamuroGo Master" Trophy: Achieved 100% completion in KamuroGo missions |
Yakuza Kiwami 2[]
Achievements:
- Achieve 1st place on all tables and tournaments
- Win 5 hands
- Win 10 hands
- Win 30 hands
- Win 100,000 Yen in total (not in one match)
At Lullaby Mahjong (麻雀ららばい) in Kamurochō you can play on easy and medium tables or enter the Roaring Dragon Battle Royale (龍鳴戦) for 50,000 Yen. At Riichi Towers (麻雀リーチ楼) in Sōtenbori there are medium and hard tables or you can compete for the Sōtenbori Cup (蒼天杯) for 100,000 Yen. After taking 1st place in the cup you can enter the Daiuchi Contest (代打ち戦) there for 200,000 Yen. (In Japan a daiuchi is a substitute who plays on your behalf.)
"Mahjong" Substory: Win a special match with a 32,000 pts handicap
This early substory is triggered outside the mahjong parlour building in Kamurochō.
To complete this side-mission you need to win a match of mahjong where you start with only 1,000 points (instead of the standard 25,000 pts) and your three opponents begin with 33,000 pts each.
The mahjong cheat item (see below) gives you enough points to win this match instantly. When asked if you want to use this item (無双の牌) select the left option (はい) to confirm.
Cheat Item: "Peerless Tile"
There are three sources for the Peerless Tile cheat item for mahjong:
- behind shelves of boxes in office downstairs from mahjong parlour in Kamurochō
- in corridor two floors up in building with gambling den in south-west Sōtenbori
- reward for Komaki Training 4 substory (available near Champion District in Chapter 5)
In your inventory this item looks like a white mahjong tile marked with a red kanji (双).
If you activate this before a match you'll start as east and your first hand will have one each of every one, nine, wind and dragon - you have a ready hand for Pure Thirteen Orphans which is the special version of one of the very valuable Yakuman (limit hands). You should draw a matching tile for a Tsumo (ツモ) win on your first turn which gives a triple Yakuman worth 144,000 points! (all three opponents pay 48,000 pts each)
"What a Player" Trophy: Play at all minigame locations
"All Done" Trophy: Complete everything on achievement lists
"Story of My Life" Trophy: Complete all substories
Yakuza 6[]
Achievements:
- Achieve 1st place on all four tables and in both tournaments
- Win 5 hands
- Win 10 hands
- Win 30 hands
There are two mahjong parlours in Kamurochō (Tokyo), each with two tables and one tournament.
Mahjong Lullaby is on the top floor of the "Sexy Club" building south-east of the New Serena; winning a match there earns you one tournament point on the easy table (left) or two tournament points on the medium table (right). Modern Mahjong (named after the popular manga Kindai Mahjong) is in the basement of the Cat Café building in the south-east corner of the map; winning a match there gives you one tournament point on the medium table (left) or two tournament points on the hard table (right).
Once you have twelve tournament points all from one parlour you can speak to the receptionist there (top option) and choose to play a final match. At Mahjong Lullaby this costs 50,000 Yen and you get 500,000 Yen if you win, while at Modern Mahjong both amounts are doubled. If you don't achieve 1st place then you need to qualify all over again so it's wise to save first and then reload if necessary.
You can use the "half game" rule option (matches last one round) to save time while working on this.
"What a Player" Trophy: Play at all minigame playspots
Yakuza Kiwami[]
Completion: Win 10 hands
CP Achievements:
- Win 10 hands
- Win 5 hands at the Mangan limit (5 Han) or higher
- Win 1 hand at the Haneman limit (6 or 7 Han) or higher
- Win 1 hand with Ippatsu
- Win 1 hand with Full Straight
- Win 100,000 pts in total (not in one match)
For Mangan and Haneman you need to win with hands that have enough Yaku and Dora to give you five, six or seven Han. You'll usually want to build sequence sets without steals for Pinfu. Declare Riichi when your hand is ready and if you're lucky you'll get Ippatsu and extra Dora. With only tiles numbered two to eight you'll get All Simples, while a Tsumo win without steals gives Fully Concealed Hand. Remember to check and use the Dora bonus tiles where possible. Activate the Red Dora option and use the red fives too.
Alternatively a Full Flush hand (all tiles in same suit) always scores at the Mangan limit or higher and you're free to steal tiles to complete some or all of the sets.
For Ippatsu you need to win immediately after Riichi so avoid stealing tiles and declare Riichi often. You can improve your chances by building a ready hand which can be completed by two or more different tiles where several copies of those tiles are still available. A Pinfu hand always has at least two winning tiles or three if you have five consecutive tiles in the same suit (e.g. 34567 completed with 2, 5 or 8).
For the Full Straight you want a complete winning hand including 123, 456 and 789 sets in the same suit. You'll usually need a starting hand with at least five or six different tiles in the same suit. You can steal tiles from your neighbour but take care to only make 123, 456 or 789 for the straight (e.g. not 234). Your hand must also have a pair and a fourth set which can be a sequence or triplet and you can make it by stealing.
Cheat Item: "Lucky Tile"
There is one source for a Lucky Tile cheat item for mahjong:
- coin locker I2 (key near bicycles at end of dead-end street north of the Serena and Poppo store)
If you activate this before a match you'll start as east and your first hand will have one each of every one, nine, wind and dragon - you have a ready hand for Pure Thirteen Orphans which is the special version of one of the very valuable Yakuman (limit hands). Keep those thirteen tiles and keep discarding the other one until you can declare a win off any one, nine, wind or dragon. This will be a double Yakuman worth 96,000 pts but if you're lucky enough to win by Tsumo on your first turn you'll get a triple Yakuman worth 144,000 pts!
Even with the smaller bonus for 1st place on the easy table this will always be enough to complete the CP achievement for earning 100,000 points in mahjong. It will also count as your Haneman win, one of your Mangan wins and obviously one of your basic hand wins too.
The Lucky Tile cannot be used in tournament matches.
"Sexy Ron" Trophy: Enjoy a game of mahjong with a hostess
After clearing the first couple of ranks by filling the girl's fondness gauge, you should start having the option to invite her on a date although she won't always accept so just keep asking. (You might expect her to accept around Rank C or Rank D for example.)
Your date begins by meeting at Theatre Square and then you select one of several minigame playspots. If you pick mahjong you'll teleport to the mahjong parlour where you can play against the hostess and two other people. There is no requirement for you or the girl to win a match.
"What a Player" Trophy: Play all minigames
(Remember to watch the bunnygirl's stageshow at Asia too.)
Yakuza 0[]
CP Achievements:
- Win 10 hands
- Win 5 hands at the Mangan limit (5 Han) or higher
- Win 1 hand at the Haneman limit (6 or 7 Han) or higher
- Win 1 hand with Ippatsu
- Win 1 hand with Full Straight
- Win 10 million Yen in total (not in one match)
(See tips for Kiwami above which also requires Mangan, Haneman, Ippatsu and Full Straight wins.)
The Advanced tables available in both cities give a much greater potential for making money because they use the highest rate (1 point = 100 Yen) plus the final bonus for 1st place is larger.
"What a Player" Trophy: Play all minigames
Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin![]
Completion: Finish a match with 40,000 pts or more (before the final bonus)
You'll usually need to win several good hands so try to build your hands efficiently and aim to include several Yaku (often using Pinfu and Riichi as a base) with Dora bonus tiles and Red Dora.
When your seat wind is east (東) you might want to go for quick cheaper wins (or push for a ready hand in a draw) so you can keep the east seat and continue to enjoy the 50% bonus to your winning hand values.
Try to use basic defence after an opponent declares Riichi to avoid losing points to their Ron win.
You can use the half game rule option to give you more opportunities to win hands.
"Man who Knows all the Games" Trophy: Play at all minigame playspots
Friendship: "Mahjong Parlour Resident"
To fill the friendship gauge you need to play four mahjong matches - these can be in either tournament or gambling mode and you need to exit the mahjong parlour after each one. Then to complete the gauge you need to play one gambling match on the hard table (the one farthest from the entrance).
Yakuza 5[]
Completion: Finish a match with 50,000 pts or more (before the final bonus)
The Lucky Tile provides an easy way to achieve completion.
Cheat Item: "Lucky Tile"
There are four sources for a Lucky Tile cheat item for mahjong:
- Sōtenbori coin locker C1 (key on boardwalk under south side of east bridge)
- Sōtenbori coin locker J1 (key on east side of big bookshop, north of east bridge)
- Kamurochō coin locker E2 (key at top of right wall in IF8 basement, north-east of Theatre Square)
- Kamurochō Fun Pack 07 (available from convenience store in Premium Adventure mode)
If you activate this before a match you'll start as east and your first hand will have one each of every one, nine, wind and dragon - you have a ready hand for Pure Thirteen Orphans which is the special version of one of the very valuable Yakuman (limit hands). Keep those thirteen tiles and keep discarding the other one until you can declare a win off any one, nine, wind or dragon. This will be a double Yakuman worth 96,000 pts but if you're lucky enough to win by Tsumo on your first turn you'll get a triple Yakuman worth 144,000 pts!
The Lucky Tile cannot be used in tournament matches and Haruka can't play mahjong so don't collect those coin locker keys while playing as her.
"Life is Entertainment" Trophy: Play all minigames
Kurohyou 2: Ryu Ga Gotoku Ashura-hen[]
(Mahjong was absent from the first title in the Kurohyou spin-off series on the PSP but an entirely new mahjong minigame with better presentation, options, controls and stats was built for the second one.)
Completion: Win ten hands
Yakuza: Dead Souls[]
Completion: Win one game on the expert table
To unlock the expert table you'll need to play the fishing minigame at the harbour until you catch a humanoid zombie named Esper Ito! You'll then find him at various minigame playspots including the mahjong parlour.
"Brainiac" Trophy: Win one game each of mahjong and shogi
(See Barticle's Yakuza Dead Souls guides on GameFAQs for details of how to get very easy shogi wins.)
Cheat Item: "Lucky Mahjong Marker"
A powerful cheat item for mahjong is available in the final event of the hostess Erika (available to Akiyama at Shine) after getting the maximum twenty hearts. At the mahjong parlour you'll encounter the Frightened Man who gives you a Lucky Mahjong Marker. Activate this when prompted and take the Tsumo win on your first turn to get a crazy triple Yakuman worth 144,000 points which will instantly bust all three opponents!
This provides a quick and easy way to get a mahjong win for the trophy.
The Lucky Mahjong Marker can only be used during Erika's mission.
Yakuza 4[]
Completion: Finish a match with 50,000 pts or more (before the final bonus)
(See tips for Ishin (2014) above which also requires a high score for completion.)
"Seven Pairs" Trophy: Win one hand with Seven Pairs
Ignore the misleading trophy description - the requirement is winning a hand with Seven Pairs.
You'll need seven unique pairs in your hand so ideally you'll want to start from a hand that already has at least four pairs. You cannot steal tiles to make pairs so you'll need some more luck to draw the tiles you need until you have a ready hand with six pairs; you can improve your chances by discarding any unpaired tiles that have already been discarded (since there are fewer of these available).
Once you have six pairs you can win by either Ron or Tsumo. You can improve your odds by swapping your last unpaired tile until you have one that's easier to get - try one of the less useful tiles (winds and dragons, ones and nines, twos and eights) but check to see how many are already on the table. Take care to avoid making yourself Furiten - if you have already discarded the tile you need to win then you cannot win by Ron (in that case you can swap your unpaired tile again).
Yakuza 3 (Remaster)[]
(Mahjong was one of four minigames that were cut from the western localized edition of Yakuza 3 on PS3, but it was reinstated in The Yakuza Remastered Collection.)
Completion: Finish a match with 50,000 pts or more (before the final bonus)
(See tips for Ishin (2014) above which also requires a high score for completion.)
"Exposed Dragon" Trophy: Win one hand with an exposed pair-wait
You need to steal tiles to complete all four sets. That will leave you with a single tile which you need to match to make a pair, completing your hand with either a Ron or Tsumo win.
Remember that your hand must qualify for at least one Yaku before a win can be declared. With the right tiles it's easiest to use one triplet of dragons, seat wind or prevalent wind or All Simples* (only suit tiles numbered 2 to 8). Alternatively you could use an All Pungs (four triplets) or Half Flush hand.
The trophy name is a reference to Kiryū's "Dragon of Dojima" title - you're not required to use dragon tiles!
*Remember that the Kuitan rule option must be applied to use All Simples in a hand with steals.
"Minigame Master" Trophy: Meet the completion requirements for all minigames
(It's a tough trophy. It's advisable to buy some headache tablets and spare controllers!)
Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan![]
Completion: Finish a match with 50,000 pts or more (before the final bonus)
(See tips for Ishin (2014) above which also requires a high score for completion.)
Yakuza 2[]
Completion: Finish a match with 50,000 pts or more (before the final bonus)
(See tips for Ishin (2014) above which also requires a high score for completion.)
"Mahjong" Substory: Win a special match with a 15,000 pts handicap
This is available after playing three mahjong matches and having an encounter outside the Kantō (Tokyo) mahjong parlour. In order to complete the substory you need to win a match after starting with 10,000 pts instead of the usual 25,000 pts. If you fail you can retry but each attempt costs two Silver Plates (or you can just save first and reload as necessary). The rule options include Ton-Nan (literally "east south" so matches last two rounds) and Ryan Shi (an abbreviation of the Japanese name for the Two Fan Minimum rule).
Further reading[]
This appendix lists other mahjong guides by Barticle which you might find useful.
- Japanese mahjong rules and terminology guide (PDF)
- Yakuza 2 mahjong guide (plain text)
- Ryū Ga Gotoku: Kenzan! mahjong guide (plain text)
- Ryū Ga Gotoku 3 mahjong guide (plain text)
- Yakuza 4 mahjong guide (plain text)
- Yakuza: Dead Souls mahjong guide (plain text)
- Ryū Ga Gotoku: Ishin! mahjong guide (plain text)
- Kurohyou 2: Ryu Ga Gotoku Ashura-hen mahjong guide (plain text)
Credits[]
- Original article text and diagrams by Barticle
- Freeware mahjong font by Yoshiki Kita