Riichi vs Taiwanese Mahjong

How Riichi and Taiwanese mahjong differ — the tile set, the hand, and above all how each one is scored.

	Riichi	Taiwanese
Also called	麻雀 / リーチ麻雀	臺灣麻將
Played in	Japan, international competitive scene	Taiwan, diaspora communities
Tiles	136	144
Flowers	none — flower and season tiles are omitted from standard riichi sets	4 flowers + 4 seasons; drawn flowers are exposed and replaced from the wall, scoring bonus tai outside the hand
Jokers	none	none
Hand size	13	16
Scored in	han + fu	tai (台)
Scoring system	han-fu scoring against a point table	additive tai-counting, no exponential doubling
Learning curve	advanced	intermediate

What sets them apart

Riichi. Riichi (Japanese) mahjong is the modern competitive ruleset centered on the riichi declaration, mandatory yaku, and han/fu scoring — 136 tiles, four players, no flowers in play.

Taiwanese. Taiwanese mahjong is defined by its 16-tile hand (17-tile win: 5 sets + a pair), flowers drawn and replaced into play for bonus tai, and an additive, largely uncapped tai scoring system.

They are scored differently — Riichi uses han-fu scoring against a point table while Taiwanese uses additive tai-counting, no exponential doubling. This is the single biggest practical difference between the two.
The tile sets differ (136 vs 144 tiles).
Hand size differs — Riichi is built to 13 tiles, Taiwanese to 16.

Riichi mahjong guide Taiwanese mahjong guide All variants

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