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How to Learn Japanese Mahjong

Japanese Mahjong is just one of the varieties of the classic game Mahjong. Mahjong is a game of tactic and observation that started in China in which tiles that contain symbols and characters are used. Most of the rules of the original Mahjong game are used in Japanese Mahjong but there are some differences. Rules often vary when you go from country to country. People must understand the setup, rules and how to score when it comes to learning Japanese Mahjong.

Instructions

- 1
  Lay all tiles facedown in the middle of the table.
- 2
  Select tiles and build a wall of tiles in front of every player. Keep all of the tiles facing down and build the wall 19 tiles wide and two high.
- 3
  Allow the player sitting to the east to go first and then move to the player on the right.
- 4
  Roll the dice and move that number across the wall of tiles. The player will take the next four tiles and then the next players will take turns rolling the dice and taking the next four tiles as well. This goes on for three rounds.
- 5
  Take the next two tiles if you are the player on the east. Every other player takes one tile.
- 6
  Pass three tiles you no longer want to the right, pass three tiles you no longer want to the player across from you and finally pass three to the left.
- 7
  Draw one tile from the wall and place it with the others. Then, place one tile into the middle to start a discard pile.
- 8
  Continue drawing and discarding until a player has a winning hand, which must have a pair of two identical tiles, or until you each have a dead hand with less than 12 tiles left in your hand.

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