2. Components
The Tiles
- There are 34 basic tile types. A full set contains four identical tiles of each type, giving 136 tiles in play (1, 1.3)
- Three suits — circles (pinzu), bamboo (sōzu) and characters (manzu) — each numbered one to nine (1.1)
- The ones and nines of each suit are called terminals (1.1)
Honours
- Seven honour tile types: four winds and three dragons (1.2)
- The winds are ordered east-south-west-north; the dragons are ordered white-green-red (1.2)
- The white dragon's design varies between sets — usually blank, or decorated with a blue frame (1.2)
Tiles Not Used
- Sets may include flower, season or joker tiles. These are not used in riichi mahjong (1.3)
- Japanese sets often include red fives, each normally worth one han. Red fives are not used under EMA riichi rules (1.3)
Other Equipment
- A marker for the round wind, and point sticks worth 100, 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000; a stick of a different colour may serve as 500 (1.4)
- Point sticks double as counters and riichi bets (1.4)
- Players begin with 30,000 points each (1.4)
- At least two dice (1.4)