For riichi mahjong, buy the tile inventory and scoring equipment required by your chosen rules. A box containing 144 tiles does not mean all 144 are used together, and a set sold for another mahjong variant may include different extras.
Choose the rules before sorting the tiles
The European Mahjong Association’s 2025 rulebook, version 1.1, uses four copies of thirty-four basic tile types: 136 tiles in play. It excludes flower, season, and joker tiles and does not use red fives. Other riichi groups may use red fives as replacements for ordinary fives; they are not simply added on top of the full playing inventory.
A specific set inventory
YMI’s white-and-yellow standard set YW-JM001-A lists 144 boxed tiles: the basic 136 plus four flowers and four red fives. It also lists scoring sticks, four dice, an east-wind marker, and storage trays. The checked listing does not enumerate every scoring-stick denomination and quantity, so confirm those if a particular starting allocation matters.
| Check | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Rules version | Which optional tiles and scoring conventions apply? |
| Tile inventory | Four copies of each required basic type, plus clearly separated extras. |
| Scoring sticks | Enough value and denominations for the chosen setup. |
| Dice and wind marker | Present and usable under the selected rules. |
| Tile dimensions | Exact model measurements, not a general national size label. |
Keep physical size specific
The white-and-yellow model is listed at 26 × 20 × 16 mm per tile. Do not substitute dimensions from the maker’s black or large-tile version. As a simple space illustration, seventeen tiles aligned along a twenty-millimeter width span 340 mm before gaps. That calculation is not a minimum table size: walls, hands, discards, calls, and players’ reach need additional space.
Review the scoring setup
EMA’s referenced rules start each player at thirty thousand points and describe point sticks and at least two dice. A different club’s starting score may differ. Confirm the intended convention before deciding whether the included sticks are sufficient; the phrase set of scoring sticks is not an exact manifest.
Inspect the whole table arrangement
Lay out the walls, concealed hand area, central discards, and space for sticks before buying a mat or table cover. Check whether players can read and reach the components comfortably. We have not measured a universal riichi table requirement or tested tile handling.
Buy for the game you will join
For a club, use its named rules and ask which optional tiles it uses. For home play, choose and keep one reference while learning. Extra tiles are useful only when their role is understood; they should not create an accidental mixture of American, Chinese, and riichi equipment assumptions.
Sources and method
This is a researched decision guide. Product facts were checked against the primary sources below on November 2, 2026. Selection advice and worked examples are editorial reasoning. This guide does not include hands-on testing.
