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Mahjong Master

About Mahjong Master

A free, English-language educational reference for riichi (Japanese) and American (NMJL) mahjong — built to be the resource we wished existed when we started learning.

Last reviewed: May 12, 2026

What Mahjong Master is

Mahjong Master is an independent educational website covering rules, strategy, and equipment for two of the most-played mahjong variants in English-speaking communities: riichi mahjong (Japanese) and American mahjong (NMJL). The site launched in February 2026 with a single goal — make the path from "I know nothing" to "I can confidently play a game" as short as possible without dumbing down the material.

Today the site publishes 200+ pages spanning all 43 riichi yaku, 100+ glossary entries, complete tile references, beginner guides for both variants, scoring walkthroughs, platform reviews, and equipment buying guides. Everything is free and indefinitely accessible — no signups, paywalls, or required logins for any reference content.

Editorial standards

Mahjong rules are surprisingly contested across regions and platforms — even something as foundational as "is open tanyao allowed?" varies between rulesets. We follow these editorial principles:

  • Variant explicitness. Every page that discusses rules names the variant explicitly. We never mix riichi and American rules in the same explainer without a callout.
  • Authoritative source attribution. Where rules differ between major rulesets, we cite the canonical source. Primary references include the EMA (European Mahjong Association) Riichi rules, the NMJL annual card for American mahjong, and the WRC (World Riichi Championship) rules.
  • Verifiable scoring math. Every scoring example shown on the site can be calculated by hand from the published han and fu rules. If a number disagrees with the rules, the number is wrong.
  • Honest equipment reviews. Product reviews include real downsides, not just sponsored-style positives. We use Amazon Associates affiliate links on equipment pages — those are disclosed at the top of every page that contains them. Affiliate links never change which products we recommend.
  • Update cadence. Rules-reference pages are reviewed annually, or immediately when a major ruleset changes. Equipment pages are reviewed every 6 months for price and availability.

How content is reviewed

New content goes through a three-step review before publishing:

  1. Rules cross-check. Every claim about gameplay, scoring, or yaku is verified against at least one authoritative ruleset (EMA, NMJL, or WRC).
  2. Editorial pass. Each piece is edited for clarity, structure, and consistent terminology. Japanese terms get English in parentheses on first use within a page.
  3. Link audit. Internal references are checked, broken links repaired, and outbound platform/equipment links validated.

When we discover an error, we fix it and update the "last reviewed" date on the page. If the error materially changes the meaning, we add a correction note.

Authors and bylines

Editorial content on Mahjong Master is published under the byline Kenji Tanaka, a pen name used for editorial consistency across the site. The pen name lets the site maintain a consistent voice while keeping the contributors' personal identities private. This is disclosed openly on every author page.

The site is independently operated and not affiliated with any mahjong platform, equipment manufacturer, or league.

Sources we cite

For variant-specific rules:

How the site is built

Mahjong Master is built with Astro (static site generation), Tailwind CSS, and MDX for content. The full site is statically generated and deployed via Cloudflare Pages — no JavaScript is required to read any reference content. Analytics are privacy-respecting (Plausible). Schema.org structured data is published on every page for both human readers and AI crawlers.

Contact and corrections

Spotted an error in a yaku description, scoring example, or product page? Have a topic you'd like to see covered? Email [email protected]. Corrections are typically applied within 48 hours.

About this page

This about page is reviewed and updated quarterly to keep editorial standards, sources, and contact information accurate. Last reviewed May 12, 2026.