he European Mahjong Association approved a new version of its riichi rules in 2025, effective since January 1, 2026. The main changes concern late-wall riichi declarations, call priority, kiriage mangan, and the classification of penalties.
The most visible change concerns the riichi declaration
The 2025 text says a player may declare riichi if at least one tile remains in the wall. It therefore allows the declaration before the last possible draw while forbidding it when no tiles remain to draw. A single tile left in the wall is therefore enough to declare riichi.
Call priority and the act of drawing
The change summary states that a delayed pon or kan call no longer takes priority over a chi call made before it. It also says that touching the wall to draw removes the right to call the previous discard. Both points give more weight to the actual sequence of gestures and announcements.
Once a draw begins with contact with the wall, the previous discard can no longer be called. The complete document treats procedural errors, dead hands, and penalties in separate sections.
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Kiriage mangan and scoring clarity
The 2025 edition applies kiriage mangan: 4 han 30 fu and 3 han 60 fu hands are scored as mangan. Their payments therefore use mangan values rather than the lower rounded total.
Kiriage mangan appears in the EMA 2025 base rules. Other settings, such as red fives or uma, depend on the published regulations for each competition when the document does not fix them.
The base rules and each event’s options
The EMA 2025 PDF is the base rulebook for certified riichi events that cite it. Each event listing can supplement it with a schedule, round structure, uma, or explicitly announced options.
WRC Rules 2025 are a separate rulebook with their own structure and options. Sharing some terms, including kiriage mangan, does not make the two documents interchangeable.
Errors, dead hands, and penalties
The summary published with the revision isolates the main changes. The full PDF also covers order of play, calls, scoring, procedural errors, dead hands, and penalties.
The EMA page records approval in 2025 and an effective date of January 1, 2026. Summary articles do not replace either the full text or event-specific provisions published by a tournament.