What Is Furiten in Mahjong and How to Avoid It
Sep 23, 2026 · 5 min read
Furiten is a condition where you are NOT allowed to call Ron, even though your hand is technically tenpai and an opponent's discard matches a winning tile.
Three Causes of Furiten
- Permanent Furiten -- one of the tiles you're waiting on was discarded by you yourself at any point earlier in that hand.
- Temporary Furiten -- you passed up a Ron opportunity on a tile you were waiting for (intentionally or not) during one go-around, so you can't Ron until your next turn.
- Riichi Furiten -- if you're already in riichi and pass up one Ron chance, you become PERMANENTLY furiten for the rest of that hand, not just temporarily.
You Can Still Tsumo While Furiten
This is often overlooked: furiten only blocks Ron, not Tsumo. If you're furiten but manage to draw your winning tile yourself, you can still win via Tsumo as normal.
Always check your own discard history before declaring riichi -- once you riichi and are furiten, you're locked in until the hand ends.
Learn the full difference between tenpai and noten.
Read Tenpai vs Noten →