Pinfu (all sequences) 平和 · pinfu

Short answer: Pinfu is a 1-han yaku for a closed hand of four sequences and a pair that is not a value tile, completed on a two-sided (ryanmen) wait.

A closed hand of four sequences and a valueless pair, won on a two-sided (ryanmen) wait.

Value	1 han — closed hands only
How often	very common

Mahjong hand: 2 of characters, 3 of characters, 4 of characters — 5 of characters, 6 of characters, 7 of characters — 4 of circles, 5 of circles, 6 of circles — 9 of circles, 9 of circles — 6 of bamboo, 7 of bamboo, winning tile: 8 of bamboo — Four sequences, a non-value pair, won on a two-sided wait (6s7s waiting on 5s or 8s).

Pinfu is less a pattern you spot than a shape discipline you keep. From the early discards, favor connected middle tiles that grow into two-sided waits, called ryanmen リャンメン — shapes like 45 or 67. Let go of what blocks them: lone honors, a closed middle wait (kanchan カンチャン), an edge wait on 12 or 89 (penchan ペンチャン). Keep an ordinary number pair, because a pair of dragons, your seat wind, or the round wind disqualifies the hand by itself.

The usual way to lose pinfu is at the finish. Reach tenpai テンパイ on a kanchan, penchan, or tanki (pair) wait and the yaku is off, even though the rest of the hand qualifies. So when two tenpai choices are equally fast, take the two-sided one: it keeps pinfu alive and gives you more winning tiles at the same time.

Pinfu combines with nearly everything built from sequences: tanyao when you stay off terminals and honors, riichi and menzen tsumo for the standard closed finish. What it rules out is triplets — one triplet anywhere and the hand isn't pinfu — so a pon-heavy plan is a different hand entirely. For how its fixed fu plays out in points, see fu.

Key points

Three conditions: all sequences, the pair is not a value tile (dragons, seat wind, round wind), and the wait is two-sided
Pinfu itself adds no fu — a closed ron scores the flat 30 fu of the closed-ron bonus, and a pinfu tsumo scores 20 fu
Pinfu + riichi + tsumo is the classic beginner scoring combo

Worked example

Mahjong hand: 2 of characters, 3 of characters, 4 of characters — 4 of characters, 5 of characters, 6 of characters — 6 of circles, 7 of circles, 8 of circles — 2 of bamboo, 2 of bamboo — 4 of bamboo, 5 of bamboo, winning tile: 3 of bamboo — Tenpai on 4s-5s, waiting on 3s or 6s. Every set is a sequence and the pair is a plain 2s.

Check the three conditions in order. Sets: 234m, 456m, 678p, and the 345s the win completes are all sequences. Pair: 22s is a number tile, so it carries no value. Wait: 45s is open on both ends, so it waits on 3s or 6s — a ryanmen wait. All three pass, so the hand is pinfu whichever of the two tiles arrives.

The same hand also has no terminals or honors, so it is tanyao as well: 2 han. Won by ron with no dora, that is 2 han 30 fu — 2,000 points for a non-dealer win, 2,900 for a dealer win, straight off the score table. Declare riichi first and it becomes 3 han, worth 3,900 for a non-dealer.

Common mistakes

A value pair. A pair of dragons, your seat wind, or the round wind breaks pinfu even when everything else fits. Guest winds (not yours, not the round's) are fine.
A wait that only looks two-sided. If the winning tile can be read only as a closed, edge, or pair wait, pinfu is off. When a hand can be read more than one way, it scores the reading that pays best.
An open hand. Pinfu is closed-only. One chii and the yaku is gone, even if the shape is perfect.
Counting fu for it. Pinfu adds no fu of its own: a closed ron is 30 fu and a pinfu tsumo is 20 fu. See fu for why.

Related yaku

Riichi 立直 — Declare that you are one tile from winning, with a closed hand, by betting a 1,000-point stick.
Fully closed self-draw 門前清自摸和 — Complete a closed hand by drawing the winning tile yourself.
All simples 断幺九 — A hand made entirely of number tiles 2 through 8 — no terminals, no honors.

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