|東 3 局|| 西家
Jikaze 「自風」 are the seat wind designations for each player. At all times, every player is designated as East, South, West, or North 「東、 南、 西、 北」. For memorization, the winds are referred in that order counterclockwise. The same wind order applies to dora. By rule, East is always the dealer, while South is to the right. West is across, and North is to the left relative of the dealer. Likewise, player turns follow the regular wind order, although the order may be disrupted by calls of pon or kan. The call for chii does not disrupt the turn order.
No player retains the same wind position throughout the game, unless the game happens to end before a wind rotation occurs. During the course of the game, the dealer seat rotates among the four players. So, naturally, the designation for East also rotates with the dealer position. Likewise, the designations for the other winds rotate in a similar fashion. At all times, the counterclockwise order remains the same: East, South, West, and North.
At all times, the player sitting at East is noted as the oya, or dealer.
Initial wind order
At the very beginning of the game, players are initially assigned the wind seating. Here, players can note the order at which they can attain the dealer position. A number of methods can be used for the initial wind designations. Players have the discretion to choose the preferred method.
Players who collect corresponding wind tiles to their wind seat gains possesses 1-yaku, and in turn, 1-han. If a player's wind also corresponds with the round wind, then collection of their own wind is double, or worth 2-han. Commonly, the round wind is limited to either East or South. Some games may extend into the West round.
Orientation relative to self
In addition to wind designations, three terms are used to designate other players relative to oneself. They are:
- Shimocha 「下家」, or player to the right
- Toimen 「対面」, or player across
- Kamicha 「上家」, or player to the left
These designations do not necessarily take into account of wind position, which changes in relation to each other. As the wind designations change, the relative position to oneself does not.