Tanyao Yaku: The Easiest Yaku for Beginners

Tanyao (short for Tanyaochu, "all simples") is one of the most beginner-friendly yaku because the requirement is simple: your entire hand can only contain tiles 2-8, with no terminals (1s and 9s) and no honor tiles (Winds or Dragons) at all.

Why Tanyao Is Popular

Tanyao is worth 1 han, and crucially: it still works even when your hand is open (after a Pon/Chi). That makes it the go-to yaku when you want to speed your hand up through Pon/Chi without losing your yaku entirely.

Building Toward Tanyao

Early in the hand, discard terminals (1s, 9s) and lone honor tiles first -- besides opening the path to Tanyao, these tiles are also statistically the least useful in most combinations anyway.

An example Tanyao hand -- every tile is 2 through 8, with no terminals (1/9) or honor tiles at all.