There are 34 basic tile types. A full set contains four identical tiles of each type, giving 136 tiles in play (1, 1.3); Three suits — circles (pinzu), bamboo (sōzu) and characters (manzu) — each numbered one to nine (1.1); The ones and nines of each suit are called terminals (1.1)
Why people argue about this
People often assume that the 136 tiles in play refer only to the basic tile types without considering additional elements like the wind markers (dora), which can bring the total number of tiles in play much higher, leading to misunderstandings about how many actual tiles are used during a game.
