how is east west north south laid out in mah jonng

In mahjong, the usual layout is East, South, West, North going clockwise around the table, with East as the starting seat. That means South is on East’s right, West is across from East, and North is on East’s left.

Simple table

From East’s seat	Position
Right	South
Across	West
Left	North

A common confusion is that some mahjong mats or diagrams use a different compass-style orientation, so the printed directions may look “rotated” compared with a normal map. The safest rule is to remember the **wind order** : East, South, West, North.