[For seniors] Fun brain training! Let’s get excited with the “Aru-Nashi” quiz

One of them has all animal names in it.

It seems like converting kanji to hiragana or thinking of related ideas could be very effective for training the brain. For one of them, changing everything to hiragana makes it easier to solve. There’s an animal hidden within the letters of one of them. Once you figure out the pattern, it looks like a fun problem.

One of them is an animal related to the Chinese zodiac.

This is an A-ru Nashi quiz related to the twelve zodiac signs that have existed in Japan since ancient times. Some older people might have immediately had a lightbulb moment upon hearing the question. By the way, although the zodiac sign “酉” is read as “tori,” it apparently refers specifically to a rooster (chicken).

One of them contains the name of a fruit.

It might be easier to understand if you write certain characters in hiragana. Hidden within all of those characters are names of fruits. By the way, in academic terms, fruits that grow on trees are called “kajitsu” (fruit). Things that grow on herbaceous plants, like strawberries, are considered “vegetables” in academic classification.

Some are entirely red in appearance.

There are many red things in everyday life, aren’t there? Many of them might also be familiar to older people. Hearing the questions may make them easier to think about, and the answers might come more easily too. When someone can come up with an answer on their own, the enjoyment of succeeding may lead to the motivation to say, “I want to try more.”

If you add the syllable “na” to someone’s initials, it takes on a different meaning.

It becomes easier to think if you first convert the kanji to hiragana and then reason out the answer. If you add “na” above the initial letter, it takes on a different meaning! This is a great puzzle for exercising your brain, such as converting kanji to hiragana and thinking deeply. You can also enjoy searching for other words whose meanings change when “na” is added to the initial letter.

Adding a dakuten to a certain character changes it to a different meaning.

Let's think with various possibilities in mind! For example, “asa” (morning) can become a different word like “aza” (bruise) by adding a voicing mark to one part. An “Aru-Nashi” riddle (things that are in the set vs. not in the set) is a fun puzzle that you can keep enjoying by thinking on your own even after learning the answer. It also sounds like it would be exciting to look for other examples that fit the “in” category.

Some of them are all green in appearance.

What they have in common is that their appearance is entirely green. Once you know the answer, you’ll think, “I see.” By the way, I’ve heard that the matcha from one and the black tea from the other are made from the same leaves. It seems they’re categorized based on differences in the manufacturing process and how the tea leaves are cultivated.