[For Seniors] Fun and Exciting! Difficult Kanji Quiz
Brain training is a type of recreation that’s easy for anyone to try, regardless of gender.
Because you can participate while seated, it’s accessible even for those who have difficulty moving their bodies.
Kanji brain-training quizzes in particular are said to help train the brain by recalling information from memory and sparking new ideas.
So this time, we’ll introduce a set of difficult kanji quizzes.
With quizzes, people can enjoy the sense of achievement and satisfaction when the answer they worked hard to come up with turns out to be correct.
Some older adults may overthink when it comes to difficult kanji.
Try adding creative touches like providing hint illustrations or photos that lead to the answer.
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[For Seniors] Fun and Lively! Difficult Kanji Quiz (41–50)
banana (plantain)
“甘蕉” is read as “banana.” Because many people write “banana” in katakana, some may find the kanji form a bit difficult.
The character “甘” represents the sweetness of bananas, and “蕉” is said to denote the type of plant.
Sweet bananas with yellow peels are popular with people of all ages.
There are many varieties—some are small, some are reddish, and so on.
While bananas are now a popular fruit easily found in supermarkets, they used to be a luxury item in the past.
The kanji may be a little challenging, but do try to remember it!
Cheese
Let us introduce cheese, a fermented food made from dairy products that has been loved for many years! It is characterized by rich umami and depth of flavor, and depending on the type, you can enjoy sweetness or saltiness.
It pairs well with wine.
Many of you may already have guessed the answer.
The answer is “cheese”! Because cheese is a dairy product, it is rich in protein and calcium.
As a food that helps strengthen bones, it often appears on meal menus for older adults.
If you’re not a fan, try shaving it onto salads or mixing it into dishes as a seasoning to make it more palatable!
cherry (specifically, sweet cherry)
It’s a fruit associated with cherry blossoms, which you can also infer from the kanji—some people might recognize it from that alone.
It’s said to have been eaten since prehistoric times, and today it’s cultivated in Japan, especially in the Tohoku region.
The answer is “sakuranbo,” or cherries; if you read the kanji literally as “sakura-momo” (cherry-peach), many people might catch on.
Given its connection to cherry blossoms, it feels like something that’s been beloved in Japan for a long time, but it’s worth noting that it actually has a relatively short history here, having been introduced in the Meiji era.
suïton (a Japanese flour-dumpling soup); alternatively, mizu dango (water dumplings)
The kanji 水団 can probably be read in several ways, and many people may have trouble arriving at what seems to be the right answer.
“水” is read as “sui,” and “団” is read as “ton,” as in “futon,” so the answer is “suiton.” It’s a dish where dough made from wheat flour kneaded with water is added to soup and simmered.
近年はひらがなで書かれることが多いが、語源には諸説あり、水でこねた団子を指す説、汁物に入れる団子を指す説、または饂飩（うどん）の「飩」という字が「団」に置き換えられたとする説がある。
hazy and unadorned
This is read as “soboro.” When you hear soboro, you probably imagine minced meat or eggs seasoned and stir-fried until the moisture evaporates.
“Chicken soboro” is famous, and many of you have likely eaten it at least once.
The word soboro is said to originate from “so-oboro.” In kanji, it’s written as 粗朧.
It seems that oboro refers to a state where the ingredients are not crumbled as finely as soboro.
A well-known example of oboro is “denbu.”
sukiyaki
People who have worked in agriculture might be able to read this kanji without any trouble.
“鋤” is read as “suki,” and the answer is “sukiyaki.” Nowadays, sukiyaki generally refers to cooking meat in a pot and simmering vegetables in a warishita sauce, but its origins trace back to the Edo period, when people are said to have grilled beef on a farming tool called a suki (plow).
Since it’s not a katakana loanword written with ateji, perhaps more people than expected got this one right.
pineapple
Since the literal reading of the kanji is quite far from the answer, it’s best to start with the hint that it originates in tropical America.
While it is mainly produced in South America, it’s also grown in China and Taiwan, and the fact that it’s used in local cuisine might be another clue.
答えはパイナップルで、台湾では主に「鳳梨」と呼ばれています。そのため、現地の風景に詳しい人なら漢字だけでも正解にたどり着けるかもしれません。
Hints like it being a fruit strongly associated with South America and the tropics, and that it’s sometimes used in Chinese cuisine, may be easier to grasp.