[For Seniors] Great for killing time! A fun three-choice trivia quiz

cockroach

Because the word “ant” appears in their name, you might think termites are related to ants. However, they actually belong to a different group of insects. Termites are insects in the order Blattodea, family Termitidae, and their ancestors are cockroaches. By the way, ants’ ancestors are said to be wasps. Termites appeared before ants did, branching off from cockroaches into a separate lineage about 300 million years ago. They are a very ancient group of insects.

Nagasaki Prefecture (Japan’s Coastline Length | Japan Maritime Public Relations Association）

Because Hokkaido is so large, it’s easy to imagine that it has a long coastline. Nagasaki, however, doesn’t have a strong image of size, so its coastline length might come as a surprise. The reason for its long coastline is the large number of islands—about 40 in total, including Tsushima and Iki. You could say it’s a prefecture that has developed alongside the sea, with each of these islands being popular tourist destinations.

arbor

The Turkish word meaning a pavilion, which is the origin of “kiosk,” spread to Europe. In English, it came to mean a shop that sells newspapers and magazines at stations or in town. Later, it was introduced to Japan as well. By the way, the first kiosk appeared in Japan in 1973 (Showa 48).

Pyramid

The term kinjitō, used to praise outstanding achievements, literally means “golden-lettered monument.” You might picture a golden building, but its origin is said to come from the pyramid’s shape resembling the kanji character for “gold” (金).

Exile to Niijima in the Izu Islands

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the fifth shogun of the Edo period, is famous for issuing the Edicts on Compassion for Living Things. One day, a crow is said to have dropped its droppings on Tsunayoshi’s head. A few days later, the captured crow was tried before high officials of the shogunate. The crow was sentenced to exile and was reportedly transported to Niijima in the Izu Islands.

tree

From the appearance of cellophane tape, many people might assume it’s made of plastic. In fact, the cellophane film used for the tape is made from wood pulp, and the adhesive is derived from natural rubber and natural resins. The tape core it’s wound around is recycled paper made from recovered paper pulp. For these reasons, cellophane tape is generally disposed of as burnable trash.

Publicity in the film industry

Silver Week is said to have originated in the 1950s, when the film industry began using the term to promote movie attendance during the large autumn holiday period. Much like Golden Week, they wanted to position the extended holidays as an opportunity to go to the movies, hence the use of “silver.” Although the timing of the autumn holidays now varies each year depending on how the public holidays line up, the name took hold thanks to this marketing strategy by the film industry.