What is shiritori?

Shiritori (しりとり) is a word game in which players take turns to say words, each of which begins with the final kana of the previous player's word. The first kana of the word must be the same as the last kana of the previous player's word, the shiri (尻), or "bottom" of the previous word. The game ends if one player chooses a word ending in the kana n or if he cannot think of another word.

For example,

とまと
とんかつ
つなみ
みかん ← GAME OVER!

Here the final player has lost because they chose a word ending in kana n.

Rules

The rules of the game vary, but in general:

The words allowed are usually restricted to nouns.
Words may not be repeated.
If the final syllable is a chōon (長音) (long vowel), such as in mikisa- (ミキサー) "cement mixer", there are three possibilities:
1. Use the chōon as a vowel, so aisukuri-mu (アイスクリーム) is allowed;
2. Ignore the chōon, so sandobagu (サンドバッグ) is allowed;
3. Use both the kana and the following chōon, so only a word beginning with サー, like sa-kitto (サーキット), is allowed.
Dakuten and handakuten (see What are the names of the Japanese non-kana, non-kanji symbols?) may or may not be ignored. For example, if dakuten are ignored, tomato (トマト) may be followed by do-natsu (ドーナツ), "doughnut".

Variations

The game can be made more difficult by restricting the words to be used to, for example, only vegetables, or only Pokemon characters. Players may also have to answer within a certain amount of time, such as after a short chant.

If you have questions, corrections, or comments, please contact Ben Bullock or use the discussion forum / Privacy policy


Book reviews	Convert Japanese numbers	Handwritten kanji recognition	Stroke order diagrams	Convert Japanese units