[For Seniors] Fun and Lively! Recommended Quiz Questions
How about quiz games like wordplay and riddles during recreation time at day service centers and other senior facilities? Puzzles that hide meanings in the arrangement, color, or orientation of letters, as well as riddles, are enjoyable brain teasers.
The answers often draw on familiar folk tales or everyday events, so seniors can experience that delightful “I get it!” moment of surprise and accomplishment when inspiration strikes.
The process of thinking stimulates the brain, and smiles and conversation naturally arise when the answer is revealed.
This time, we’ll introduce clever wordplay and riddle quizzes that are sure to get seniors excited and thinking, the kind that make you say, “Wow, that’s clever!”
- [For Seniors] Laugh-Out-Loud, Crowd-Pleasing! Fun Quiz
- [For Seniors] Lively Wordplay Game: Fun Recreation for Elderly Care
- [Brain Training] Lively Word Quiz for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Have Fun with Wordplay Characters! A Collection of Funny Puzzles
- [For Seniors] Fun and Educational True-or-False Quiz
- [For Seniors] Fun Riddles That Stimulate the Brain
- [For Seniors] Fun! Let’s Get Excited with Japan’s Number One Quiz
- [For Seniors] Fun Quiz Questions That Will Liven Up December
- For seniors: Fun, crowd-pleasing word association game ideas
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] Perfect Brain Training! Fun Trivia
- [For Seniors] Recommended and Exciting! Brain-Teaser Quiz Collection
- [For Seniors] Recommended Trivia Quizzes & Fun Facts for November
Showa Retro: Nostalgia Quiz (1–10)
In 1960 (Showa 35), a revolution occurred in household televisions. What happened to the TV screen?
The revolutionary event that happened to home TVs in 1960 (Showa 35) was the start of color broadcasting! NHK began broadcasting on February 1, 1953 (Showa 28), and commercial stations followed on August 28 of the same year.
After the introduction of remote-control TVs and the downsizing of cathode-ray tubes, color broadcasts finally began in 1960.
At the time, color TVs cost dozens of times a new university graduate’s starting salary—well beyond the reach of ordinary people—but as technology advanced, prices became more affordable.
Looking at photos of old televisions or footage of programs from that era might bring back memories of your younger days.
The Showa-era phrase “Atama ga 〇〇 ni naru” means “I have so much to think about that my brain won’t work.” What sea creature goes in the 〇〇?
The word that meant “a state where you have so much to think about that your brain won’t work,” which was popular around 1983 (Showa 58), is “Atama ga uni ni naru” (my head turns into sea urchin)! It’s a metaphor comparing a confused, jumbled mental state to soft sea urchin that collapses easily when pressure is applied.
You hardly hear it nowadays, and on the internet it’s called something like “a really nostalgic expression.” Indeed, cracking open a sea urchin does somehow evoke the inside of a human brain… There are plenty of other Showa-era buzzwords that aren’t used anymore, too! Just those alone could make for a solid Showa quiz.
Who was the last prime minister of the Showa era?
Speaking of the last Prime Minister of the Showa era, it was the 74th, Noboru Takeshita.
During the Takeshita Cabinet, which lasted from November 6, 1987 (Showa 62) to June 3, 1989 (Heisei 1), policies that would greatly influence Japan’s future were implemented, such as the introduction of the consumption tax and the liberalization of U.S.-Japan trade.
In recent years, his grandson, the singer DAIGO, has been very active on variety shows and elsewhere! Some older viewers may have seen him nostalgically share stories about Mr.
Takeshita, beginning with “My grandpa…” Since some people are sensitive about political topics, when presenting this as a quiz, keep it strictly as a name-guessing game and maintain a lighthearted tone.
What percentage was the consumption tax during the Showa era?
It sounds like a trick question, but it’s about the consumption tax in the Showa era.
Although the consumption tax has been increasing year by year, in fact, there was no consumption tax during the Showa period.
So the answer to this quiz is that the consumption tax had not yet been introduced.
Japan first introduced the consumption tax on April 1, 1989, the first year of the Heisei era.
At the time of introduction it was 3 percent, and it was later raised to 5 percent, 8 percent, and then 10 percent.
Today, the consumption tax is taken for granted, but when it was introduced there was strong public backlash, and it is said that protest movements also occurred.
What products disappeared from supermarkets during the first oil crisis?
It was during the first oil shock in 1973 that certain products vanished from supermarket shelves.
The answer is toilet paper—but why did it disappear? The cause of the oil shock, as the term suggests, was the surge in crude oil prices.
A war that broke out in the Middle East at the time led to price hikes and embargoes on crude oil.
As a result, oil prices reportedly quadrupled in just three months, dealing a major blow to the Japanese economy.
Back then, heavy oil was used as fuel to dissolve dried raw materials in the process of manufacturing toilet paper.
This led to fears that if crude oil prices soared, the supply of toilet paper would run out.
Those concerns are thought to have triggered panic buying of toilet paper.
The black rotary phone has strengths not found in modern landlines or mobile phones. What kind of features does it have?
The old black rotary phone that you dial by turning the wheel—many older people probably used one at home.
Those black phones had a certain feature that today’s landlines, cell phones, and smartphones don’t.
Here’s a hint: it’s something essential for landlines and cell phones—without it, they can’t even be used.
The answer is: they don’t need a power source or an outlet! Landline phones won’t work unless they get electricity from a wall outlet, and cell phones and smartphones have to be charged with a charger.
But black rotary phones run solely on power from the telephone line, so you can still use them even during a blackout!
Showa Retro: Nostalgia Quiz (11–20)
Lottery tickets were first sold in 1945 (Showa 20). At the time, four losing tickets could be exchanged for something. What was that something?
The first time lottery tickets were sold was in July 1945, just before the end of the war.
The price was 10 yen per ticket, and the top prize was 100,000 yen.
Back then, there was a system where four losing tickets could be exchanged for something—and that something was, incredibly, ten cigarettes, known at the time as “kinshi”! While alcohol as a prize might still make sense, a lottery that gives cigarettes as prizes is unimaginable today.
For those who remember it, this must be a nostalgic episode that reflects how times have changed.