How it works
These Japanese trivia questions come in five rounds: the name and the islands, emperors and capitals, shoguns and samurai, the years since 1853, and writing, arts and the calendar.
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Japan trivia questions and answers, round by round
Shoguns and samurai, 1185 to 1868 runs from the government at Kamakura to the closed country of 1639. Writing, arts and the calendar asks who wrote The Pillow Book and what the Happy Monday System did to the holidays.
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Pick one of the four choices and the card marks it, then gives the reason and its source. Sets are ten questions long. Scored round runs to 20, with the marking saved for the finish.
Questions and answers
What are some easy trivia questions about Japan?
Which of the main islands is the northernmost? Which city was once called Edo? What are the Shinkansen trains called in English? The answers are Hokkaido, Tokyo and bullet trains.
Are these Japanese trivia questions and answers checked?
Yes. Each answer was read on October 3, 2026 in the Wikipedia article Japan, linked under the question. Population figures, living people, companies and the flag, which that article does not describe, are left out.
What does the name of Japan mean?
The two characters of the name mean "sun origin", the source of the nickname Land of the Rising Sun. Nippon is the reading on banknotes and stamps; Nihon is the everyday one.
When was the Edo period?
From 1603 to 1868. Tokugawa Ieyasu was appointed shogun in 1603 and set up his government at Edo, now Tokyo; the closed-country policy called sakoku dates from 1639.