Editing Shiritori

{{Short description|Japanese word game}}
[[File:Shiritori.png|thumb|right|200px|A game of shiritori progressing from right to left]]
'''Shiritori''' ({{lang|ja|しりとり}}; {{lang|ja|尻取り}}) is a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] [[word game]] in which the players are required to say a word which begins with the final ''[[kana]]'' of the previous word. No distinction is made between ''[[hiragana]]'', ''[[katakana]]'', and ''[[kanji]]''. "Shiritori" literally means "taking the end" or "taking the rear".<ref name="japantimes">{{cite news|last1=Backhaus|first1=Peter|title=Shiritori: a simple game that's great for practicing your Japanese vocab|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2017/01/16/language/shiritori-simple-game-thats-great-practicing-japanese-vocab/|access-date=2 November 2017|work=The Japan Times|publisher=Yukiko Ogasawara|date=16 January 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171102214743/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2017/01/16/language/shiritori-simple-game-thats-great-practicing-japanese-vocab/%23.WfuSddLLfK4|archive-date=2 November 2017|location=Japan|language=en|quote=しりとり (shiritori) is the name of the game, derived from the phrase 尻を取る (shiri o toru). It literally means “take the rear” — and that is basically what you do.|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Rules==
There are various optional and advanced rules, which the players must agree on before the game begins.
===Standard rules===
*Two or more people take turns to play.
*Only [[noun]]s are permitted.
*A player who plays a word ending in the ''[[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]'' "N" ({{lang|ja|ん}}) loses the game, as almost no Japanese word begins with that character, except for some [[loanwords in Japanese|loanwords]] and [[proper noun]]s such as {{lang|ja|ンジャメナ}} ([[N'Djamena]]).
*Words may not be repeated.
*Phrases connected by ''no'' ({{lang|ja|の}}; meaning roughly "of") are permitted, but only in those cases where the phrase is sufficiently lexicalized to be considered a "word".<ref name="tofugo">{{cite web|url=https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/shiritori/|title=Shiritori, the Japanese Game That Will Improve Your Japanese|author1=Koichi|date=4 October 2008|website=tofugu.com|publisher=Tofugu|language=en|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170106025547/https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/shiritori/|archive-date=6 January 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=2 November 2017}}</ref>

Example:<blockquote>''[[sakura]]'' ({{lang|ja|さく'''ら'''}}) → ''[[Radio|rajio]]'' ({{lang|ja|ラジ'''オ'''}}) → ''[[onigiri]]'' ({{lang|ja|おにぎ'''り'''}}) → ''[[Sciuridae|risu]]'' ({{lang|ja|り'''す'''}}) → ''[[sumo]]u'' ({{lang|ja|すも'''う'''}}) → ''[[udon]]'' ({{lang|ja|うどん}}).</blockquote>The player who used the word ''udon'' lost this game, because the word ends in ''N'' ({{lang|ja|ん}}).

===Optional rules===
*The first word of the game is ''shiritori'', the name of the game itself.
*[[Dakuten and handakuten]] may be ignored or added. Thus ''suupu'' ({{lang|ja|スープ}}) may be followed by ''furo'' ({{lang|ja|ふろ}}), and ''sato'' ({{lang|ja|さと}}) may be followed by ''dorayaki'' ({{lang|ja|どら焼き}}).
*A [[long vowel]] may either be ignored or considered as a vowel. ''Mikisaa'' ({{lang|ja|ミキサー}}/{{lang|ja|みきさあ}}) can be followed by either ''sakura'' ({{lang|ja|さくら}}) or ''aki'' ({{lang|ja|あき}}).
*Common pronouns and place names may be permitted. Example: ''Edo jou'' ({{lang|ja|えどじょう}}, {{lit|[[Edo Castle]]|lk=yes}}), is acceptable.
*Two words spelled with the same ''kana'' but different ''kanji'' may be permitted. For example, ''su'' ({{lang|ja|す}}) can either be spelled as "{{lang|ja|巣}}" ({{lit|a bird's nest}}) or "{{lang|ja|酢}}" ({{lit|vinegar}}).

===Advanced rules===
*Words are limited to a certain genre.
*Instead of using only the last ''kana'', the final two ''kana'' must be used again. In this case only the first ''kana'' may not be the ''[[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]'' "N" ({{lang|ja|ん}}).
*The length of a word must be three or more syllables.<ref name="tofugo"/>

==English shiritori==
A version of Shiritori using only English words was invented to help people learn English. Most rules are the same, yet there are several original and optional rules that are used.

*For students of English, any words - including [[noun]]s, [[verb]]s, and [[adjective]]s - can be used.
*Players cannot use different tenses of previously used verbs unless they have nonstandard conjugation. For example, a player may use "be", "was", and "is", but not both "kick" and "kicked".
*When a word ends in a [[silent letter|silent]] vowel, like "life", one may either use the vowel in another word or use the preceding consonant instead.

==Similar games==

* In English, the closest game is [[word chain]].
* Similar [[Russian language|Russian]] word games include "A Game of Words" ({{lang|ru|Игра в слова}}), where players are required to say a noun that begins with the final letter of the previous word, and "A Game of Cities" ({{lang|ru|Игра в города}}), where players are required to say a name of a city or town that begins with the final letter of the previous word.
* In [[Sinitic languages|Chinese languages]], a similar game is known as ''jielong'' ([[wikt:接龍|接龍]]), where players start new words with the last [[hanzi]] of the preceding word. Another variant of the game is known as ''tzuchuan'' (字串), which utilises adding, removing or replacing of one of the character's components to form another character. The most popular variant of the game is known as ''chengyu jielong'' ([[wiktionary:成語|成語]][[wiktionary:接龍|接龍]]), which involves four character idioms instead.
* There is also a similar [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] game called [[Kalodont (game)|Kalodont]], in which players continue the chain by beginning with last two letters of the previous word.
* In [[Korean Language|Korean]], a similar game is ''kkeunmaritgi'' ([[wikt:끝말잇기|끝말잇기]]), in which players must say a word that starts with the last [[Hangul]] syllable of the previous word.
* In [[Romanian language|Romanian]], there is a game called "Fazan" ("Pheasant"), in which players must say a word that starts with the last two letters of the previous word.

==Examples from popular culture==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2025}}
* In the Japanese version of ''[[Tomodachi Life]]'', there is an event called Shiritori Tournament, which was changed into [[Word chain]] in the European version and ''kkeunmaritgi'' in the Korean version; the North American version lacks the game, although there is a similar event called ''Rap Battle''.
* In episode 6 of the [[anime]] ''[[Nichijou]]'', the characters Yūko Aioi and Mio Naganohara play a picture version of the game.
* In episode 2 of the anime ''[[Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid]]'', the characters Miss Kobyashi, Tohru, and Kanna play the game (and lose by using the word ''dragon'').
* In episode 6 of ''[[No Game No Life]]'', Shiro and Sora face off against Jibril in materialization Shiritori, where objects appear or disappear when that object is named.
* In episode 3 of ''[[Non Non Biyori]]'', the sisters Komari and Natsumi play Shiritori to pass time after running from home.
* In episode 2 of ''[[The Quintessential Quintuplets]]'', Miku Nakano challenges Futaro Uesugi to a game of shiritori using names of Sengoku warlords.
* In episode 7 of ''[[Chronicles of the Going Home Club]]'', Sakura challenges Natsuki to a game of shiritori using taboo cards on which words are written that cannot be said by either player.
* In episode 28 of ''[[Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy (TV series)|Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy]]'', four members of the Earth Eleven play the game together, with Maneuver forcibly ending the game early to avoid rousing suspicion over his strange answers.
* The Japanese ending theme of ''[[Pokémon Journeys]]'' is "Pokémon Shiritori", which features the game being played with names of [[Pokémon]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Japanese games]]
[[Category:Japanese word games]]