Sushi Trivia for Kids
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100 free Sushi Trivia for Kids trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This sushi trivia for kids quiz is written for children aged roughly 8 to 12, and for grown-ups who like their fish facts simple. It covers what sushi actually is (hint: it is about the rice, not the raw fish), which country it comes from, what nori and wasabi are made of, why the pink ginger is on the plate, how chopsticks work and where the California roll got its avocado. There are questions about salmon and tuna, about the water goblin the cucumber roll is named after, and about the restaurants where the sushi goes round on a conveyor belt. Every question was written so that a curious child can reason it out or learn something fun from the answer, and there is nothing scary or grown-up in here. It works well as a family quiz night, a classroom warm-up for a Japan topic, or a game to play while waiting for dinner at a sushi restaurant. Kids who love the Sushi Go! card game will recognise a lot of the pieces. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and food-history sources so parents and teachers can read them out with confidence. There are 100 free questions and no sign-up. For harder questions, try our main Sushi trivia page or our Japan quiz.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Sushi comes from which country?
Japan
It started as a way of keeping fish from going bad, and became a fast food in the city of Edo, now Tokyo.
Q 02Which ingredient is in every kind of sushi?
Vinegared rice
Lots of sushi has no fish at all. The special sticky rice, mixed with vinegar, sugar and salt, is what makes it sushi.
Q 03What does the word 'sushi' actually mean in Japanese?
Sour-tasting
The sour taste comes from the vinegar in the rice, so 'sushi' never meant 'raw seafood' even though many people think it does.
Q 04Thin slices of raw fish served WITHOUT rice are called what?
Sashimi
People often mix the two up, but if there is no rice it is not sushi.
Q 05What is the dark green wrapper around a sushi roll made from?
Seaweed
It is called nori and is a type of red algae that is farmed in the sea, then dried into sheets a bit like paper.
Q 06Nori sheets are made using a drying process that is most like making what?
Paper
The seaweed is shredded, spread out on racks and dried into thin flat sheets, which is why it snaps and crinkles like paper.
Q 07Which kind of rice do sushi chefs use?
Short and sticky
It needs to be sticky so it holds together in a ball or a roll. Long-grain rice like basmati just falls apart.
Q 08What green paste is served with sushi that makes your nose tingle?
Wasabi
Real wasabi is grated from the stem of a plant that grows beside mountain streams in Japan.
Q 09The real spicy green paste served with sushi comes from a plant related to which other food?
Horseradish
Most 'wasabi' outside Japan is really horseradish, mustard powder and green food colouring, because true wasabi is hard to grow.
Q 10Most of the spicy paste served with sushi outside Japan is really made from what?
Dyed horseradish
The real plant is expensive, so cheaper restaurants use an imitation made from horseradish, mustard powder and colouring.
Q 11What is the pink stuff on the side of a sushi plate?
Pickled ginger
It is called gari. You eat a little between different pieces of sushi to clean the taste from your mouth.
Q 12Which salty brown liquid do people dip sushi into?
Soy sauce
Sushi chefs say you should dip the fish side, not the rice, or the rice soaks up too much and falls apart.
Q 13Soy sauce is made mainly from which bean?
Soybeans
The beans are fermented with roasted grain and salty water for months, which is where the strong savoury taste comes from.
Which is the polite, traditional way to eat a piece of nigiri sushi?
Q 21An 'inside-out' roll has what on the outside instead of nori?
Rice
It is called uramaki and was invented in America to hide the seaweed from people who thought it looked strange.
Q 22A California roll is usually filled with cucumber, avocado and what?
Imitation crab
The very first ones used real crab. The 'crab sticks' used now are made of mashed white fish shaped to look like crab.
Q 23The orange-and-white 'crab sticks' sold in supermarkets are really made from what?
Mashed fish paste
The fish paste is called surimi. It is coloured on one side to look like real crab leg meat.
With your fingers
Even at fancy restaurants in Japan, picking nigiri up with your hands is fine.
Q 15Which country did chopsticks come from originally?
China
They spread from China to Japan, Korea and Vietnam and have been used for more than 3,000 years.
Q 16Nigiri sushi is a small mound of rice with a topping. How does the chef shape the rice?
Presses it by hand
Nigiri means 'hand-pressed'. A good chef can shape one in a couple of seconds.
Q 17Sushi that is rolled up in nori and cut into pieces is called what?
Maki
Makizushi means 'rolled sushi'. A roll is usually cut into six or eight bite-sized pieces.
Q 18What is the little bamboo mat used for rolling sushi called?
A makisu
It is woven from bamboo sticks and cotton string, and it also gets used to shape rolled omelettes.
Q 19A big cone-shaped roll that you hold in your hand is called what?
Temaki
Temaki means 'hand roll'. You should eat it quickly, before the seaweed cone goes soggy.
Q 20A cucumber roll is called kappamaki after a Japanese water goblin. What food does the kappa love?
Cucumbers
In old stories the kappa lives in rivers and has a dish of water on its head; people leave it cucumbers at festivals.
Q 24A Philadelphia roll gets its name from which ingredient?
Cream cheese
It is usually smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber, and it is much more popular in America than in Japan.
Q 25Which fish did Norway persuade Japan to start eating raw on sushi in the 1980s?
Salmon
Wild salmon can have worms, so the Japanese always cooked it. Fat, farmed Norwegian salmon changed their minds.
Q 26Unagi (freshwater eel) is never served raw on sushi. How is it usually cooked?
Grilled with a sweet glaze
Eel blood is poisonous until it is cooked, so it is grilled and brushed with a sticky sauce called tare, a style known as kabayaki.
Q 27Which is the most prized and expensive part of a tuna for sushi?
Fatty belly
The very fattiest cut is called otoro and often comes from giant bluefin tuna.
Q 28Sweet omelette on sushi is called tamago. What does 'tamago' mean?
Egg
Tamagoyaki is made by rolling up lots of thin layers of egg in a special square frying pan.
Q 29Which sushi is a pouch of fried tofu filled with rice, named after a god whose messengers are foxes?
Inarizushi
Foxes are supposed to love fried tofu, and in some places the pouches are folded with pointy corners like fox ears.
Q 30Sushi rice served in a bowl with toppings scattered on top is called what?
Chirashi
Chirashi means 'scattered'. Japanese families often eat it on Children's Day in May.