Here are the answers to Sunday’s pop quiz, featuring references to Wikipedia:

1. How many Japanese islands have hosted the Olympic Games?
   2, Honshu (Tokyo 1964 and Nagano 1998) and Hokkaido (Sapporo 1972).
2. Who was the first non-mythical ruling Empress of Japan?
   Empress Suiko (推古天皇, ,593-628), the 33rd emperor of Japan. Empress Jingu (神功皇后 AD 169-269) precedes her as a mythical Empress.
3. Which train route was inaugurated in 2005, which goes from Tokyo to Ibaraki?
   The Tsukuba Express, which links the Akihabara station in Chiyoda, Tokyo to the Tsukuba Station in Tsukuba, Ibaraki.
4. In what year was the group Morning Musume formed, and with how many members?
   In 1997, with 5 girls. Yuko Nakazawa (中澤裕子), Natsumi Abe (安倍なつみ), Kaori Iida (飯田圭織), Asuka Fukuda (福田明日香), and Aya Ishiguro (石黒彩,).
5. Which coin, used in Japan until 1953, was equivalent to 1/100th of a yen?
   Sen (錢).
6. The famous Japanese social networking site Mixi was proposed in 2003 by a programmer now known as Batara Eto (衛藤バタラ). In which country was he borned?
   Indonesia.
7. What is the name of the temple which has the largest wooden building in the world?
   Toudai-ji (東大寺), which houses a giant Buddha status called the Daibutsu.
8. Since March 2005, who is the voice actor (or “seiyuu”) for the character Doraemon?
   Wasabi Mizuta (水田わさび).
9. Name an actress who played in the movie Death Note and in a special episode of GTO.
   Nana Katase (片瀬那奈, pictured).

For the bonus question, “Who was the first Japanese settler in Canada?” His name was “Manzo Nagano.”

When I asked those questions at our local Natsu Matsuri, I asked two tie breaker questions for first and second places. They were “What is the capital of Japan?” and “Japan is part of which continent?” For the second question, however, only later I realized most Japanese do not treat Japan to be part of Asia.

Congratulations to TofuUnion who got most of the questions right! Thanks to all those who participated!