Shiritori (しりとり; 尻取り) is a 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".[1]
There are various optional and advanced rules, which the players must agree on before the game begins.
Example:
sakura (さくら) → rajio (ラジオ) → onigiri (おにぎり) → risu (りす) → sumou (すもう) → udon (うどん).
The player who used the word udon lost this game, because the word ends in N (ん).
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.
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.