I bought …

This game goes by many names, including the alphabet naming game and the basket game, but no matter what you call it, it is a simple game that you can play while waiting in line. It doesn’t require any writing or board of any kind.

You’ve probably played this game in English at some point, and this is just the Japanese translation of it. It is also very good for training your memory, too.


1) The first person starts out by making a simple sentence with one item. For example, りんごを買った。(I bought an apple.)

2) The second person adds another item. For example, りんごとバナナも買った。

3) This continues until someone can’t add another item or they forget one of the items in the list.

4) For added difficulty, you can have categories that the words need to belong in like animals, food, buildings, etc…