<p>I don't think there is any specific policy that is commonly followed.</p>
<p>If anything, the answer is random choice. One common thing that any Japanese student has heard of is <em>rolling a pencil (<a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%89%9B%E7%AD%86%E8%BB%A2%E3%81%8C%E3%81%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Enpitsu korogashi</a>)</em>. A typical pencil has six sides (hexagonal), and students roll it to decide which one to mark as correct when s/he has no idea for the question.</p>
<p>Of course, if you think the 3rd option is correct for 5 questions in a row, it will make you nervous. And people may think the first and the last option is unlikely to be correct, but these are rather a matter of (folklore) psychology.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-20T05:00:55.597Z
2022-08-20T05:00:55.597Z
sundowner
<p>In <em>The Quintessential Quintuplets</em>, when taking her mid-term exam, Yotsuba doesn't know the answer to a question, so she uses a policy to guess the answer.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ZGcYT.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ZGcYT.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>I think this policy is a meme among students in Japan. In fact, in where I live, students also have similar policies. The most famous two might be:</p>
<ol>
<li>Choose the evidently different option. If one of the options is ridiculously simple/complicated/short/long compared to the others, then it's probably the correct one.</li>
<li>If <em>1</em> doesn't work, the most probable answer is the 2nd last option, the 2nd most probable answer is the 1st option.</li>
</ol>
<p>Of course, <em>2</em> may vary slightly across the country.</p>
<p>What are some famous policies for students to guess the correct answer in a test in Japan?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-18T13:15:24.347Z
There are also some kind of meme-like tricks for SAT, see [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1-8o3bH674) for math and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ycFoqPEYG4) for reading.
Michael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-18T15:43:20.680Z
I’m voting to close this question because this is only tangentially related to anime, and is looking for an answer more centered around test culture.
Makoto
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-19T02:20:55.300Z
@Makoto Yet this is a well-known culture to Japanese students, which shows up in anime. You can always tag cultural related stuff as irrelevant if you like, since not many of them would appear in most anime.
Michael
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2022-08-19T03:20:25.423Z
@Makoto Not knowing this [picture](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/21923/what-is-this-huge-symbol-on-the-door-in-the-truth-realm-and-in-the-neon-genesis) or the [meme](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/14347/what-are-the-original-memes-mentioned-in-steinsgate) won't hinder your understanding the plots. You can always happily move on with your anime while turning a blind eye to its memes or culture related stuff.
Michael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-19T03:51:23.813Z
I'd argue that this question is opinion-based/polling instead of a cultural question since anyone may have their own policies.
Aki Tanaka
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2022-08-19T04:32:25.923Z
@AkiTanaka Some policies are common, e.g., 'choose the option ridiculously different in length' is a broadly acknowledged (even by many teachers) one in my country. Here, I'm asking about those well-acknowledged or at least well-known-to-be-meme ones.
Michael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-19T04:48:50.527Z
@AkiTanaka Etiquettes are based on people's opinion on what's suitable, and laws and morals are also based on people's opinion on what's right and what's wrong. An opinion, once held by quite a few people, is no longer *merely* an opinion but becomes part of the culture.
Michael
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-21T17:56:17.910Z
Opinion or not this is more of a Japanese cultural question than one that relates to anime and manga. You could have posed it as a list question asking for examples of guessing techniques depicted in anime and manga specifically, realistic or not. Be here we are hovering around test guessing techniques from Japan.
кяαzєя
<culture>
What are some famous policies for students to guess the correct answer in a test in Japan?
# What are some famous policies for students to guess the correct answer in a test in Japan?
Posted by: username_0 on 2022-08-18
In *The Quintessential Quintuplets*, when taking her mid-term exam, Yotsuba doesn't know the answer to a question, so she uses a policy to guess the answer.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ZGcYT.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ZGcYT.jpg)

I think this policy is a meme among students in Japan. In fact, in where I live, students also have similar policies. The most famous two might be:

1. Choose the evidently different option. If one of the options is ridiculously simple/complicated/short/long compared to the others, then it's probably the correct one.
2. If *1* doesn't work, the most probable answer is the 2nd last option, the 2nd most probable answer is the 1st option.

Of course, *2* may vary slightly across the country.

What are some famous policies for students to guess the correct answer in a test in Japan?
**Tags:** culture
> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: There are also some kind of meme-like tricks for SAT, see [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1-8o3bH674) for math and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ycFoqPEYG4) for reading.  
> **username_1**: I’m voting to close this question because this is only tangentially related to anime, and is looking for an answer more centered around test culture.  
> **username_0**: @Makoto Yet this is a well-known culture to Japanese students, which shows up in anime. You can always tag cultural related stuff as irrelevant if you like, since not many of them would appear in most anime.  
> **username_0**: @Makoto Not knowing this [picture](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/21923/what-is-this-huge-symbol-on-the-door-in-the-truth-realm-and-in-the-neon-genesis) or the [meme](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/14347/what-are-the-original-memes-mentioned-in-steinsgate) won't hinder your understanding the plots. You can always happily move on with your anime while turning a blind eye to its memes or culture related stuff.  
> **username_2**: I'd argue that this question is opinion-based/polling instead of a cultural question since anyone may have their own policies.  
> **username_0**: @AkiTanaka Some policies are common, e.g., 'choose the option ridiculously different in length' is a broadly acknowledged (even by many teachers) one in my country. Here, I'm asking about those well-acknowledged or at least well-known-to-be-meme ones.  
> **username_0**: @AkiTanaka Etiquettes are based on people's opinion on what's suitable, and laws and morals are also based on people's opinion on what's right and what's wrong. An opinion, once held by quite a few people, is no longer *merely* an opinion but becomes part of the culture.  
> **username_3**: Opinion or not this is more of a Japanese cultural question than one that relates to anime and manga. You could have posed it as a list question asking for examples of guessing techniques depicted in anime and manga specifically, realistic or not. Be here we are hovering around test guessing techniques from Japan.  
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_4 on 2022-08-20. Score: 3
I don't think there is any specific policy that is commonly followed.

If anything, the answer is random choice. One common thing that any Japanese student has heard of is *rolling a pencil ([Enpitsu korogashi](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%89%9B%E7%AD%86%E8%BB%A2%E3%81%8C%E3%81%97))*. A typical pencil has six sides (hexagonal), and students roll it to decide which one to mark as correct when s/he has no idea for the question.

Of course, if you think the 3rd option is correct for 5 questions in a row, it will make you nervous. And people may think the first and the last option is unlikely to be correct, but these are rather a matter of (folklore) psychology.
---
