Can you solve it? Are you a matcha for these tasty Japanese puzzles?

Brain food from the land of the rising sums

Japan is a world puzzle superpower. Its grid logic puzzles – like Sudoku, Kakuro, KenKen and many more – are played across the world by millions every day.

The country also has its own culture of mathematical puzzles, nurtured by the Academy of Recreational Mathematics, Japan, which was founded in 1979.

Today’s problems are by Yoshiyuki Kotani, a founder member of the Academy and a professor of engineering at Tokyo University. They are taken from his new book, Tasty Japanese Morsels in Recreational Mathematics.

1. Squid game