野末陳平先生、高田文夫先生、立川志らら師匠と雑談ランチ〜伯山の三番弟子・若之丞の大食い日記
Kanda Hakuzan (神田伯山) spent three hours at lunch with Nozue Chinpei (野末陳平, age 94), Takada Fumio (高田文夫, age 78), and Tatekawa Shirara (立川志らら, age 53), where unverifiable showbiz scandals and Showa-era slang flew freely. He also shares his obsession with the Showa diary of Hayashiya Shozō VIII and his third apprentice Wakanojō's (若之丞) epic eating adventures on the road.
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What this episode answers
What kind of conversation came up at the lunch with Nozue, Takada, and Shirara?
Takada Fumio, in sharp contrast to his on-air persona, rattled off unverified showbiz scandals non-stop, complete with Showa-era terms like 'jōfu' (妾, mistress) and 'nikutai kankei' (sexual relations); the lunch ended with a spirited argument between 94-year-old Nozue and 78-year-old Takada over who would pay the bill.
What is the book Takada Fumio is writing, and how does it relate to Hakuzan?
It is a roughly 600-page compendium of postwar entertainment history due out in December, and it contains a line stating that 'kōdan was saved by Haku-san (Hakuzan),' which Takada used as leverage to ask Hakuzan to promote it.
What did the Showa diary of Hayashiya Shozō VIII reveal?
The diary shows that Kikuko (菊子) — then known as Kikuzō (菊蔵) — was actually highly praised by the master as 'sincere and hardworking,' upending her later image as a comic dunce; the diary also reveals Shozō VIII's uneasy feelings about Mikisuke's transfer from the Rakugo Geijutsu Kyōkai.
What kind of performance did Hakuzan give at the Shimizu rakugo festival in Shizuoka?
Hakuzan performed 'Meigetsu Wakamatsu-jō' as the closing act at the 1,500-seat Marinart hall, running 45–50 minutes against a planned 30, and though the audience and SNS response was positive, Shōtai (昇太) later remarked that following the katsudō-benshi must have been tough.
Who is the third apprentice Wakanojō, and what episodes stood out?
Wakanojō is Hakuzan's 22-year-old third apprentice from Iwate who is a prodigious eater — in Nagano he put away three boxed lunches, venison soba, and more — and he publicly announced from the stage that Hakuzan was his second choice, with his first choice having been Ichiryūsai Teisui (一龍斎貞水), stunning the audience into silence.
Lunch with Nozue, Takada, and Shirara
Hakuzan joined Nozue Chinpei (age 94), Takada Fumio (age 78), and Tatekawa Shirara (age 53) for a three-hour lunch at a restaurant on the ground floor of a hotel — no private room. Nozue and Shirara arrived first; Takada showed up fashionably late.
Once Takada sat down, the atmosphere transformed completely from his on-air manner. He launched into a stream of unverified showbiz gossip: 'When it became clear the younger brother had the talent, the sister switched her allegiances to him'; 'A certain actress has been stealing from dressing rooms, which is why she hasn't been on TV lately.' Showa-era vocabulary — 'jōfu' (mistress), 'nikutai kankei' (carnal relations) — peppered the conversation, prompting Hakuzan to laugh that he hadn't heard those words in ages. When the bill arrived, Nozue and Takada got into an earnest argument over who would pay, with Shirara eventually rising to his feet to intervene.
Takada Fumio's 600-Page Entertainment History
Over lunch, Takada revealed the book he is currently writing: a definitive chronicle of postwar showbiz history, ballooning to roughly 600 pages against the typical 200-page paperback format, scheduled for release in December. Writing from the perspective of someone who actually knew figures like Furukawa Roppa (古川ロッパ) — one of the last people alive to do so — Takada said he feels a mission to preserve this history: 'I'm the only one left who knows it.' The book reportedly includes the line 'kōdan was saved by Haku-san,' which Takada promptly used as a reason to ask Hakuzan to promote it.
The Showa Diary of Hayashiya Shozō VIII and Furukawa Roppa's Diary
The lunch conversation led Hakuzan to enthuse about the *Showa Diary of Hayashiya Shozō VIII*. The entry for March 10, 1961 records: 'Mikisuke's wife brought over an apprentice called Kikuo, and I had him take the name Hayashiya Kikuzō.' The following day's entry reads 'sincere and hardworking'; the day after that, 'I can leave the house with peace of mind knowing Kikuzō is here.' This is the very person who would go on to become the beloved comic figure Kikuko (菊子) — yet the diary shows the master held her in high regard from the start. 'We've all been fooled,' Hakuzan marveled. The diary also hints, between the lines, that Shozō VIII was not entirely welcoming of Mikisuke's transfer from the Rakugo Geijutsu Kyōkai, sensing a threat to his own position.
Hakuzan also touched on the diary of Furukawa Roppa, published in four volumes including a late-life edition. At the height of his fame the entries are vibrant, but toward the end they darken: 'I took on work I had no desire to do'; 'resentment, envy, jealousy — it is the diary that keeps me alive.' The moment that moved Hakuzan most deeply was finding Shozō VIII's diary entry that simply reads 'Furukawa Roppa, gone' — two separate diaries linking across time like, as Hakuzan put it, 'a continuous relay.'
Hakuzan himself has kept a diary for many years, reportedly candid enough to be called the 'Death Note of the entertainment world.' His wife has said she will publish it after he dies; he has asked her to burn the whole thing instead.
Closing Act at the Shimizu Rakugo Festival
Hakuzan performed at a rakugo festival in Shimizu, Shizuoka — the hometown of Rakugo Geijutsu Kyōkai chairman Shōtai (昇太). The lineup at the 1,500-seat Marinart hall included Raimon Gorō (雷門五郎) performing 'Shichido Gitsune,' Koyūza (小遊三), katsudō-benshi Takamoto Raiko (高本蕾光), and Chairman Shōtai before the intermission — with Hakuzan as the closing act. He performed 'Meigetsu Wakamatsu-jō,' running 45 to 50 minutes against the planned 30. SNS reaction was enthusiastic, but afterward Shōtai remarked, 'Following the katsudō-benshi must have been tough for you,' leaving Hakuzan to chuckle that it sounded like a verdict of failure. The overrun caused one staff member traveling with him to miss the Shinkansen and have to return to Tokyo on local trains.
Third Apprentice Wakanojō's Big-Eating Adventures
At 22 years old, Wakanojō is Hakuzan's third apprentice, and his appetite was a recurring theme. In Nagano he polished off three boxed lunches, mitsumaki (a local fried chicken dish), milk bread, Shine Muscat grapes, and venison soba. Asked how the venison tasted, he replied, 'I couldn't really tell what it was.' When he declared, 'I know how to eat food,' Hakuzan compared it to 'Mas Oyama announcing he knows how to make a fist.'
After the Shimizu show the two went to an unagi restaurant in Tokyo, where Wakanojō proclaimed it the best eel he had ever eaten. He also practiced diligently in the hotel room, and Hakuzan found himself fetching him mandarin oranges and tea — 'I'd turned into his mother,' he admitted.
The most startling moment came during a stage preamble in front of regular patrons, when Wakanojō announced that Hakuzan had been his second choice — his first had been Ichiryūsai Teisui, and if that had fallen through he planned to become a professional wrestler with Michinoku Pro (ザ・グレート・サスケ師匠's promotion). The audience fell dead silent. Hakuzan admonished him — 'In public you have to say, even if it's a lie, that you ended up in the right place' — then added, 'But I love you, so it's fine,' and laughed it off.
Takeaways
- A three-hour lunch with Nozue Chinpei (94) and Takada Fumio (78) was a non-stop parade of unverifiable showbiz scandals and Showa-era slang, ending in a comic standoff over the bill.
- The Showa diary of Hayashiya Shozō VIII upended received wisdom about Kikuko's early career and revealed the master's private anxieties about a rival's transfer, showing Hakuzan the irreplaceable rawness of historical diaries.
- Third apprentice Wakanojō (22) is an enthusiastic eater and dedicated student who nonetheless publicly named Hakuzan as his second choice — and got away with it because Hakuzan finds him irresistible.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.