# 写真集が1万4千円！池波志乃さんと対談しました〜伯山の三番弟子・若之丞が地元岩手で覚醒！

- Show: 問わず語りの神田伯山
- Published: 2026-09-18
- Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1647162945_99359ccbb7dd.html
- Audio: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TBS5725371750.mp3
- Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary.

Kanda Hakuzan (神田伯山) recounts the behind-the-scenes story of recording Episode 2 of NHK's 'Engei Zukan' (演芸図鑑) with guest Ikebo Shino (池波志乃), including a Jimbocho bookshop detour that ended with a ¥14,000 nude photo book instead of the research material he had come for. He also shares how his third apprentice, Wakanojō (若之丞), transformed into a completely different performer the moment he stepped onto a stage in his home prefecture of Iwate.

## What this episode answers

### Why did NHK 'Engei Zukan' Episode 1 see such a sharp ratings drop?

Because the episode's guest, artist Kaihatsu Yoshiaki, appeared in a mole costume, and since the show airs around 5:20 a.m., its elderly viewers could not accept his unfamiliar appearance, even though the content itself was genuinely interesting.

### What chain of events led Hakuzan to buy a ¥14,000 nude photo book of Ikebo Shino in Jimbocho?

While researching for the show at Jimbocho used bookshops, he could not find the target book 'Shūkatsu Fūfu,' and a clerk instead brought out 'Ikebo Shino Monogatari,' a nude photo book by Mike Okada priced at ¥14,000; after debating whether it was appropriate, he decided it would be ruder not to buy it before the interview.

### How did Ikebo Shino and Nakaō Akira get their relationship approved for marriage?

When Nakaō Akira came to meet her father, the late Hayashiya Shōzō, the two men spontaneously drew each other pictures—Nakaō drew a pellet drum evoking family, and Shōzō drew a man, a woman, and a dog barking at them—and this exchange led to their marriage being approved.

### What kind of person was Ikebo Shino's grandfather, the late Hayashiya Shōzō, to her?

He was a grandfather who lost interest in her just three or four days after her birth despite her being his first grandchild, and he never visited again, something she said she understood even as a small child.

### Why did Hakuzan feel that his third apprentice Wakanojō had 'awakened' at the Iwate performance?

At a sushi restaurant Wakanojō had answered like an ordinary young man wanting a beef bowl, but on stage in Iwate he opened with local material about Ōtani Shōhei and the Date clan's Sendai han history, drawing shouts of 'Welcome home!,' and became strikingly eloquent when the talk turned to Aizu—showing his true worth once placed in his home region, much like a carved carp that only reveals itself when dropped into a pond.

## Article

## NHK 'Engei Zukan' Episode 2: Playing It Safe

Hakuzan, a regular on NHK's morning program 'Engei Zukan,' has wrapped recording for Episode 2. Episode 1 was a lively affair with kabuki actor Nakamura Shidō among its guests, but the episode featuring artist Kaihatsu Yoshiaki—who appeared in a mole costume—saw ratings plummet sharply. Given that the broadcast airs around 5:20 a.m., Hakuzan concluded that elderly viewers simply cannot accept unfamiliar faces. 'The content was genuinely interesting, but Kaihatsu-san got all the blame,' he said with a wry smile. For Episode 2, he chose a 'defensive' strategy: a guest who would resonate with viewers in their 70s and 80s and who had deep ties to rakugo. That guest was Ikebo Shino—granddaughter of the late Hayashiya Shōzō (先代林家正蔵), and widow of the late Nakaō Akira (中尾彬). Her knowledge of rakugo, her acting career, and her marriage stories all made her a natural fit for the show's audience.

## A ¥14,000 Nude Photo Book from Jimbocho

Before the recording, Hakuzan headed to Jimbocho's used bookshops to gather research. His target: 'Shūkatsu Fūfu' (終活夫婦), the book co-written by Ikebo Shino and Nakaō Akira. No luck. The shop staff, upon recognizing Hakuzan, were so excited to chat that they made no effort to actually search for the book. He was guided to another shop, where a clerk in his 30s disappeared into the back and returned with 'Ikebo Shino Monogatari' (池波志乃物語), a photo book shot by photographer Mike Okada. Price: ¥14,000. It was a nude photo book.

A tangle of conflicting thoughts followed: 'Is it even right for me to look at the skin of the late Hayashiya Shōzō's daughter?' versus 'Isn't it ruder to show up to the interview without buying it?' He bought it. Inside, Mike Okada described how he had personally persuaded the publisher to let him photograph Shino. It proved useless as direct research material. 'It's not exactly something I can bring up on an NHK morning show,' Hakuzan admitted. He did manage to obtain 'Shūkatsu Fūfu' via Amazon at the last minute, and arrived prepared with details such as the fact that Nakaō Akira had amassed 500 of his signature twisted-rope accessories as a scarf substitute.

## Recording with Ikebo Shino: Grace, a Grandfather's Memory, and How She Met Nakaō Akira

On the day of recording, Shino made her entrance by sliding open a shoji screen and gliding in on her knees—and Hakuzan was immediately struck. Growing up in a household descended from the late Hayashiya Shōzō, he felt, showed even in the way she held her chopsticks. He declared that 'just having Shino-san around, I could eat five bowls of plain rice.'

On the subject of her grandfather, Shino recalled that despite being his first grandchild, he lost interest in her after three or four days and never visited again. 'Even as a small child, I understood right away,' she said—drawing a laughing 'What a grandpa!' from Hakuzan.

As for how she and Nakaō Akira got together: 'He was the one who came after me,' she said. She had been wary of his reputation as a notorious playboy, but her concerns eased when he took her to a long-established restaurant in Yushima staffed by a veteran geisha she trusted. When the time came to meet her father (the late Shōzō), both men spontaneously drew each other pictures: Nakaō drew a 'pellet drum' (den-den daiko)—evoking family—while the late Shōzō drew 'a man, a woman, and a dog barking at them.' Hakuzan interpreted this as 'the dog is me, and the man and woman are the two of them,' and narrated the whole exchange with relish. Asked what she most enjoys these days, Shino said going to the kabuki—adding that visiting variety halls now brings back memories of Nakaō Akira and is too painful, so she has been keeping away.

## Third Apprentice Wakanojō Comes Alive in Iwate

With less than a year remaining in his four-and-a-half years of junior apprentice training, Hakuzan's third apprentice Wakanojō hails from Iwate and has an extraordinary affection for the entire Tohoku region. At a sushi restaurant Hakuzan took him to, the chef asked, 'You'd prefer a beef bowl, wouldn't you?'—and the 22-year-old immediately answered 'Yes!' But at Mizusawa Cultural Hall Z-Hall in Iwate, capacity roughly 1,000, he was a completely different performer. He opened with local material weaving in Ōtani Shōhei and the fact that Mizusawa was once part of the Date clan's domain in the old Sendai han, and from the audience came shouts of 'Welcome home!' When the talk turned to Aizu, his eyes sharpened and he became strikingly eloquent—redeeming himself entirely from the sushi-restaurant blunder. When Hakuzan praised the Iwate sweets on the catering table, Wakanojō thanked him as if he himself had been complimented, so complete was his identification with Tohoku.

The experience prompted Hakuzan to cite a story about master craftsman Hidari Jingorō (左甚五郎) and his carved carp: placed on land, a carved carp's true worth is impossible to judge, but the moment a genuine one is dropped into a pond, it leaps. Wakanojō, too, leapt the moment he was placed in the water of Iwate. 'If the whole world were Iwate, he'd be extraordinary,' Hakuzan said, conveying his joy at witnessing the moment his apprentice broke out of his shell.

## Takeaways

- Ikebo Shino lived up to every expectation as an 'Engei Zukan' Episode 2 guest—from her natural elegance to her married-life stories—with the anecdote of being abandoned by her grandfather after three days getting particular laughs.
- Hakuzan's Jimbocho research trip yielded not the intended 'Shūkatsu Fūfu' but a ¥14,000 nude photo book that turned out to be useless for the interview.
- Wakanojō is subdued in Tokyo but shone 40% brighter in his Iwate hometown, moving Hakuzan to compare him to Hidari Jingorō's carved carp—only a genuine one leaps when dropped into the right water.