金魚番長のデメキングcurrently outside the Japan top 100
#132【アフタートーク】飲食バイトはやった方がいい
Furukawa and Minowa confess they are constitutionally unable to refuse street surveys and solicitations, walking through specific embarrassing examples of the money and time it has cost them. The regular segment 'Demeking Ranking' produced a stunner when Pocky came in first for 'chocolate snacks' — a candy neither host had mentioned even once during their predictions. The back half of the episode revisited their karaoke part-time job days, ranking Pocky cocktail prep, udon, pizza, and bagna cauda by how much of a pain each order actually was.
What this episode answers
Why can't Furukawa and Minowa bring themselves to refuse street surveys and solicitations?
Both self-diagnose as 'only thinking about this one second right in front of them' and simply 'weak-willed' — the moment they stop walking they feel it's already too late to escape. They say they've gotten marginally better at refusing over the years, but they admit they're still far from cured.
What real losses or failures have they suffered because they couldn't say no?
Furukawa repeatedly donated near a Shinjuku smoking area to a man claiming to raise funds for a school abroad, and once handed coins directly into the man's bare hand only to watch him slip the money into his own wallet — yet still couldn't refuse. He also signed up for a co-op egg delivery and received four packs a month for an extended stretch, frying eggs every day just to keep up, while leaving the cancellation form untouched; separately, he paid for unnecessary phone add-ons for years until a friend spotted them and simplified his bill in one sitting.
How did each host predict the 'chocolate snacks' ranking, and what did the results actually show?
Furukawa predicted 1st Black Thunder, 2nd Alfort, 3rd Takenoko no Sato; Minowa predicted 1st KitKat, 2nd Alfort, 3rd Kinoko no Yama. The actual results were 3rd Black Thunder, 2nd Alfort, 1st Pocky — a candy neither host had put forward as a candidate at any point. The running score updated to Furukawa 34 points, Minowa 27.
What do the two think about price negotiation — haggling — and do they have any examples?
Both say they wouldn't even think of trying to haggle, but they cite two counterexamples: Minowa's wife negotiated a personal gym down from ¥13,000 per month, and when they told a wedding venue they couldn't pay more than ¥3 million, the venue agreed more easily than expected. Their conclusion is that people who can negotiate end up significantly better off.
What was the single most troublesome order during their karaoke part-time jobs?
Bagna cauda was unanimously the hardest — it started from piling ice onto a plate and involved multiple preparation steps before a single vegetable was arranged, prompting both hosts to groan in unison that it 'was genuinely a pain.'
Why They Can't Say No
Furukawa and Minowa open the episode by bonding over a shared inability to turn down street surveys and solicitations. Whether it's water-server salespeople, pocket tissue distributors, or political and religious recruiters, both hosts say that the moment they stop walking they feel trapped. Their self-diagnosis: "I only think about this one second in front of me" and "I'm just weak-willed." They acknowledge they've gotten marginally better at refusing than they used to be — but only marginally, and they laugh uncomfortably as they say it.
Furukawa shares a set piece: he was cornered at a smoking area by an IQOS campaign rep and entered a lottery five consecutive times, losing every draw. Both he and the rep ended up apologizing to each other in an increasingly painful exchange of "Sorry." "No, I'm sorry." He also recalls filling out a survey clearly aimed at married men in their thirties despite being single, answering "yes" throughout because he had no idea how to exit mid-way.
Real Losses from Not Being Able to Refuse
Near a smoking area in Shinjuku, Furukawa had repeatedly donated to a foreign national claiming to raise money to build a school in his home country. One day the man held out his bare hand with no donation box in sight. Furukawa handed him coins anyway and watched him slip the money straight into his own wallet. "That's definitely his own money," Furukawa recalls thinking — and yet he still couldn't stop himself. His explanation: "It's more trouble to refuse. I'd rather take the small loss."
On another occasion he signed up for a co-op egg delivery plan and received four packs a month for an extended period. Unable to keep pace, he fried eggs every single day just to work through the stock, and left the cancellation form untouched because it felt like too much hassle. He also paid for unnecessary phone add-ons for years until a friend looked at his bill, simplified everything in one sitting, and the monthly cost dropped sharply.
On price negotiation (negiru), both hosts say they wouldn't even think of trying. But they cite two counterexamples: Minowa's wife negotiated a personal gym down from ¥13,000 per month, and when the two of them told a wedding venue they couldn't pay more than ¥3 million, the venue agreed more easily than either expected. Their read on it: "You have to find the Furukawa on the other side" — a rep willing to budge — and people who can negotiate end up significantly better off.
Demeking Ranking Round 8: Chocolate Snacks
The regular segment "Demeking Ranking Season 3" reaches its eighth matchup. Going in, the running totals stand at Furukawa 32 points, Minowa 24 — an eight-point lead for Furukawa. This round's theme: "chocolate snacks."
Furukawa locks in 1st Black Thunder, 2nd Alfort, 3rd Takenoko no Sato (竹の子の里). Minowa goes with 1st KitKat, 2nd Alfort, 3rd Kinoko no Yama (きのこの山). During the debate, candidates cycle in and out — macadamia chocolate, Pie no Mi, Koala no March — but Pocky never comes up from either side.
The results: 3rd Black Thunder (Furukawa's call), 2nd Alfort (Minowa's call), 1st Pocky. Silence. The full top ten: 1st Pocky, 2nd Alfort, 3rd Black Thunder, 4th KitKat, 5th Takenoko no Sato, 6th Choco Pie, 7th Chocoball, 8th Apollo, 9th Kinoko no Yama, 10th Garbo. "When you say it out loud, of course — but it never came up," both admit with a wry laugh. Running score updates to Furukawa 34, Minowa 27.
The Most Tedious Karaoke Orders
The Pocky result sends both hosts back into karaoke part-time job memories. Ordering Pocky at karaoke, it turns out, is not as simple as grabbing a box from the shelf. Staff had to fill a cup with ice, pour in blue liqueur (Blue Hawaii–style), add a cherry on top, then insert two or three centimeters of Pocky into the drink. "I thought you just brought the box over," one of them recalls.
Udon meant boiling frozen noodles while separately thawing frozen toppings in a different process. Pizza required microwaving and then flipping it halfway through while drizzling on olive oil. But the hardest of all was bagna cauda: you start by piling ice onto a plate, then work through multiple steps before a single vegetable is arranged. Both hosts' voices converged on the same verdict — "Bagna cauda was genuinely a pain."
Takeaways
- Furukawa and Minowa's self-described 'weak-willed, live only in this second' personality has cost them real money — through a months-long egg subscription, years of unnecessary phone charges, and street donations they handed over even when they suspected fraud.
- Pocky topped the listener vote for 'chocolate snacks' despite never being mentioned once by either host during their predictions, leaving both in stunned silence.
- Karaoke part-time work involves far more elaborate prep than customers realize, with bagna cauda — which starts from piling ice on a plate — earning the title of most labor-intensive order from both hosts without debate.
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.