AonaGreens
青菜（あおな）
On a summer afternoon, a gardener working at a grand house is treated by the retired master to chilled sake and slices of carp. When the master offers him some greens, the lady of the house answers, “Kuro Hogan,” and the master replies, “Then let’s make it Yoshitsune.” Impressed by this refined exchange, the gardener goes home to his tenement and tries to stage the same scene with his wife...
The story
On a hot afternoon, a gardener working at a grand house is called into the sitting room by the retired master and treated to chilled yanagikage (a sweet liquor) and arai, thin slices of carp rinsed in cold water. Would he like some greens to freshen his palate? The gardener says he loves them, so the master claps his hands to call his wife.
She appears empty-handed and says, “Ushiwakamaru has come down from Kurama, and his name is Kuro Hogan.” The master answers, “Then let’s make it Yoshitsune.” Both are names of the famous warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The greens have all been eaten (na mo kurou, which sounds like “Kuro”), so “never mind, then” (yoshitoke, which sounds like “Yoshitsune”). It is a polite code so the guest never hears the embarrassing truth.
Deeply impressed, the gardener goes home and tells his wife. She insists she can do it too, so they decide to try it on Hanko the carpenter, who often drops by. But their cramped tenement has no back room, so the gardener shoves his wife into the closet to wait.
When Hanko arrives, the gardener copies the master’s words exactly and serves lukewarm sake and grilled sardines. Hanko says he hates greens, but the gardener begs until he asks for some anyway. The gardener claps his hands, and his wife, drenched in sweat, tumbles out of the closet and blurts out the whole line in one breath, all the way to “Kuro Hogan Yoshitsune.” Left with nothing to say, the gardener...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“Um... then let’s make it Benkei.”
The sage (the punchline): because his wife has already used up the name Yoshitsune, the gardener can only reach for Benkei, Yoshitsune’s loyal retainer. This is the classic example of an omu-gaeshi, or “parrot story,” in which someone copies a refined exchange in a humble tenement and it falls apart. In Edo it was once performed under the title Benkei.
The Grand House and the Tenement
The story is built so that the first half at the grand house and the second half in the tenement mirror each other exactly. Here is how the same routine falls apart step by step.
| The grand house | The gardener’s tenement | |
|---|---|---|
| Drink | Yanagikage chilled in the well | Lukewarm sake |
| Dish | Arai of carp | Grilled salted sardines |
| Offering greens | The gardener says he loves them | Hanko says he hates them and has to be begged into asking |
| The wife appears | Quietly, from the next room | Tumbling out of the closet, drenched in sweat |
| The closing line | “Then let’s make it Yoshitsune” | “Then let’s make it Benkei” |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
The sitting room of the grand house
- Retired masterYou’re working hard, gardener. How about something cold to drink?
- GardenerOh, that’s very kind of you... Ahh, I can feel it cooling me all the way down.
The code explained
- GardenerSir, if you have guests coming, I’ll be on my way.
- Retired masterNo, no. That was just our little signal that the greens are all gone.
- GardenerWell, I’ll be. They don’t even say “we’re out” when they’re out. These fine houses are something else.
Trying it in the tenement
- GardenerCarpenter, you’re working hard.
- HankoI’m not working at all. You’re the one who called me over.
- (He claps his hands, and the closet door rattles and shakes.)
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot, the sage and the set phrases “Kuro Hogan” and “Then let’s make it Yoshitsune” follow the classic version. All other lines were written for this site.
Notable performers
- Yanagiya Kosan III1857–1930EdoBrought this story, originally from Kamigata, to Edo.
- Shunputei Ryuko III1887–1956EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive. He is said to have added a touch in which chilled somen noodles are eaten with Western mustard, followed by greens to freshen the palate.
- Yanagiya Kosan V1915–2002EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
- Katsura Shijaku II1939–1999KamigataOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
- Yanagiya Kosanji X1939–2021EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
