Manju KowaiAfraid of Manju
饅頭こわい（まんじゅうこわい）
A group of young men from the nagaya (row-house tenements) trade stories about what scares them most. When one confesses that manju, sweet bean-filled buns, terrify him, his friends plot revenge by delivering a mountain of them. A staple comic story that everyone hears at least once, performed by everyone from zenza (apprentices) to the tori (the headliner who closes the show).
The story Edo version
The young men of the neighborhood gather and, to kill time, start comparing what scares them most. Snakes, spiders, ants, horses: the answers keep coming, but one man just sneers that nothing scares him at all.
Pressed again and again, he reluctantly admits that he is actually afraid of manju. Just hearing the word makes him feel ill, he says, and he goes off to the next room to hide under the futon.
Seeing a chance to teach this cocky fellow a lesson, his friends pool their money, buy every manju they can find, and line them up by his pillow. But when they sneak a peek, there he is, crying "How scary, how scary!" while happily wolfing down chestnut manju, buckwheat manju and sake manju alike.
Realizing they have been had, his friends demand, "So what are you really afraid of?"...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
"Right about now, a nice hot cup of tea would really scare me."
The sage (the punchline): having stuffed himself with manju, he is thirsty, so now he is "afraid" of tea. The man keeps up his act to the very last line. The wording varies a little from performer to performer, such as "strong tea" or "bitter tea."
Kamigata vs. Edo
The long Kamigata version adds two episodes before the manju part: a story about one of the friends being tricked by a fox, and a ghost story told by Oyassan, an old man known for fearing nothing, about a woman he met in his youth who was about to throw herself into the river. In the middle of a comic story, the audience falls silent with fear. That shift is what makes the Kamigata version special.
| Edo version | Kamigata version (long) | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | About 15 minutes. Often performed by zenza | About 30–50 minutes |
| First half | Goes straight from the list of fears to the manju | Includes the fox story (close to the Tokyo story Kurozo Gitsune) and Oyassan's ghost story |
| Ghost story setting | None | Around Noninbashi Bridge over the Higashi-Yokobori River in Osaka |
| Main characters | Young men of the nagaya, the tough-talking man | Mitsuttsan, Oyassan and others |
| Sage | Both end with "afraid of tea" | |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
Comparing fears
- RingleaderHey, what are you scared of? Don't just sit there, spit it out.
- The manScared? Me? Nothing scares me. Snakes? When I've got a headache, I tie one round my head like a headband.
- RingleaderBig talk. There's really nothing at all?
- The man...Well, there is one thing. ...Manju.
- (The moment he says it, he grimaces and hunches his shoulders.)
- The manDon't make me say it. See? Just hearing the word sends shivers down my spine.
Facing the pile of manju
- The manWhoa, chestnut manju. Now that's terrifying. ...(chomp)... So scary.
- The manBuckwheat manju too. Too scary to look at. Better put it away in my mouth.
- (He shows the thin skin and the heavy bean paste of each bun just through the way he eats.)
Sage
- RingleaderYou tricked us! What are you really afraid of?
- The manWell... right about now, a nice hot cup of tea would really scare me.
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot and the classic gags (the snake headband, the tea punchline) are traditional; the dialogue is written by this site.
Notable performers
- Yanagiya Kosan V1915–2002EdoThe standard Edo version. He loved performing it on the takaza (the stage) right up to his later years.
- Katsura Beicho III1925–2015KamigataInherited the long version, with the fox and the ghost story, from his master Katsura Beidanji IV.
- Katsura Shijaku II1939–1999KamigataKnown for dramatic contrasts: he truly frightened the audience with the ghost story, then had them roaring with laughter at the manju-eating scene.
- Kokontei Shinsho V1890–1973EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
- Tatekawa Danshi VII1936–2011EdoOne of the performers whose recordings and video survive.
- Yanagiya Kyotaro1963–EdoActive today. Sometimes performs it at yose (rakugo theaters) and solo shows.
