Who Is Rokubei the Konnyaku Maker (Konnyaku-ya Rokubei)?
The konnyaku maker who beat a monk with gestures
Rokubei is the hero of the classic rakugo tale Konnyaku Mondo ("The Konnyaku Dialogue"), a kind-hearted boss who runs a konnyaku (a firm jelly made from konjac root) shop in the countryside. The story is usually set in Annaka in Joshu, today's Gunma Prefecture.
In Episode 5, he makes Hachigoro, who has come to him for help from Edo, the stand-in priest of an empty temple. When a traveling monk arrives to challenge the temple to a Zen dialogue (mondo), Rokubei sits in for the panicking Hachigoro, posing as the priest. Because Rokubei never says a word, the monk assumes he is practicing a vow of silence and asks his questions with gestures, making a circle with his hands and holding up fingers. Rokubei thinks every gesture is an insult about the size and price of his konnyaku and answers back with gestures of his own. The monk takes these answers as signs of deep enlightenment, admits defeat, and flees.
