Who Is The Traveling Monk (Takuzen)?
A monk who admits defeat through a misunderstanding
Traveling Monk (Konnyaku Mondo)
The Traveling Monk appears in the classic rakugo tale Konnyaku Mondo as a serious, learned monk who journeys from province to province in religious training. He is said to come from a great temple in Echizen (today's Fukui Prefecture), and some performers call him Takuzen.
In Episode 5, he challenges the stand-in priest's temple to a Zen dialogue. Since his opponent Rokubei stays silent, he assumes it is a vow of silence and asks his own questions with gestures. He takes Rokubei's responses to his small circle made with both hands, his ten fingers, and his three fingers as profound answers about the Buddha's teachings, decides "I am no match for him," and runs away. The heart of the humor is the mix-up: the whole exchange was really just an argument over the price of konnyaku.
