What's going on
Every year in Kawazu, a small town on the Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture, there's a competition that could only exist in Japan: the Wasabi-Don Speed-Eating World Championship. Contestants grate their own fresh wasabi, pile it onto rice, and race to finish the bowl. The clock stops when the whole thing is gone — no water allowed.
A 44-year-old man from Shizuoka wrote in to Detective! Knight Scoop, a long-running Japanese TV show where ordinary people submit strange requests to comedians who then try to fulfill them. His request: he wanted to become world champion at something — anything — before it was too late. He'd been training for this wasabi contest, but the heat kept defeating him. Could a detective help him get over the line? The show sent along Kemuri, a young comedian, to coach and accompany him to the real event.
What followed was exactly what it sounds like: grown adults voluntarily grating wasabi into their own faces in a competitive setting. The comments below are from viewers who watched it all unfold.
Comments
The requester quit, so Kemuri gritted his teeth and finished the whole thing just to have something worth airing. That’s a comedian’s soul right there…
依頼者がリタイアしたので撮れ高のために意地で完食したケムリの芸人魂よ…
lmao the one person who absolutely should NOT have given up… gave up
1番ギブアップしちゃいけない人がギブアップしてんの草
Love that they just showed a photo of the world record holder instead of actual footage. This show really doesn’t bother.
世界１位の人の食べっぷりを見せるわけでなく画だけの紹介で終わらせるこの番組好き
lol the friend who got dragged along to this whole thing finished the bowl AND placed 4th in the first round
大会に付き合ってくれた友人の方が完食した上に前半戦4位になってて草
To be fair, a friend who’s willing to do a wasabi speed-eating contest with you at age 44 is genuinely rare
たしかに44でわさび早食いしてくれる友達は貴重やなぁ
I was like, okay it’s the day of the contest, surely he’s got some specific strategy prepared? Nope. Just vibes and willpower. And somehow that made it better lol
当日だけどなにか具体的に対策してから行くのか？と思ったら本人のポテンシャルと気合い任せなのがなんかすごく良かった笑
The requester’s name is Kobayashi and his friend’s name is Omori — that’s like a comedy duo name waiting to happen (Kobayashi and Omori are both famous competitive eaters in Japan, making the coincidence extra funny)
小林の友達が大森って冗談みたいな組み合わせだ
Zaccheroni would literally cry with joy at this event (Alberto Zaccheroni, former Japan national football team manager, was known for his passionate love of wasabi — reportedly eating it straight on rice)
元日本代表監督のザッケローニ呼んだら泣いて喜ぶ大会(ザッケローニはわさび大好きでご飯の上にわさび乗せて食べるくらい好き)
The fact that this was uploaded on the same day as the “I’m glad to be alive ♪” episode is too much lol
「生きていて〜よかった〜♪」と同日配信なのが面白すぎる
Kemuri is out there giving it everything and you just QUIT on him!! www
ケムリ頑張ってんのにお前ギブアップすんなや！！www
3:47 — “Come on, man.” BRO. You’re the one who asked for this. Absolutely dying www
3:47 何が「頼むよ」だよ おもろすぎるやろwww
The requester’s got a great character
依頼者はいいキャラしてるな
The requester is funny and all, but the winner’s record is absolutely insane lol
依頼者もおもろいが、１位の人の記録えぐすぎやろｗ
The winner finished in 4 minutes 48 seconds. Good luck with that revenge arc lol
優勝者が4分48秒ってこれ依頼者がリベンジするにしてもハードル高すぎて草
He talked SO much about becoming world champion… and then tapped out 😂
あんだけ世界一って言ってたのにギブアップかーい😂
I guess he only cared about winning, not finishing — but you brought a TV crew along and still managed to quit. That takes a different kind of courage
依頼者は世界一以外興味なかったんだろうけど探偵呼んどいてギブアップ出来るのメンタル強すぎる
Kemuri’s actually impressive. Reconsidering my opinion of him — he’s not just some rich kid after all lol
ケムリすげええ 見直した ただのボンボンちゃうわｗ
Fresh wasabi actually has less harshness and way more flavor and aroma — it’s genuinely good. Maybe I’ll enter next year
生わさびって辛味少なくて風味と香りが強く美味しく食べれるんやけどなぁ〜 来年出てみようかな
There were a lot of shots of people covering their eyes — the fumes must really get to them
食べてる人たち目を押さえてるシーンわりと見かけたけど、刺激強すぎて目に来るんだろなって思った
Tube wasabi is basically just horseradish, so it hits way harder than the real thing (Most wasabi sold in tubes outside Japan contains little to no actual wasabi — it’s primarily horseradish and mustard)
チューブはほぼホースラディッシュだから、生に比べて圧倒的にからいんよなー。
Kawazu wasabi-don is genuinely delicious. Your sinuses are completely cleared for about half a day after eating it.
河津のわさび丼おいしいよね 食べてから半日ほどの間、鼻炎が治るんだよ
…Only half a day? ……
半日しか保たないのか・・・・
A friend who’ll do something this stupid with you in your 40s is genuinely a rare treasure lol
マジで40代でこんなバカな事に付き合ってくれる友人は貴重すぎるｗ
It’s a “world championship” with basically all Japanese participants lol. Just call it what it is
世界大会日本人ばかりで草。世界大会という名の地方大会じゃん
I actually tried that trick where wasabi with Happy Turn snacks supposedly cancels out the heat (Happy Turn is a popular Japanese rice cracker coated in sweet-salty powder) — and yeah, the burn in your mouth was fine. But the stomach pain afterward was something else entirely.
わさびとハッピーターンを一緒に食べると辛くないみたいなやつを試しにやってみたことあって、確かに辛味自体は問題なかったんだよ… だけど、飲み込んだ後の胃がとにかく痛くて…
Chili heat and wasabi heat hit completely differently 😢 You can push through chili, but too much wasabi and your body just… sends it back 😢
唐辛子のからさと わさびのからさは身体の反応が違う😢 唐辛子は我慢できるけど わさびは無理すると拒否反応で胃から戻ってくる😢
You hear about what happens to your stomach after extreme chili challenges — wonder if wasabi does the same thing on the way out
激辛唐辛子を食べた後は尻がやばいみたいな話を聞くけど、わさびもそうなんだろうか
The irritation is strong enough to damage your gut lining, so yeah, stomach pain and running to the bathroom — pretty much unavoidable.
胃腸の粘膜を傷めてしまうほどの強い刺激なので、腹痛と腹下しは避けられないだろうね。
Something about this gives me the same energy as sweet shrimp (Sweet shrimp, or ama-ebi, is often served with wasabi — there may be a shared vibe of “deceptively dangerous delicacy”)
甘エビに通ずるものがある
Watching it, you think it looks easy. Then you remember it’s freshly grated 😂
見てる分には全然余裕で食べれそうだけど、実際に下ろしたて食べたらヤバいんだろうな😂
Finishing the bowl even in last place — that’s a professional’s mentality 😊
最下位になっても完食するプロ根性に感動した😊
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata at 8:26 sent me 😂
8:26のベートーヴェンの月光で吹いた😂
If you grate wasabi in straight vertical strokes rather than circular ones, it actually reduces the harshness
わさびをすりおろす時は縦に真っ直ぐすりおろした方が辛味を抑えることができます
Is wasabi-don actually good?
わさび丼って美味しい？
With real high-quality wasabi, yeah it’s genuinely good — the stuff from the shops is basically just a punishment game
ほんとにうまいわさびなら、市販のものはただの罰ゲーム
To be clear, a proper wasabi-don uses a small amount of wasabi — not the mountain they’re shoveling in here
わさび丼にいれるわさびは大量ではなくほんの一握り
This is so quintessentially Knight Scoop as a concept lol
theナイトスクープって感じの企画w
My take
The requester quits, the detective finishes for him, the world champion is shown only in a photo — and somehow that all feels exactly right for this show.
Source & translation note
Comments loosely translated for tone. Reactions collected from Togetter and X threads.
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