Tokyo Demon Slayer store’s edible “bamboo tubes” are surprisingly phallic-looking, fans find

Bamboo Tube Meat Buns have some thinking of eating another kind of meat.

For its upcoming second TV season, the heroes of anime mega-hit Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba are heading to Yoshiwara, which was the name of an actual red-light district that used to exist in Japan’s capital. The anime’s producers have said that they’re not intending to tone down that aspect of the setting, and it turns out that even some real-world Demon Slayer-themed food being served in that corner of Tokyo is startlingly suggestive.

The Yoshiwara name isn’t used by any part of Tokyo anymore, but the pleasure quarter was located just to the north of the present-day Asakusa neighborhood, and this summer a Demon Slayer pop-up shop opened there. In addition to exclusive merch, the store also serves themed food inspired by several of the anime’s characters, including Nezuko.

【「鬼滅の刃」×浅草コラボイベント】
「鬼滅の刃」×浅草コラボショップ内では、ただいま昼展開メニューを販売中です！
1品ご注文でオリジナルコースターを１枚プレゼント♪
※お一人様5個までのご購入とさせていただきます。 https://t.co/3ZmqrJxMfY#鬼滅の刃 #浅草 #鬼滅の刃浅草コラボ pic.twitter.com/bmLpGpX8No

— 浅草×鬼滅の刃コラボイベント (@asakusa_kimetsu) September 3, 2021

Nezuko, the sister of protagonist Tanjiro, carries a tragic curse, having been turned into a demon. Though the transformation isn’t complete, she has to constantly wear a bamboo tube muzzle, as shown in the illustration in the above tweet, so that she won’t bite anyone if she’s unable to resist her demonic urges.

For its Nezuko food item, the shop decided to use the bamboo tube as the motif for a special meat bun but instead of the round shape the buns are usually made in, the Nezuko Bamboo Tube Meat Bun is cylindrical. You can see a photo of it, still in its package, above the illustrated Nezuko, but it’s a little hard to see, so let’s take a closer look at it…but be careful that it doesn’t poke your eye out.

これさ、昨日食べた禰󠄀豆子の竹筒肉まんとかいうやつなんだけどさ、試作の段階で誰も止めなかったのなんで？？？
いくらなんでもセンシティブ過ぎるだろ pic.twitter.com/emrJDd33oC

— 佐藤 (@8TEEEEEEEEZ2) July 30, 2021

As multiple customers and commenters have pointed out, the meat bun maybe looks like a bamboo tube, but it most certainly looks like a dick. Giving the designers the benefit of the doubt, it looks like they were trying to replicate the ring-shaped ridges that segment bamboo stalks. Unfortunately, since the meat bun’s dough is, of course, much softer than a rigid piece of bamboo, the curvature comes out looking more fleshy than woody.

『鬼滅の刃×浅草』イベントの「禰豆子の竹筒肉まん」

ピュアな方には竹筒に。
成熟された方には違うモノに見えると話題です。皆さんには、どう見えるでしょうか？

現場からは以上です。#浅草 #鬼滅の刃 #鬼滅の刃浅草コラボ pic.twitter.com/6UatH3Vbxr

— ハトピー@ゴシュインジャー (@hatop_jinja) July 30, 2021

Then there’s what’s going on at the tip. In the anime, the edges of the bamboo gag are squared off, since it’s a piece of wood that’s been sliced by a blade, but that sharp 90-degree angle isn’t possible with dough, and since meat buns are steamed, their dimensions plump as they cook, giving the tip slightly bulbous proportions.

竹筒肉まんはもうちょっと形状をなんとかした方がいいと思う pic.twitter.com/9c401sg8Sy

— ペリパトス (@peripatosu) September 10, 2021

And as a final phallic suggestion, because the Bamboo Tube Meat Bun is served skewered on a pair of unsplit chopsticks, odds are most people are going to stick the tip in their mouth and eat it down to the base of the shaft. If you tried to eat to mimic how Nezuko bites her gag and eat it horizontally, odds are the filling would spill out, since by nature of being a steamed bun, the tube is going to be pretty floppy.

禰豆子の竹筒肉まんもどうぞ pic.twitter.com/tPvZb0xjTj

— ばがうら (@in_thecrossfire) September 13, 2021

Online reactions have included:

“Purehearted people see a bamboo tube, but experienced individuals see something else.”
“Are they serious? That’s totally a wiener.”
“I think this could have used some more R&D time, especially those ridges.”
“Looks like you could take some really interesting selfies with this.”

And while the green color would ordinarily be considered bamboo-like, given the meat bun’s shape some commenters found the shade evocative of something else entirely.

“It’s a goblin’s private parts!”
“Orc dong.”

Despite all the chuckling, the resemblance does seem to be unintentional, and the Nezuko Bamboo Tube Meat Bun is still on the menu at the Asakusa Demon Slayer store, offered as part of their 10 a.m.-4 p.m. menu for 800 yen (US$7.35). The store will only be open until September 26, though, so you’ll want to hurry if you’re trying to fill up your unexpectedly dirty Demon Slayer foods bingo card after eating the eventually renamed Taniro’s Bukkake noodles.

Related: Demon Slayer Asakusa store
Sources: Demon Slayer Asakusa store, Twitter via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso/SoraNews24 (edited by SoraNews24)
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