Meaning: Kikanbo (聞かん坊) & Oni ni Kanabo (鬼金棒)

If you are a ramen lover, you might have heard of the ramen restaurant, Kikanbo (鬼金棒) (Google Map), known for its fiery bowl of Karashibi Miso Ramen.

The Kanji (Chinese characters) for the shop’s name, 鬼金棒, literally translates into English as Demon’s Metal Rod but can also be a Japanese proverb.

In that case, the reading is Oni ni Kanabo (鬼に金棒), which means to make a strong person more powerful.

Meaning of Kikanbo

Meanwhile, Kikanbo is generally written as 聞かん坊 in the Japanese language,

and the restaurant’s name Kikanbo (鬼金棒) seems to be the pun for 聞かん坊, meaning a naughty child who doesn’t listen to what others say.

So the restaurant’s name 鬼金棒 can have three meanings, stirring the imagination about what the ramen tastes like.