Another theory is that at a place called "Dengakukubo" (in Kutsukake-cho, Toyoake City, Aichi Prefecture, and the name of the place "Dengakukubo" has survived to remain used in the address today), where one of Japanese classic popular performing arts, Dengaku, is said to have been played, the Imagawa side defeated by Oda side in the Battle of Okehazama were crucified, and the local residents around there began to call vegetables and freshwater fishes such as ayu (sweetfish, Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis) on skewers they used to eat "Dengaku," associating the crucification method conducted there with the cooking method.
また、桶狭間の合戦の際、織田方に敗れた今川方が磔（はりつけ）などによって処刑された地が「田楽窪」（でんがくがくぼ）と呼ばれる、かつて古典芸能の田楽が行われていたのではないかと言われる地（現在も愛知県豊明市沓掛町内に大字名として残る）で、その処刑方法が当時当地で食されていた野菜や鮎などの川魚を串に刺して食していたものと似ていたため、それを田楽と呼んだという説もある。