Japanese folklore features various tree spirits, like Kodama protectors and Jubokko bloodsuckers, with camellias shifting from auspicious to ominous.

[This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
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Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

An old timey audio drama skit/book promo and the strange caterpillar cult called Tokoyo no Kami.

[This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Today I'll read you Lafcadio Hearn's short story: The Mirror Maiden. 

[This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Bon Odori or Bon Dancing is a summer tradition held all over Japan. It's a chance for families to get together and have an enjoyable time dancing to the rhythmical music. Seeing as how the Obon season is also when ancestors visit from beyond the grave, they, too, can take part in the festivities if they wish.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Ever wonder why a jellyfish looks the way they do? Well, the Japanese folktale "The Jellyfish Takes a Journey" (Kurage no Honenashi) tells you how that came about. Then after that folktale, I'll give you a little trivia about the connection between eel and seppuku.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Why shouldn't you eat crab and watermelon together? What will happen if you don't eat all the rice in your bowl? Today I'll answer these and a whole lot more. Japanese food superstitions and sayings are quite interesting and sometimes funny.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Tanabata is a Japanese festival based on the bizarre tale of two star-crossed lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi. In episode 55, I'll tell you their story, explain a little about the origins and how it's celebrated today.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Celestial Background by TwisteriumMusic
Link: https://soundcloud.com/twisterium/celestial-background-besplatnaya-fonovaya-muzyka
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Waltz Of The Kindness by MusicLFiles
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6283-the-waltz-of-the-kindness
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Midsummer Sky by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4049-midsummer-sky
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

What if someone told you that you were turning into a tengu, one of those red-faced, long-nosed goblins? What would they mean? In this episode of Uncanny Japan, I talk about a handful of Japanese sayings that are based on youkai.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Summer Ambient Piano by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5504-summer-ambient-piano-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Medicine by WinnieTheMoog
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6256-medicine
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In Japan "Kagome Kagome" is an old children's game and the song that goes along with it. It's interesting because the mysterious lyrics have several different interpretations and most of them are pretty grim.

So listen to episode 53 of Uncanny Japan where I talk about this creepy song and several of the theories behind those odd lyrics.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Ushi no Koku Mairi means visiting a shrine at the hour of the ox (between 1:00 and 3:00 am). It also means going there so you can put a curse on your enemy. Deriving from the legend of Hashi Hime (The Bridge Princess) and the Noh play Kanawa (The Iron Crown), this peculiar and frightening way of cursing those who have wronged you is definitely next level.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Kathrin by Sascha Ende
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/430-kathrin
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Marimba Thriller by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5335-marimba-thriller-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Pixel Peeker Polka – faster by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4220-pixel-peeker-polka—faster
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

On May 5th people all across Japan celebrate Children's Day or Kodomo no Hi. It might not be a normal year, but if you look out your veranda you can possibly see some carp streamer (koi nobori). One of the ways to celebrate is with an iris bath or shoubu-yu. It's purported to make you strong like a samurai. Another way to celebrate is for boys to set out a fancy doll. Kintaro is often found in houses all over Japan. He's also big and strong like a samurai.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

I want to celebrate my fiftieth episode by reading my yokai story, "Sand Walls, Paper Doors" from my book A Robe of Feathers and Other Stories. This is the one that got me my book deal, my agent, and my best friend. Also, yokai, lots of yokai.

Thank you for listening, sharing, and reaching out these past three and a half years. I'm looking forward to the next fifty episodes!

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Sovereign by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4397-sovereign
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Bicycle by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3434-bicycle
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Luminous Rain by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4007-luminous-rain
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Heartbreaking by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3863-heartbreaking
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Thinking Music by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4522-thinking-music
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Umbrella Pants by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4559-umbrella-pants
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Clear Waters by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3516-clear-waters
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Cryptic Sorrow by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3568-cryptic-sorrow
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Immersed by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3900-immersed
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

An amabie is a Japanese yokai that is said to have predicted a plague and then encouraged people to share its image to protect them from that previously predicted plague. Or something like that.

The amabie has recently been re-remembered all over Japanese social media with people posting their own adorable depictions of that long-haired, beak-faced, three-footed creature and wishing the current plague (Covid-19) to go away.

But that's not the half of it. Imagine my surprise when I learned of rumors about a mysterious glowing object was appearing just off the coast near my house. A little research and some very good friends and I was able to track down the when and where and sneak over in the dead of night and see what I could see.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

The two-faced, eight-limbed giant named Ryomen Sukuna has been around since very early Japan, still is he a Buddhism-protecting hero or a cursed demon who tried to destroy Japan?

[This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Der Kristall - The Glade by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12250-der-kristall-the-glade
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

A kappa is a small, scrawny, aquatic yokai with a parrot-like beak, a tortoise-style shell on its back, and an indentation on the top of its head full of water. They're found in rivers, lakes, ponds, and even coastal areas. But what do they do?

While recently kappa have been rebranded to be very kawaii, that hasn't always been the case. Listen to find out how heinous these slimy critters can be.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Have you ever been sleeping and had a bout of kanashibari (sleep paralysis)? Then during that surreal--most likely frightening--experience, have you ever had what feels like a ghost child crawling on top of you? Or maybe late one night when you're all alone, you've heard an unseen child giggling. Perhaps you've heard tiny footsteps running across the floor, or found little footprints on your floor or handprints on the wall. If so, you've probably just experienced a zashiki warashi (a guest room child). But don't worry, they're not bad news. In fact, they're the bringer of good luck and fortune.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

The makura gaeshi, or pillow flipper, was thought to cause kanashibari, otherwise known as sleep paralysis. It happens when you believe you've woken up in bed, but you're actually somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. You’re aware of the room around you, but there's a subtle change in the air. You try to move, but you're frozen. You try to call out, but you can't make a sound. It's a terrifying experience.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Want to increase your chances of a new year filled with health, prosperity, and an abundance of children and grandchildren? All you need to do is eat some delicious osechi ryori. Osechi is Japan's New Year's cuisine that includes such delicacies as herring wrapped in kelp and tied with gourd strings (nori maki), dried and candied anchovies (tazukuri), and golden sweet potato and chestnut mash (kurikinton).

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

In Japan when an inanimate object reaches its 100th birthday and perhaps it was mistreated, or lost, or thrown away, it gains a soul and might possibly start playing tricks on people. This is called tsukumogami, or haunted artifacts. In this episode I talk about the tsukumogami and some traditional ones you could run across on a dark spooky night.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

When walking around Japan you might see a small rectangular piece of paper pasted near a front door or on a gate. On this paper is an image that can only be described as a demon or devil. While off-putting at first, this creepy little fellow isn't actually a bad guy; he's there to protect the family and household. In this episode I'm going to tell you why.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
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Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

It's almost Halloween, so for this episode of Uncanny Japan I'm going to tell you a spooky tale called Yotsuya Kaidan, the story of Oiwa and her sad and vengeful ghost. The last ghost story I told here was in episode 25, Okiku and the Nine Plates (Bancho Sarayashiki). Well, Yotsuya Kaidan's main character, Oiwa, is another one of the biggies, who I'm guessing is even more well known than Okiku. There are so many versions of this story, so here I'm going to tell you mine. I'm going to try and stick to the originals as much as possible without getting too complicated and character heavy. I do encourage you to look into other versions of the story if you're interested. There are so many adaptations out there.

So go climb into bed, put on your headphones, turn out the lights, and let me tell you the story of Oiwa's ghost.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Why is the beautiful Spider lily also called a corpse flower? Why didn't samurai keep camellias in their gardens? Why do Japanese ghosts like to hang out under weeping willows?

On this episode I'll take on a few more Japanese superstitions, but this time plant and flower-related stories.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

His eyelids. He cut off his eyelids. But that is not all that the Daruma (Bodhidharma) is famous for. He's the man who brought Chan to China and Zen to Japan. Some say he taught the Shaolin monks how to fight while other tales talk about how he invented green tea, or well, his eyelids did.

Join me and a thousand singing night insects while I tell you about the great sage, Daruma.

Also, you know how if you wait until the end of the credits in some movies you're rewarded with a little something? I won't say what, but my Sound Guy was a bit cheeky this episode. I wonder how many of my listeners will get the reference. Let me know.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Episode 39 of Uncanny Japan is different, it's special. Today I forgo my usual format and invite my friend, fellow long time expat, and Sound Dude, Rich Pav, to join me in answering some listener questions about advice when coming to Japan. Here we talk about just a few things we've gleaned from our living-in-Japan experience. A longer version is available for my $5 and up Patrons.

Since this is an experiment, tell us what you think. Would this kind of show every so often be of interest to listeners? And if so, what topics would you like us to discuss?

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

You'll often see ghostly-looking dolls strung up in windows in Japan on rainy days. What do they mean and why are they a little creepy?

[This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Rain by Okami (龗)

In Episode 38, you can listen to Lafcadio Hearn's whimsical take on the cicada (semi) while enjoying some real time cicada singing in the background.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Ever since I saw a mother discipline her child by threatening to call an oni/ogre, I've been wanting to do talk about this. Then I found out it really is a thing, an app called Oni Kara Denwa (A Call From an Oni, or as it's translated in Japanese: Ghost Call) to be more precise.

In Episode 37, I talk about what I've heard playfully called the oni appuli. It has over 10 million downloads and purports to help you raise your child. I've got a lot of thoughts and feelings about this one, but I try as much as possible to be objective when giving you an explanation of what it is and what it does.

What do you think? Useful? Traumatizing?

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

A rock that gets weepy when the sun goes down, a pregnant woman slain alone in the mountains, a newborn baby visited by a ghostly priest who feds him candy to stay alive. These are all parts of this month's podcast: The Rock The Cries at Night (Yonaki Ishi). In this episode, I visit a local spot (one of the Enshu Nanafushigi / Seven Mysterious Things of Enshu).

Come listen to me tell the tale while I sit by some rain, thunder, and an ambitious frog.

It's a wonderful old legend, but can you find the big question (plot hole?) that I discovered when I researched and retold the story?

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

A giant hairy foot crashing through the roof of an old house and demanding to be washed. A festive tanuki band that appears in the dead of night and lures you into parts unknown. These are just two of the Honjo Nanafushigi. Nanafushigi can be translated as seven wonders, but they're more like seven mysteries. All over Japan you can find stories (old and new) of seven strange occurrences. As an introduction to my new idea of covering local legends and creepy tales, this month's podcast is about nanafushigi. I'll be talking about both the Honjo Nanafushigi and a little about how even all over Japan schools will often have their own nanafushigi that are more like local urban legends to spook and baffle the children.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Today's show feels like a wacky and wonderful one. You see, I started talking about the tengu in Episode 32 (Heavenly Dogs and Brilliant Swordsmen), but I wasn't able to cover one of my favorite things about this red faced, long nosed, mountain warrior. That being the notion of kamikakushi (神隠し) or being spirited away. In this episode I get into that but the more I researched the really wild and fascinating information I ran across.

In this Episode 34: Spirited Away (Kamikakushi), I'll tell you about the Shinto scholar Atsutane Hirata who back in the 1800s interviewed and wrote a book about a boy (Torakichi) who had claimed to have been abducted by a tengu for many years. There are stories of 100-days fasts, trees that glow from an inner light, and small unlucky men riding horses who are born from the placenta of a new born baby.

All this while I walk through a drizzly evening, recording the first frogs of the season.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

After coming to live in Japan (1890), Lafcadio Hearn listened intently to the folk stories and ghostly tales that were related to him. He then wrote them down in English, adding his own unique style and began publishing books of his gathered observances and retellings. Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Exotics and Retrospectives, and Kwaidan to name a few.

Today on Uncanny Japan, I read you "Mimi-nashi Hoichi", arguably Mr. Hearn's most well-known story. A story that has been made into a movie, appears on stage, shows up in manga, music, and is told on stages even today. As a matter of fact, I have tickets to go see a performance of Mimi-Nashi Hoichi in May.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

There are two types of tengu: the karasu/crow tengu and the hanadaka/long-nosed tengu. They're both awesome martial artists and fearsome foes, among other things. In this episode, I'll introduce you to these two super cool Japanese yokai and tell you a little bit about their lore.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Story Time is a little bit different than the usual Uncanny Japan podcast. Instead of me telling you about some interesting, odd, or spooky tidbit, I'll be reading you a story. This is something I do over on Patreon once a month. There I call them Bedtime Stories and they're more varied, from obscure pieces of folklore I find, translate, and slightly reimagine (for the story's sake), to pieces I discover in the public domain and sometimes even my own work. But that's that.

Here on Uncanny Japan, I've decided to also occasionally visit story telling. The folktales will be different than the ones on Patreon and I'm going to start with some of Lafcadio Hearn's wonderful pieces that are up on Gutenberg.

Another thing, on the regular Uncanny Japan podcasts I use my binaural mics to record ambient sounds from my little part of Japan. However, with the Story Time episodes I'll be using a music bed provide by my musician son, who also does the intro/outro music.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Next time you're staring down into a rowdy school of koi, keep an eye out for the one that has a human face. This is a jinmengyo and rumor has it if you see one a tsunami is on its way.

Or maybe if you're lucky, you'll get a glimpse of the nekomengyo/cat-faced carp. Which is much cuter until it grows those long legs and walks around at night.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

The devils are coming! Or the ogres or demons, depending on how you translate the Japanese word oni (鬼). February 3rd is Setsubun in Japan and it's not just the day before spring according to the lunar calendar, it's also the day that oni prowl the streets and children must pelt them roasted soybeans to insure good luck for the coming year. In this episode of Uncanny Japan, I talk about Setsubun and the various ways it's celebrated.

This years good luck direction to face when eating your eho-maki is east northeast.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Abe no Seimei was the greatest onmyōji in Japan. While he lived in Kyoto, he visited Shizuoka at some point and performed some magic, giving us another nanafushigi (seven mysterious things). 

[This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

I'm starting 2019 off with the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichi Fukujin), or, well, more specifically ONE of the Seven Lucky Gods: Ebisu. He's the only one born and bred in Japan and, boy, does he have some seriously weird backstory.

Come listen to me talk about Ebisu while binaurally recording a walk through Kyoto Station.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

The ojizo only wants to ease our suffering, and for that he gets tied up in ropes, doused in oil, and his head lopped off. Episode 27 of Uncanny Japan talks a little more about the ojizo statue, bringing to light some of the curious, unique, and bizarre manifestations of this beneficent deity.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

An ojizo-sama is here to put aside his own enlightenment in order to save us all from the torments of hell. True story. He is especially partial to children, expectant mothers, firemen, travelers, pilgrims, stillborn, miscarried, and aborted babies. Do you have some kind of pain? He's here to take that away, too.

The background binaural sounds are a small group of Japanese men and women playing a game of gateball. They're rooting for each other, taking the piss out of each other, and finally running out of time and losing their games against one another.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

One, two, three... Okiku kneeling, counts the priceless plates that have been entrusted to her. Four, five, six... her samurai master, Tessan, stands, hands on hips, he watches her trembling hands. Seven, eight, nine... Okiku gasps. She checks the wooden chest, looks around panicked. There were ten. Now there are nine. Where did the other one go? Tessan enraged accuses her of stealing it, or perhaps breaking it and hiding the pieces. Where did she hide them? Maybe in the well. Tessan drags the poor servant girl from the room and to the well where in a fit of rage he throws her in to her death.

The following night Tessan awakes to the sound of Okiku carefully counting the plates. One, two, three... When she reaches nine and discovers there is no tenth plate she lets out an inhuman scream that shakes Tessan to his bones. This happens again and again until driven mad, Tessan takes up his own blade and ends his life.

Episode 25 of Uncanny Japan is me on a local train telling you about Okiku, the poor servant girl who is still believed to haunt the well where she perished so many years ago. If you hear her count to nine, you too will die a horrible death. If you hear her but flee before she gets to seven, you may perhaps live, but you may also lose some of your mind.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Episode 24 of Uncanny Japan is a story, a Bedtime Story. Here I read to you my retelling and reimagining of a classic Japanese folktale Kachi Kachi Yama (Kachi Kachi Mountain). There are quite a few versions of the story out there. This one is very PG and everyone friendly. The more true-to-the-original and very slightly R-rated is over as extra content on Patreon.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmbTSrQe1cxBy522vxAI8Bg
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

I've had quite a few requests via email, DMs, and reviews for a show on Japanese urban legends. This episode is in answer to those requests. Here are two urban myths that have always intrigued me: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (kuchisake onna) and The White Thread That Comes from Your Ear (mimi kara shiroi ito).

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Here are the last four Buddhist Hot Hells for your enjoyment. There is extreme heat, much screaming, and a flaming rooster. Also, I was able to catch a local summer festival on the binaural mics. That is very cool.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmbTSrQe1cxBy522vxAI8Bg
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

The first of two podcasts this month, Episode 21: Screaming and Crushing in Four Buddhist Hells, is just about that, four of the eight Buddhist Hot Hells. Come listen to what happens when you kill a mosquito, commit mutiny, or convince your drunken friend to do your evil bidding.

Also, you don't want to lie, lest an oni pull your tongue out with red hot pliers. Look. That's what it says right up there.

Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmbTSrQe1cxBy522vxAI8Bg
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/

Intro and outro music by Christiaan Virant from the album Ting Shuo.

The third Monday of July is Umi no Hi (海の日), Marine Day, so this month on Uncanny Japan I decided to talk about three otherworldly ocean creatures: Ship Goddesses, Boat Ghosts, and Sea Monks. Funa dama (船霊), funa yurei (船幽霊), and umi bozu (海坊主).

This month's Bedtime Story (over on Patreon) is a folktale I translated called: The Umbrella Sea Monster.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
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Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (from the album Ting Shuo).

This month's podcast is a special one. Not only did I do a podcast about a strange little creature called the amanojaku (天邪鬼), but at the end I attached one of my Bedtime Stories that I record monthly for my Patrons. So if you stay tuned after the podcast (a whopping 10 minutes), you'll be treated to my interpretation (the happy-ending version) of Urikohime (瓜子姫), The Melon Princess and the Amanojaku.

The podcast: The amanojaku is a nasty Japanese beastie that predates Buddhism, might have originated from a Shinto deity, who you can usually find getting trampled on by the Four Heavenly Kings at temples all around Japan.

Amanojaku is also a word used to describe a contrary person.

I want to give super special thanks to my Tech Guy for working so hard on getting the sound so good. I'm not an attention-to-detail kind of person. But he is and works his butt off, not to mention he has mad skills. Thank you, Rich Pav!

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (fromthe album Ting Shuo).  The music bed on the Bedtime Story is by Julyan Matsuura. I'm looking forward to having more of his songs accompanying my Bedtimes Stories and most likely the intro/outro soon.

A nanafushigi (seven mysterious things) and a local yokai, the Nami Kozō or Wave Boy has a number of variations to his story, some involving real historical monks. 

[This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Welcome to May's Uncanny Japan. In this episode I talk about the God of Smallpox (housougami/疱瘡神). Come listen to the beliefs in this fearsome god and how dogs and the color red kept him at bay.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
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Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

This month on Uncanny Japan I talk about Ubasuta Yama (姥捨山) or Granny Dumping Mountain. Back in old Japan when times were tough and there were too many mouths for one family to feed, they might do something called kuchi herashi (口減らし) or getting rid of mouths. One way to do this was to send one (or more) of your children to live with a wealthier family. Another way to cut down on the number of mouths that needed to be fed was to haul grandma or grandpa up into the mountains and leave them to fend for themselves. Some say it's just a folktale, others say why of course this happened! What do you think?

ETA: The station in Nagano is Ubasute Eki (姨捨駅). I mention in the podcast that the first character for uba is little sister. I was wrong, it's 'aunt'. So throwing away aunts. Who I am supposing are older than little sisters.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo).  The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

Hitori kakurenbo (一人隠れん坊 ) means playing hide and seek by yourself. It sounds silly, but it's actually a super creepy, Japanese urban myth that involves you all alone at night with nothing but a stuffed animal, some red thread, and a knife.

Come listen to this month's Uncanny Japan where I talk about how to play hitori kakurenbo while my binaural mics pick up all the sounds of sitting beside a river at dusk.

Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo).  The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.