Uncanny Japan - Myths, Folktales, Superstitions, History and Language

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. You can also find me on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura

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 App. 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 possi

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.

A giant hairy foot crashing through the roof of a 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.

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 abo

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

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.  On episode 32, I'll introduce you to these two super cool Japanese yokai and tell you a little bit about their lore.

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 decid

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. Notes: Intro/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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Notes: Intro/Outro music and music bed by Julyan Ray Matsuura.