Uncanny Japan

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 autho...

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 Podcas...

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 t...

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! http...

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...

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/@UncannyJ...

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...

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...

The rokuyo (六曜) or six days is the Japanese calendar that you consult when preparing to engage in various affairs: wedding, funerals, trips, and business dealings to name a few. Some days are good for some things, other days are good for others. Some days are just bad, bad, bad. If you take a good look at a lot of Japanese calendars and daily planners, they have two small kanji written in the co...

Listen to me talk about this wonderfully surreal thing I found: Living Buddhas (ikibotoke, 生き仏 or sokushinbutsu, 即身仏). The thing is, they're not really alive, at least not anymore. *cue scary music*... no, seriously, cue the scary music, things are going to get weird. Also, because I didn't mention it in the podcast the background of this month's Uncanny Japan was recorded at a local temple...

Everyone's busy. It's the end of the year. Come listen to me talk about how we spend December in Japan while you listen to a mochi-pounding event in the background on binaural mics. There is cleaning, haircuts, paying debts and staying up all night to avoid gray hair. Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: h...

In Japan numbers can be tricky. Four is thought to invite death. Nine brings suffering and agony. But, hey! Eight is good! 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....

You have one. I have one. We all have one: a Devil's Gate. It's the place where oni (Japanese devils) sneak into your home, steal all your good luck and fine health, and scuttle away. It's the place you have to be very careful about and treat with respect. The problem is, most of us have no idea where our Devil's Gate (kimon) is, much less what to do to appease and/or keep out those pesky devils....

Careful. Living a life of luxury while being selfish and coveting your neighbors goodies just might lead you to another spin on this Wheel of Life. This means after you die you'll be reborn not as a human again, not even as a squirrel in someone's backyard. You might just come back as a hungry ghost, and let me tell you why that's not a very good thing. This month's podcast is about Japanese hungr...

This month's podcast is Obon Part Two, the time when you have to send ol' grandma and grandpa back to the World of the Dead. There are various ways of doing this. I talk about two, the chill, mellow way and the flinging-balls-of-fire-into-the-air way. Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncann...

In Japan, Obon is the time of year when all the ancestors' spirits make the long haul back to the world of the living to pay a visit. It's kind of a big deal. Butsudan-altars are decorated to the hilt and families wait expectantly for grandma and grandpa, great grandma and great grandpa (not to mention great, great, great grandma and grandpa) to arrive and hang out. This month's podcast is part on...

The senninbari or one thousand-stitch belt is a magical kind of sash worn by soldiers in World War 2 to ward off enemies bullets and impart super human strength. 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/...

Why can't you cut your fingernails after dark in Japan? What happens if you whistle at night? And why do spiders bring good luck in the morning but bad luck at night? These aren't just random rules—each superstition has roots in old Japan's daily life, from the tools people used to the dangers they faced after sunset. Some reasons are practical. Others are... unsettling. In this episode we explore...

In this episode, I explore Kishibojin (or Kishimojin)—originally the Hindu deity Hariti—who made her way through the Lotus Sutra into Japanese Buddhism and Shinto practice. You'll hear about the pomegranate she holds (said to taste like human flesh), her ten demon daughters with names like "Spirit Snatcher" and "Flowery Teeth," and the temples in Tokyo where mothers still pray to her today. From r...

Monkey lore in Japan is vast and confusing—monkeys can be good, monkeys can be bad, depending on what you're looking at. There's a wordplay thing going on with the word "saru" that explains a lot. Then there's this whole connection between monkeys and horses that shows up everywhere in old Japanese art. And finally, there are these creepy faceless monkey charms you can buy in Kyoto and Nara. Come...

Koshin Shinko is the belief that you are born with three worms (called sanshi) inside your body, and that these creatures' only purpose is to shorten your life so they can be free again. In this podcast I not only tell you more about those nasty parasites and how you can hinder them, I also talk about those three monkeys (See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil) and how they are here to help you...

I want to talk about a Japanese saying called hatsuyume—hatsu means the first, and yume is dream. Your first dream in the new year will, as Japanese tradition says, predict how your year is going to turn out if you dream about one of three things. The most common saying that everybody knows is ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi. One, Mount Fuji. Two, hawk. Three, eggplant. But why an eggplant? It's a...

I want to share something my mother-in-law taught me years ago - a Japanese concept that perfectly captures how we feel before life's biggest challenges. Musha-burui describes that trembling mixture of fear and excitement a samurai felt before battle. That's exactly how I felt starting this podcast after 30 years in Japan, feeling like my English was slipping away but knowing I had to share these...