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Exploring Japanese Myths and Folktales, Superstitions and Language
After exploring animal spirit possession last episode, Thersa turns to the Japanese ways of staying safe, getting a little lucky, and maybe...
What is tsukimono? In Japanese culture, it’s the unsettling idea of possession—when a human or animal spirit attaches itself to you and usua...
A vengeful princess rides a giant toad into battle while a monstrous skeleton tears through castle walls — and these two legends are connect...
2026 is the year of the fire horse—a year that happens only once every 60 years. Across East Asia, it symbolizes transformation, intensity,...
What if the meal sitting in those beautiful lacquered boxes held messages from the gods? In Japan, osechi-ryōri isn't just New Year's food—i...
Don't point at the moon—you might wake up without your ears. In Japan, the moon rabbit isn't just making mochi. Its image was placed there b...
A blind musician is summoned to perform in the darkness. But who is listening? And what terrible price awaits a moment's oversight? Today I...
🎃 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 🎃 This year's Halloween episode is a full-length audio drama based on the urban legend of Sukima-onna—the woman who wa...
We're getting closer to Halloween. How about another ghost story? Ame-onna, the rain woman - a haggard looking thing, soaked to the bone, wa...
It's October. Time to pull a blanket around your shoulders, light a candle against the dark, and listen to a good old-fashioned ghost story....
I finally got to go on a walk again after all the oppressive August heat. I live around rice fields, mostly. There are some houses, of cours...
Japan's summer heat is inescapable, driving people to seek relief at the beach. But what if I told you there are supernatural dangers lurkin...
Uncanny Japan is a podcast about all the more obscure corners of old Japan, from strange superstitions, cultural curiosities, to creepy crea...
So, you've died in Japan. Let me help you navigate the underworld and if we can, avoid the nastiest hells. What does Japanese Buddhism sugge...
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night wondering who Japan's first samurai was? And then maybe wondering if severed heads can act...
It's very strange, but this ancient Japanese proverb "Saiō ga Uma" has been popping up in my thoughts a lot lately. I kept hearing it mentio...
Ever wonder what happens when a Japanese god has serious anger management issues? This is the second episode in my Myth Tales series, and I...
Don't let anyone tell you Japan has four distinct seasons. You'll hear that a lot. But it's not true. Japan actually has five seasons. Every...
Think modern travel is stressful? At least you probably won't end up transformed into a living candlestick by dark magic. I've always been f...
Sometimes we all need a little break from reality, and that's exactly what I'm offering in this deeply contemplative episode. Against the ba...
Let's journey down to the bottom of the ocean to an underwater dragon palace called the Ryugu, or sometimes Ryugu-jo, owned and lorded over...
Mount Fuji isn't just Japan's tallest peak - it's home to some of the most extraordinary legends in Japanese folklore. In this episode, I te...
In this episode I talk about one of my favorite topics, one of the things that makes Japan special to me. It still gets me excited after all...
What happens when you think you know everything about Japan's most famous temple? I discovered I knew almost nothing at all about Kinkaku-ji...
In today's episode, I'll be taking you on a stroll along the walking routes of Old Edo. There were five main ones, called go-kaidō - the fiv...
In this episode, I'll be telling you about someone I've had a crush on for the past couple years, Fudō Myō, and also about a very cool fire...
In today's episode, I'll be taking you on a journey that involves supernatural balance, a touch of kung fu fighting, cringeworthy acts of co...
During the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami, the water rose to the exact edge of Shiogama Shrine and retreated. At Japanese funerals, you're given salt t...
You're driving through a tunnel at 140 kilometers per hour when you hear knocking on the back window. You glance over your shoulder and see...
In Japanese, some animals have names so creative they sound like fantasy creatures. Dirt dragons. Sea pigs. House protectors. Ocean moons. T...
A disease-ravaged town. A stranger with a captive monkey. One woman who refuses to become a monster. When traveling performer Hanshiro arriv...
A young samurai loses a shuttlecock over a garden fence and finds something far more dangerous: a beautiful woman who leads him into her hom...
Japan's three great ghost stories feature the onryō (vengeful ghosts) of Okiku, Oiwa, and Otsuyu. These tales have captivated audiences for...
Walk through a Japanese forest alone and feel that ancient presence watching you. Maybe it's kodama, the protective tree spirits that appear...
In 644 CE, a man named Ōfube-no-Ō starts a new religion in Shizuoka Prefecture. His claim? A caterpillar living in mandarin orange trees is...
Two fascinating phrases in Japanese that have very creepy origins. What are you really doing when you answer the phone "moshi moshi" anyway?...
The Tale of Anchin and Kiyohime is an epic story of love, betrayal, and transformation into a serpent dragon, but there are several versions...
The northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido, also has its own brand of yōkai and mythical creatures. Here I talk about seven of them. [This d...
Discover the intricacies of Japanese chopstick etiquette and lore. Learn about godly chopsticks, taboos that can bring death, and the concep...
The joro spider, a colorful arachnid from Japan, is harmless but tied to folklore about shape-shifting brides who fatally ensnare lovers at...
Listeners who are sensitive to these topics should be aware that the episode contains potentially disturbing content: TRIGGER WARNINGS: Bloo...
Have you ever had a premonition or a foreboding feeling that turned out to be true? Was it a parasitic insect living in your belly or a ghos...
If a you hear a tree fall in the woods, but can't find any sign of that fallen tree, is it the work of a tengu, a creepy dead guy ghost, or...
Today I'll read you Lafcadio Hearn's short story: The Mirror Maiden. [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a li...
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 cu...
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? [Thi...
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...
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...
In Japan there are two types of Five Elements, the gogyo and the godai and you can find them all throughout Japanese culture-in tea ceremony...
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! Happy New Year! This is Thersa Matsuura and you’re listening to Uncanny Japan, Season 8. We just moved from t...