Uncanny Japan

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 hungry ghosts or gaki in Japanese. Not for the feint of heart. 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 Credits 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.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 Credits The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a piece by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3. Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a creepy bedtime story sent to you monthly, please visit Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 one of Obon, welcoming fires and cucumber horses. 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 Credits The intro/outro music is a piece by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3. Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a creepy bedtime story sent to you monthly, please visit Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/@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 Credits The intro/outro music is a piece by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3. Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other show is 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 three common Japanese superstitions and uncovers the surprising (and sometimes dark) explanations behind them. [Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.] Follow Uncanny Japan Patreon Uncanny Japan Website Thersa Matsuura Website Books on Amazon YouTube Facebook Instagram Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution) Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Credits Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura About SpectreVision Radio SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We're a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 recording at the windswept docks of my small Japanese town, I share the complete story of this fascinating deity who embodies the Buddhist concept of transformation through understanding. [Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.] Follow Uncanny Japan Patreon Uncanny Japan Website Thersa Matsuura Website Books on Amazon YouTube Facebook Instagram Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution) Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Credits Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura About SpectreVision Radio SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We're a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 explore Japanese monkey folklore with me. [Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.] Follow Uncanny Japan Patreon Uncanny Japan Website Thersa Matsuura Website Books on Amazon YouTube Facebook Instagram Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution) Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Credits Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura About SpectreVision Radio SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We're a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.comlinktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 out. Oh, and immortality. I also talk about how you can gain immortality. I found the dates for 2017: Feb. 2/April 3rd/June 2nd/August 1st/September 30th/November 29th. 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 Credits The intro/outro music is a piece by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3. Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other show is 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 play on words. And there are also three more lucky symbols that aren't very well-known, even to Japanese people. Come with me as I explore this fascinating New Year tradition and the clever wordplay behind these lucky dream symbols.[Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.] Follow Uncanny Japan Patreon Uncanny Japan Website Thersa Matsuura Website Books on Amazon YouTube Facebook Instagram Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution) Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Credits Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura About SpectreVision Radio SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We're a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.comlinktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 cultural discoveries. What happens when your body says "don't do this" but your spirit says "you must"? This is the very first episode of Uncanny Japan, where I introduce both the concept of musha-burui and what this show is about - sharing the strange, fascinating cultural treasures I discover through my research as a writer of Japanese folklore and horror. I recorded this originally in 2017, then re-recorded it in 2020, and both versions are included here. [Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.] Follow Uncanny Japan Patreon Uncanny Japan Website Thersa Matsuura Website Books on Amazon YouTube Facebook Instagram Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution) Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Credits Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura About SpectreVision Radio SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We're a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.comlinktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices