What's the difference between a tengu and an oni? Find out now! This episode Guenevere and Noel tell some dark and disturbing tales from Japanese Folklore about tengu, oni, and the adorable(?) kappas!

"Kabu-tori Jiisan" - After trying in vain to remove a tumour from his face, an old man exiles himself to the forest, where he comes upon a party of tengus.

"Shuten Doji" - When princesses start to go missing from Kyoto, the warrior Raiko is sent on a mission to kill the oni responsible for the kidnappings. (Includes some pretty disturbing descriptions of dismemberment and cannibalism.)

This episode, despite juggling a cold and babysitting a puppy, Guenevere Lee and Noel Sayar give a little history on samurai weaponry - including the tachi and naginata. We also cover some of the greats sword masters, and the legends surrounding them; like the competition between Masamune and Murasama to create the greatest katana.

Learn a brief history of samurai weaponry, as well as why the swords of Murasama were considered cursed. And was Hattori Hanzo really a great sword master as Kill Bill would have us believe?

In this very special episode, we move away from Japanese history and turn to the Bronze Age. What better place to start, then with a little bit of Ancient Egyptian history?

In Guenevere Lee's first published novel, Orope - the White Snake, the kingdom of Mahat is very much inspired by Egypt. Learn what aspects of its history and culture worked its way into the narrative quilt.

We delve into the fact and fiction of samurai. Were they the idealized warriors who honoured the bushido code? Or were they just people born into the social class? And we discuss some of our favourite samurai movies, and how they shaped people's perception of these greatly misunderstood warriors.

We take a look at the history of and the legends surrounding the city of Sendai. A city built from nothing by the great daimyo Date Masamune, which became the largest city in the northeast part of Japan (Tohoku).

Who were the original people who inhabited the land and how did they change Japanese warfare forever? What happens if you connect the temples of Sendai on a map? Who is the mysterious figure Sendai Shiro, whose image appears in nearly every store in the city?

Learn all about the bandits and outlaws who roamed Japan after the battle of Sekigahara. We discuss some of the more extreme execution methods, as well as the famous Ishikawa Goemon, the Japanese Robin Hood.

We discuss the birth of the Japanese nation! Who won the battle of Sekigahara and united the nation for over 250 years of peace? We discuss the three men credited with creating the Japan we know today.

For our first episode of Historical Fantasy, we're going over the festival of tanabata. Join us (author Guenevere Lee and Dr. Noel Sayar) as we discuss the myth behind the festival of stars, as well as how it's celebrated in the modern day, and our own experiences living in Sendai (home of the largest tanabata festival).

We will also be discussing the first chapter of Leda and the Samurai (available on channillo.com), and how tanabata became the backdrop for the historical fantasy series.