Uncanny Japan

A giant hairy foot crashing through the roof of an 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. Nanafushigi can be translated as seven wonders, but they're more like seven mysteries. All over Japan you can find stories (old and new) of seven strange occurrences. As an introduction to my new idea of covering local legends and creepy tales, this month's podcast is about nanafushigi. I'll be talking about both the Honjo Nanafushigi and a little about how even all over Japan schools will often have their own nanafushigi that are more like local urban legends to spook and baffle the children.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

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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 about the Shinto scholar Atsutane Hirata who back in the 1800s interviewed and wrote a book about a boy (Torakichi) who had claimed to have been abducted by a tengu for many years. There are stories of 100-days fasts, trees that glow from an inner light, and small unlucky men riding horses who are born from the placenta of a new born baby.

All this while I walk through a drizzly evening, recording the first frogs of the season.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, shows up in manga, music, and is told on stages even today. As a matter of fact, I have tickets to go see a performance of Mimi-Nashi Hoichi in May.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 decided to also occasionally visit story telling. The folktales will be different than the ones on Patreon and I'm going to start with some of Lafcadio Hearn's wonderful pieces that are up on Gutenberg.

Another thing, on the regular Uncanny Japan podcasts I use my binaural mics to record ambient sounds from my little part of Japan. However, with the Story Time episodes I'll be using a music bed provide by my musician son, who also does the intro/outro music.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 northeast.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

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 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

The background binaural sounds are a small group of Japanese men and women playing a game of gateball. They're rooting for each other, taking the piss out of each other, and finally running out of time and losing their games against one another.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and 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.

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

Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices