Uncanny Japan logo

Category: Japanese Folklore 

Monkeys and Monkey Lore! (Ep. 4)

I wanted to do a podcast on one of my favorite animals, the monkey. Monkey lore and superstition is quite vast and complicated or just confusing, because history is so long, and monkeys can be good, and monkeys can be bad. So I'm going to stick to three things that I think are interesting: the monkey wordplay with "saru" (to drive away), monkeys protecting horses, and those creepy faceless monkey good luck charms you see all over Japan.
ukioe monkey
1 5 6 7

About The Uncanny Japan Podcast

Speculative fiction writer, long-term resident of Japan and Bram Stoker Award finalist Thersa Matsuura explores all that is weird from old Japan—strange superstitions, folktales, cultural oddities, and interesting language quirks. These are little treasures she digs up while doing research for her writing.

© Copyright 2026 Uncanny Productions
Buy Me a Coffee at Ko-Fi