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Category: Japanese Holidays 

How to Welcome the Dead Home: Obon in Japan (Ep. 196)

We’re about a week away from the time of year in Japan when the boundary between the living and the dead grows thinnest. Obon. For a few summer days, the spirits of the ancestors return home. They’ll come riding in on cucumber horses attracted by the small guiding fires lit outside homes all across the […]

Why the Year of the Fire Horse is Dreaded in Japan and Cursed Kimonos (Ep. 185)

The year of the fire horse brings bold change and transformation. But in Japan, it's feared. A tragic story from 1666 about a young girl named Oshichi, burned at the stake during a fire horse year, created a superstition that haunts families today.

Osechi: Japanese New Year Food Traditions

Let's talk about food and folklore and so many New Year traditions. One of the most interesting to me when I first came to Japan and experienced Oshōgatsu with my in-laws is osechi-ryōri. This special, beautiful, and symbolic New Year cuisine is served in beautiful lacquered boxes called jūbako.

Joya no Kane: Japanese Temple Bells Ring Out 108 Sins at New Year (Ep. 139)

Here it is, the end of 2023, and I'm feeling that reflective anticipation we all get around this time. This is the last show of Season 7, and I'd like to take you up into the hills to my local temple, where I've spent every New Year's Eve for the past 25 years, or more.
Artist's hand drawing a serene Japanese landscape with a bell tower and rising sun, symbolizing 'Joya no Kane,' a traditional end-of-year bell-ringing ceremony, on a sketchpad, with watercolors and a brush, against a backdrop of artistic tools.

Shochikubai: Pine, Bamboo, Plum and Samurai Shade (Ep. 138)

Shochikubai means "pine, bamboo, plum" and are considered the three winter friends. You'll find them in New Year decorations as well as another interesting and surprising place. I'll tell more on today's show.
Traditional Japanese shochikubai painting with calligraphy on a sketchpad, featuring plum blossoms, pine, and bamboo, the symbols of perseverance, longevity, and flexibility, alongside an ink stone and brushes, indicating an artistic setting.

Six Japanese New Year Rules: Ancient Oshōgatsu Taboos (Ep. 115)

Imagine living in an older Japan where life is really hard. No FamilyMart to grab dinner. No vending machines. The toilet's outside in the cold and dark. But you're allowed to enjoy January 1st, 2nd and 3rd in absolute and exquisite peace during oshōgatsu, the New Year's holidays. Oh wait though, there are a couple rules.
Ukiyoe image of two men fighting with Mount Fuji and rising sun in background

Enjoying the Luck of the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin) (Ep. 68)

In Japan the Shichifukujin or Seven Lucky Gods appear in a boat on the first day of the year to impart various kinds of luck on those they deem worthy.
Shichi Fukujin (Seven Lucky Gods)

Toshikoshi Soba: Breaking Off the Pain of 2020 with Noodles (Ep. 66)

Toshikoshi soba is the Japanese tradition of eating soba noodles on New Year's Eve. It's a custom that has continued since the 1700s. There are quite a few reasons why, some have to do with long life, wealth, and breaking off all the hardships from the previous year.
Show Daruma Eating Soba
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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.

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