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Category: Japanese Superstitions 

Never Say Monkey! Japan’s Strangest Mountain Superstitions (Ep. 201)

{books below are affiliate links, at no cost to you I get a small commission} Hey hey. It’s me, Thersa Matsuura — author of Legends of Japanese Mythology, The Yōkai Oracle Deck, and the soon to be published Dark Tales from Japan. And you’re listening to Uncanny Japan. The place where I talk about all […]

Creepy Story Time: “By the Japanese Sea” — Lafcadio Hearn (Ep. 195)

“By the Japanese Sea” It is the fifteenth day of the seventh month–and I am in Hokii. The blanched road winds along a coast of low cliffs–the coast of the Japanese Sea. Always on the left, over a narrow strip of stony land, or a heaping of dunes, its vast expanse appears, blue-wrinkling to that […]

Childhood Incantations: Engacho, Pain Magic, & Severed Pinkies! (Ep. 194)

Legends of Japanese Mythology: Meet the Heroes, Spirits, Monsters, and Yokai of Japanese Folklore (Wide Eyes Editions) Pre Order Publishing date: September 1, 2026 Dark Tales from Japan: Japanese Horror Stories of Yokai, Ghosts, and the Supernatural (Adams Media) Pre Order (The above are affiliate links, if you order from there I’ll receive a small […]

The Ghost-Playing Actor Who Became a REAL Vengeful Ghost: Kohada Koheiji (Ep. 191)

Did you know that not all Japanese ghosts are jealous, vengeful women? No. Some are jealous, vengeful men. And in the ghost story I’m going to talk about today, you’ll get — as a bonus — a couple handfuls of bloody, severed, rotting fingers, too. Let me tell you about Kohada Koheiji.  Intro:  Hey hey, […]

Everyone Has a Throat Buddha: Nodohotoke and a Story: “The Buddha Bone” (Ep. 189)

In this episode, I talk about the nodo-hotoke, or “throat Buddha”—a phrase that means one thing while you’re alive and something quite different after death. We’ll look at the Buddha bone found after cremation in Japan, the funeral ritual of placing bones into the urn with long chopsticks, and the beliefs and taboos surrounding it. Then I’ll read my dark story “The Buddha Bone,” originally published in Weird Horror Issue 7. Content warning: this episode discusses death, cremation, and funeral customs.

Ofuda & Omamori: Lucky Talismans

Since the last episode was all about animal spirits (like foxes, snakes, and horses) that can get a little possess-y and cause disease and ill fortune, I thought why not do a show on keeping yourself safe from harm, the Japanese way. I think we can all use a little protection and auspiciousness these days. […]

Tsukimono: Possessed by an Animal (Ep. 187)

Remember that nice trip to Japan, where you visited that out of the way shrine, the one you just stumbled across while hiking. You and your partner got some great photos of the two stone foxes, cracked and covered in moss. And then back at the hotel, your partner began acting funny. Scratching behind their […]

Teru Teru Bōzu: Cute, Magical, Unsettling Origins (Ep. 144)

You'll often see ghostly-looking dolls strung up in windows in Japan on rainy days. What do they mean and why are they a little creepy?
Hand-drawn watercolor illustration of Teru Teru Bozu, traditional Japanese weather doll, hanging outside a window with a scenic view of a tree and house facade, showcasing Japanese culture and art.

Abe no Seimei & His Mysterious Place Near Me (Ep. 143)

Abe no Seimei was the greatest onmyōji in Japan. While he lived in Kyoto, he visited Shizuoka at some point and performed some magic, giving us another nanafushigi (seven mysterious things).
A disembodied hand begins to draw Abe No Seimei.
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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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