Episode 119 - Thersa Matsuura - Japanese Folklore

My guest for this episode is author and podcaster Thersa Matsuura, who joined me to talk about her new publication, The Book of Japanese Folklore: An Encyclopedia of the Spirits, Monsters, and Yokai of Japanese Myth.

After a childhood living all over the U.S. - as far north as Fairbanks, Alaska and as far south as Jacksonville, Florida, Thersa moved to Japan to study. She would eventually settle there and has now lived over half her life in a fishing town in the country.

Her fluency in Japanese allows her to do research into parts of the culture - legends, folktales, and superstitions - that are little known to western audiences. A lot of what she digs up informs her writing or becomes fodder for her podcast, Uncanny Japan.

Thersa is the author of two short story collections, A Robe of Feathers and Other Stories and The Carp-Faced Boy and Other Tales, the latter being a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award in 2017. She’s had stories published in various magazines, anthologies and serialized in the Asahi English Newspaper.

I begin the interview by talking with Thersa about the events that initially took her to Japan and what those early experiences of living in a new country were like. We also discuss the cultural history of the country and how that has influenced and is expressed in the relationship between it's people, the natural world and the supernatural.

From there we focus on Thersa's new book itself, exploring some of the beings that are featured in it, which range from mythical versions of historical figures, through to supernatural foxes and wolves, giant spiders and full on Lovecraftian horrors. We round off things talking about ghosts and Thersa shares some of her own uncanny experiences.

You can find out more about Thersa, her writing and podcast at her website https://thersamatsuura.com/.

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