152 episodes

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.

Uncanny Japan - Japanese Folklore, Folktales, Myths and Language Uncanny Productions

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 1 Rating

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.

    Beto Beto-san Vs Teke Teke: Things That Stalk You at Night

    Beto Beto-san Vs Teke Teke: Things That Stalk You at Night

    Listeners who are sensitive to these topics should be aware that the episode contains potentially disturbing content:

    TRIGGER WARNINGS: Blood & gore depiction, Body horror, Childhood Trauma, Death from exposure, Death from falling, Death of a child, Death and dying, Decapitation, Fear and anxiety, Graphic content, Injury and mutilation, Loss of limb, Mayonnaise as a pizza topping, Mental distress, Physical injuries, Supernatural and horror elements, Suicide, Violence, War

    If you're ever walking alone on an empty street or path at night and you hear something distinctly not human following you, could it be the Beto Beto-san or the Teke Teke? One will take your life in the most horrendous way. 
    [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]
    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.
    Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
    Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
    Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
    Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1
    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan
    Credits Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    • 19 min
    Bug News: Body Parasites or Ghosts (Mushi no Shirase)?

    Bug News: Body Parasites or Ghosts (Mushi no Shirase)?

    Have you ever had a premonition or a foreboding feeling that turned out to be true? Was it a parasitic insect living in your belly or a ghost trying to tell you something?
    [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]
    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.
    Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
    Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
    Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
    Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1
    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan
    Credits Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    • 14 min
    Falling Trees: Tengu or Furusoma (Creepy Dead Guy)?

    Falling Trees: Tengu or Furusoma (Creepy Dead Guy)?

    If a you hear a tree fall in the woods, but can't find any sign of that fallen tree, is it the work of a tengu, a creepy dead guy ghost, or something else?
    [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]
    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.
    Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
    Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
    Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
    Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1
    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan
    Credits Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    • 12 min
    Story Time: The Mirror Maiden by Lafcadio Hearn

    Story Time: The Mirror Maiden by Lafcadio Hearn

    Today I'll read you Lafcadio Hearn's short story: The Mirror Maiden. 
    [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]
    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.
    Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
    Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
    Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
    Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1
    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan
    Credits Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    • 16 min
    Ryomen Sukuna: Awesome Saint or Japan-Destroying Demon?

    Ryomen Sukuna: Awesome Saint or Japan-Destroying Demon?

    The two-faced, eight-limbed giant named Ryomen Sukuna has been around since very early Japan, still is he a Buddhism-protecting hero or a cursed demon who tried to destroy Japan?
    [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]
    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.
    Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
    Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
    Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
    Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1
    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan
    Credits Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura
    Der Kristall - The Glade by Sascha Ende
    Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12250-der-kristall-the-glade
    License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

    • 22 min
    Teru Teru Bōzu: Cute, Magical, Unsettling Origins

    Teru Teru Bōzu: Cute, Magical, Unsettling Origins

    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?
    [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.]
    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books including The Book of Japanese Folklore by clicking on the Amazon link.  If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.
    Discord: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura
    Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan
    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncannyjapan.bsky.social
    Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/
    Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thersa-Matsuura/e/B002CWZ73Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1500180689&sr=8-1
    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan
    Credits Intro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura
    Rain by Okami (龗)

    • 17 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
1 Rating

1 Rating

KremSH ,

Soothing and interesting

The most soothing voice telling you the most interesting Japanese folklore stories I’ve ever heard , well worth subscribing.

Top Podcasts In Society & Culture

فنجان مع عبدالرحمن أبومالح
ثمانية/ thmanyah
بودكاست طمئن
Samar
Bidon Waraq | بدون ورق
بودكاست السندباد
بودكاست صحب
بودكاست صحب
كنبة السبت
Mics | مايكس
هدوء
Mics | مايكس

You Might Also Like

Kowabana: 'True' Japanese scary stories from around the internet
Tara A. Devlin
History of Japan
Isaac Meyer
Unexplained
iHeartPodcasts
Myths and Legends
Jason Weiser, Carissa Weiser, Nextpod
Loremen Podcast
Loremen Podcast
Dark Histories
Ben Cutmore