TopPodcast.com
Menu
  • Home
  • Top Charts
  • Top Networks
  • Top Apps
  • Top Independents
  • Top Podfluencers
  • Top Picks
    • Top Business Podcasts
    • Top True Crime Podcasts
    • Top Finance Podcasts
    • Top Comedy Podcasts
    • Top Music Podcasts
    • Top Womens Podcasts
    • Top Kids Podcasts
    • Top Sports Podcasts
    • Top News Podcasts
    • Top Tech Podcasts
    • Top Crypto Podcasts
    • Top Entrepreneurial Podcasts
    • Top Fantasy Sports Podcasts
    • Top Political Podcasts
    • Top Science Podcasts
    • Top Self Help Podcasts
    • Top Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Top Stocks Podcasts
  • Podcast News
  • About Us
  • Podcast Advertising
  • Contact
Not in our directory?
Add Show Here
Podcast Equipment
Center

toppodcastlogoOur TOPPODCAST Picks

  • Comedy
  • Crypto
  • Sports
  • News
  • Politics
  • True Crime
  • Business
  • Finance

Follow Us

toppodcastlogoStay Connected

    View Top 200 Chart
    Back to Rankings Page
    History

    Uncanny Japan

    Uncanny Japan is a podcast about all the more obscure corners of old Japan, from strange superstitions, cultural curiosities, to creepy creatures. Here you can discover all the lesser known gems that author Thersa Matsuura digs up while doing research for her writing. Every episode is uniquely soothing, brought to life by immersive sound design or relaxing binaural soundscapes (ocean waves, autumn crickets, rice field frogs) all recorded right here in Japan.

    Thersa Matsuura is a writer, folklorist, and graduate of the Clarion West workshop. Drawing on her over thirty-five years of living in Japan, she is the author of The Book of Japanese Folklore. Her horror short story collection (The Carp-Faced Boy and Other Tales) was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. Her forthcoming works include the Yokai Oracle Deck (Fall, 2025) and Legends of Japanese Mythology (Eyes Wide Editions, 2026).

    SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions.

    ⁠spectrevisionradio.com⁠

    ⁠linktr.ee/spectrevision⁠

    Advertise
    • Apple Podcasts
    • Google Play
    • Spotify

    Latest Episodes:
    The Great Horned Master (Tsuno Daishi) (Ep. 43) Nov 14, 2019
    Show notes

    When walking around Japan you might see a small rectangular piece of paper pasted near a front door or on a gate. On this paper is an image that can only be described as a demon or devil. While off-putting at first, this creepy little fellow isn't actually a bad guy; he's there to protect the family and household. In this episode I'm going to tell you why.

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Story Time: Yotsuya Kaidan (The Ghost of Oiwa) (Ep. 42) Oct 25, 2019
    Show notes

    It's almost Halloween, so for this episode of Uncanny Japan I'm going to tell you a spooky tale called Yotsuya Kaidan, the story of Oiwa and her sad and vengeful ghost. The last ghost story I told here was in episode 25, Okiku and the Nine Plates (Bancho Sarayashiki). Well, Yotsuya Kaidan's main character, Oiwa, is another one of the biggies, who I'm guessing is even more well known than Okiku. There are so many versions of this story, so here I'm going to tell you mine. I'm going to try and stick to the originals as much as possible without getting too complicated and character heavy. I do encourage you to look into other versions of the story if you're interested. There are so many adaptations out there.

    So go climb into bed, put on your headphones, turn out the lights, and let me tell you the story of Oiwa's ghost.

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Japanese Superstitions II: Spider Lilies and Ghostly Trees (Ep. 41) Oct 10, 2019
    Show notes

    Why is the beautiful Spider lily also called a corpse flower? Why didn't samurai keep camellias in their gardens? Why do Japanese ghosts like to hang out under weeping willows?

    On this episode I'll take on a few more Japanese superstitions, but this time plant and flower-related stories.

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Daruma - He Cut Off His What?! (Ep. 40) Sep 12, 2019
    Show notes

    His eyelids. He cut off his eyelids. But that is not all that the Daruma (Bodhidharma) is famous for. He's the man who brought Chan to China and Zen to Japan. Some say he taught the Shaolin monks how to fight while other tales talk about how he invented green tea, or well, his eyelids did.

    Join me and a thousand singing night insects while I tell you about the great sage, Daruma.

    Also, you know how if you wait until the end of the credits in some movies you're rewarded with a little something? I won't say what, but my Sound Guy was a bit cheeky this episode. I wonder how many of my listeners will get the reference. Let me know.

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Behind the Curtain: Advice for people coming to Japan (Ep. 39) Aug 22, 2019
    Show notes

    Episode 39 of Uncanny Japan is different, it's special. Today I forgo my usual format and invite my friend, fellow long time expat, and Sound Dude, Rich Pav, to join me in answering some listener questions about advice when coming to Japan. Here we talk about just a few things we've gleaned from our living-in-Japan experience. A longer version is available for my $5 and up Patrons.

    Since this is an experiment, tell us what you think. Would this kind of show every so often be of interest to listeners? And if so, what topics would you like us to discuss?

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Story Time: Cicada by Lafcadio Hearn (Ep. 38) Aug 08, 2019
    Show notes

    In Episode 38, you can listen to Lafcadio Hearn's whimsical take on the cicada (semi) while enjoying some real time cicada singing in the background.

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Oni Kara Denwa: The Ogre App to Discipline Your Child (Ep. 37) Jul 21, 2019
    Show notes

    Ever since I saw a mother discipline her child by threatening to call an oni/ogre, I've been wanting to do talk about this. Then I found out it really is a thing, an app called Oni Kara Denwa (A Call From an Oni, or as it's translated in Japanese: Ghost Call) to be more precise.

    In Episode 37, I talk about what I've heard playfully called the oni appuli. It has over 10 million downloads and purports to help you raise your child. I've got a lot of thoughts and feelings about this one, but I try as much as possible to be objective when giving you an explanation of what it is and what it does.

    What do you think? Useful? Traumatizing?

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    The Rock That Cries at Night (Yonaki Ishi) (Ep. 36) Jun 27, 2019
    Show notes

    A rock that gets weepy when the sun goes down, a pregnant woman slain alone in the mountains, a newborn baby visited by a ghostly priest who feds him candy to stay alive. These are all parts of this month's podcast: The Rock The Cries at Night (Yonaki Ishi). In this episode, I visit a local spot (one of the Enshu Nanafushigi / Seven Mysterious Things of Enshu).

    Come listen to me tell the tale while I sit by some rain, thunder, and an ambitious frog.

    It's a wonderful old legend, but can you find the big question (plot hole?) that I discovered when I researched and retold the story?

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Nanafushigi: Seven Mysterious Things (Ep. 35) May 27, 2019
    Show notes

    A giant hairy foot crashing through the roof of an old house and demanding to be washed. A festive tanuki band that appears in the dead of night and lures you into parts unknown. These are just two of the Honjo Nanafushigi. Nanafushigi can be translated as seven wonders, but they're more like seven mysteries. All over Japan you can find stories (old and new) of seven strange occurrences. As an introduction to my new idea of covering local legends and creepy tales, this month's podcast is about nanafushigi. I'll be talking about both the Honjo Nanafushigi and a little about how even all over Japan schools will often have their own nanafushigi that are more like local urban legends to spook and baffle the children.

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Hidden by the Gods (Kamikakushi) (Ep. 34) May 06, 2019
    Show notes

    Today's show feels like a wacky and wonderful one. You see, I started talking about the tengu in Episode 32 (Heavenly Dogs and Brilliant Swordsmen), but I wasn't able to cover one of my favorite things about this red faced, long nosed, mountain warrior. That being the notion of kamikakushi (神隠し) or being spirited away. In this episode I get into that but the more I researched the really wild and fascinating information I ran across.

    In this Episode 34: Spirited Away (Kamikakushi), I'll tell you about the Shinto scholar Atsutane Hirata who back in the 1800s interviewed and wrote a book about a boy (Torakichi) who had claimed to have been abducted by a tengu for many years. There are stories of 100-days fasts, trees that glow from an inner light, and small unlucky men riding horses who are born from the placenta of a new born baby.

    All this while I walk through a drizzly evening, recording the first frogs of the season.

    Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript.

    Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other shows are Uncanny Robot Podcast and The Soothing Stories Podcast. Check out her books including The Carp-Faced Boy on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a bedtime story read to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

    Please join our community forum! https://japanforum.uncanny.productions/

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UncannyJapan Mastodon: https://famichiki.jp/@UncannyJapan Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/

    Buy Me a Coffee (one-time contribution): https://buymeacoffee.com/uncannyjapan

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    Previous 1 15 16 17 18 19 21 Next

    Related Podcasts

    Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History

    1

    Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History History
    More Perfect

    2

    More Perfect Government
    Casefile True Crime

    3

    Casefile True Crime Games & Hobbies
    The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

    4

    The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe History
    BackStory

    5

    BackStory History
    The Black Dahlia Serial Killers

    6

    The Black Dahlia Serial Killers History
    footer-logo

    Contact Us

    Toll Free: 844-670-7747

    Links

    • Home
    • Top Charts
    • Networks
    • Apps
    • Independents Podcasts
    • Podcast Advertising
    • Podcast News
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Analytics & Insights

    Stay Connected

      Privacy, Terms of Use & Our Code of Ethics Protecting Content Creators Copyrights