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    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
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    Latest Episodes:
    Story Time: Hoichi The Earless by Lafcadio Hearn (Mimi-nashi Hoichi) (Ep. 33) Apr 15, 2019
    Show notes

    After coming to live in Japan (1890), Lafcadio Hearn listened intently to the folk stories and ghostly tales that were related to him. He then wrote them down in English, adding his own unique style and began publishing books of his gathered observances and retellings. Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Exotics and Retrospectives, and Kwaidan to name a few.

    Today on Uncanny Japan, I read you "Mimi-nashi Hoichi", arguably Mr. Hearn's most well-known story. A story that has been made into a movie, appears on stage, shows up in manga, music, and is told on stages even today. As a matter of fact, I have tickets to go see a performance of Mimi-Nashi Hoichi in May.

    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


    Heavenly Dogs and Brilliant Swordsmen (The Tengu) (Ep. 32) Mar 31, 2019
    Show notes

    There are two types of tengu: the karasu/crow tengu and the hanadaka/long-nosed tengu. They're both awesome martial artists and fearsome foes, among other things. In this episode, I'll introduce you to these two super cool Japanese yokai and tell you a little bit about their lore.

    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: Of a Mirror and a Bell (Lafcadio Hearn) (Ep. 31) Mar 06, 2019
    Show notes

    Story Time is a little bit different than the usual Uncanny Japan podcast. Instead of me telling you about some interesting, odd, or spooky tidbit, I'll be reading you a story. This is something I do over on Patreon once a month. There I call them Bedtime Stories and they're more varied, from obscure pieces of folklore I find, translate, and slightly reimagine (for the story's sake), to pieces I discover in the public domain and sometimes even my own work. But that's that.

    Here on Uncanny Japan, I've decided to also occasionally visit story telling. The folktales will be different than the ones on Patreon and I'm going to start with some of Lafcadio Hearn's wonderful pieces that are up on Gutenberg.

    Another thing, on the regular Uncanny Japan podcasts I use my binaural mics to record ambient sounds from my little part of Japan. However, with the Story Time episodes I'll be using a music bed provide by my musician son, who also does the intro/outro music.

    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


    Human-Faced Fish (Ep. 30) Feb 21, 2019
    Show notes

    Next time you're staring down into a rowdy school of koi, keep an eye out for the one that has a human face. This is a jinmengyo and rumor has it if you see one a tsunami is on its way.

    Or maybe if you're lucky, you'll get a glimpse of the nekomengyo/cat-faced carp. Which is much cuter until it grows those long legs and walks around at night.

    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 Devils are Coming! (Setsubun) (Ep. 29) Jan 29, 2019
    Show notes

    The devils are coming! Or the ogres or demons, depending on how you translate the Japanese word oni (鬼). February 3rd is Setsubun in Japan and it's not just the day before spring according to the lunar calendar, it's also the day that oni prowl the streets and children must pelt them roasted soybeans to insure good luck for the coming year. In this episode of Uncanny Japan, I talk about Setsubun and the various ways it's celebrated.

    This years good luck direction to face when eating your eho-maki is east northeast.

    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


    Ebisu, The Leech Boy Who Became a God (Ep. 28) Jan 14, 2019
    Show notes

    I'm starting 2019 off with the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichi Fukujin), or, well, more specifically ONE of the Seven Lucky Gods: Ebisu. He's the only one born and bred in Japan and, boy, does he have some seriously weird backstory.

    Come listen to me talk about Ebisu while binaurally recording a walk through Kyoto Station.

    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


    Ojizo Bound in Ropes Doused in Oil (Ep. 27) Dec 14, 2018
    Show notes

    The ojizo only wants to ease our suffering, and for that he gets tied up in ropes, doused in oil, and his head lopped off. Episode 27 of Uncanny Japan talks a little more about the ojizo statue, bringing to light some of the curious, unique, and bizarre manifestations of this beneficent deity.

    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


    Ojizo. The Little Guy Saving You and Yours From the Torments of Hell (Ep. 26) Nov 21, 2018
    Show notes

    An ojizo-sama is here to put aside his own enlightenment in order to save us all from the torments of hell. True story. He is especially partial to children, expectant mothers, firemen, travelers, pilgrims, stillborn, miscarried, and aborted babies. Do you have some kind of pain? He's here to take that away, too.

    The background binaural sounds are a small group of Japanese men and women playing a game of gateball. They're rooting for each other, taking the piss out of each other, and finally running out of time and losing their games against one another.

    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


    Bancho Sarayashiki: Okiku and the Nine Plates (Ep. 25) Oct 29, 2018
    Show notes

    One, two, three... Okiku kneeling, counts the priceless plates that have been entrusted to her. Four, five, six... her samurai master, Tessan, stands, hands on hips, he watches her trembling hands. Seven, eight, nine... Okiku gasps. She checks the wooden chest, looks around panicked. There were ten. Now there are nine. Where did the other one go? Tessan enraged accuses her of stealing it, or perhaps breaking it and hiding the pieces. Where did she hide them? Maybe in the well. Tessan drags the poor servant girl from the room and to the well where in a fit of rage he throws her in to her death.

    The following night Tessan awakes to the sound of Okiku carefully counting the plates. One, two, three... When she reaches nine and discovers there is no tenth plate she lets out an inhuman scream that shakes Tessan to his bones. This happens again and again until driven mad, Tessan takes up his own blade and ends his life.

    Episode 25 of Uncanny Japan is me on a local train telling you about Okiku, the poor servant girl who is still believed to haunt the well where she perished so many years ago. If you hear her count to nine, you too will die a horrible death. If you hear her but flee before she gets to seven, you may perhaps live, but you may also lose some of your mind.

    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


    A Bedtime Story: Kachi-Kachi Mountain (PG Version) (Ep. 24) Oct 11, 2018
    Show notes

    Episode 24 of Uncanny Japan is a story, a Bedtime Story. Here I read to you my retelling and reimagining of a classic Japanese folktale Kachi Kachi Yama (Kachi Kachi Mountain). There are quite a few versions of the story out there. This one is very PG and everyone friendly. The more true-to-the-original and very slightly R-rated is over as extra content on Patreon.

    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

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

    Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/XdMZTzmyUb

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/UncannyJapan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncannyjapan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thersamatsuura Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncannyjapan/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmbTSrQe1cxBy522vxAI8Bg Website: https://www.uncannyjapan.com/

    Credits

    Intro and outro music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

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


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