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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

Latest Episodes:

Teachers Running (Shiwasu) (Ep. 13) Dec 17, 2017

Show notes

Everyone's busy. It's the end of the year. Come listen to me talk about how we spend December in Japan while you listen to a mochi-pounding event in the background on binaural mics. There is cleaning, haircuts, paying debts and staying up all night to avoid gray hair.

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

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

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

Goroawase: Tricky Numbers (Ep. 12) Nov 16, 2017

Show notes

In Japan numbers can be tricky. Four is thought to invite death. Nine brings suffering and agony. But, hey! Eight is good!

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

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

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

The Devil’s Gate (Kimon) (Ep. 11) Oct 18, 2017

Show notes

You have one. I have one. We all have one: a Devil's Gate. It's the place where oni (Japanese devils) sneak into your home, steal all your good luck and fine health, and scuttle away. It's the place you have to be very careful about and treat with respect. The problem is, most of us have no idea where our Devil's Gate (kimon) is, much less what to do to appease and/or keep out those pesky devils.

Walk with me in the pouring rain and listen to this month's podcast. It's all about your devil's gate, where to find it, and what might be done to protect yourself and your family from those intrusive luck-nabbing oni.

This incident I talk about in the podcast (the moving and my mother-in-law) was the impetus for my short story "My Devil's Gate" that was published in my first collection: A Robe of Feathers and Other Stories.

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

Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

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

Gaki: Hungry Ghosts (Ep. 10) Sep 13, 2017

Show notes

Careful. Living a life of luxury while being selfish and coveting your neighbors goodies just might lead you to another spin on this Wheel of Life. This means after you die you'll be reborn not as a human again, not even as a squirrel in someone's backyard. You might just come back as a hungry ghost, and let me tell you why that's not a very good thing.

This month's podcast is about Japanese hungry ghosts or gaki in Japanese. Not for the feint of heart.

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

The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

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

Obon Part Two: Sending Away Fires (Okuribi) (Ep. 9) Aug 15, 2017

Show notes

This month's podcast is Obon Part Two, the time when you have to send ol' grandma and grandpa back to the World of the Dead. There are various ways of doing this. I talk about two, the chill, mellow way and the flinging-balls-of-fire-into-the-air way.

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

The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a piece by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a creepy bedtime story sent to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

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

Obon Part One: On Cucumber Horses They Ride (Ep. 8) Jul 16, 2017

Show notes

In Japan, Obon is the time of year when all the ancestors' spirits make the long haul back to the world of the living to pay a visit. It's kind of a big deal. Butsudan-altars are decorated to the hilt and families wait expectantly for grandma and grandpa, great grandma and great grandpa (not to mention great, great, great grandma and grandpa) to arrive and hang out.

This month's podcast is part one of Obon, welcoming fires and cucumber horses.

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

The intro/outro music is a piece by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Check out her books on Amazon. If you'd like to help support the podcast and have a creepy bedtime story sent to you monthly, please visit Patreon.

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

Senninbari: The Thousand-Stitch Belt (Ep. 7) Jun 19, 2017

Show notes

The senninbari or one thousand-stitch belt is a magical kind of sash worn by soldiers in World War 2 to ward off enemies bullets and impart super human strength.

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

The intro/outro music is a piece by Christiaan Virant (“Yi Gui” from Ting Shuo). The whole album is just gorgeous as it everything else by FM3.

Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura. Her other show is 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.

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

Japanese Superstitions Part One (Ep. 6) May 15, 2017

Show notes

Why can't you cut your fingernails after dark in Japan? What happens if you whistle at night? And why do spiders bring good luck in the morning but bad luck at night?

These aren't just random rules—each superstition has roots in old Japan's daily life, from the tools people used to the dangers they faced after sunset. Some reasons are practical. Others are... unsettling.

In this episode we explore three common Japanese superstitions and uncovers the surprising (and sometimes dark) explanations behind them.

[Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.]

Follow Uncanny Japan

Credits

Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

About SpectreVision Radio

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

spectrevisionradio.com
linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial

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

Kishibojin: Japanese Demon Mother Who Became Child Protector Goddess (Ep. 5) Apr 14, 2017

Show notes

In this episode, I explore Kishibojin (or Kishimojin)—originally the Hindu deity Hariti—who made her way through the Lotus Sutra into Japanese Buddhism and Shinto practice. You'll hear about the pomegranate she holds (said to taste like human flesh), her ten demon daughters with names like "Spirit Snatcher" and "Flowery Teeth," and the temples in Tokyo where mothers still pray to her today.

From recording at the windswept docks of my small Japanese town, I share the complete story of this fascinating deity who embodies the Buddhist concept of transformation through understanding.

[Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.]

Follow Uncanny Japan

Credits

Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

About SpectreVision Radio

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

spectrevisionradio.com
linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial

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

Monkeys and Monkey Lore! (Ep. 4) Mar 17, 2017

Show notes

Monkey lore in Japan is vast and confusing—monkeys can be good, monkeys can be bad, depending on what you're looking at. There's a wordplay thing going on with the word "saru" that explains a lot. Then there's this whole connection between monkeys and horses that shows up everywhere in old Japanese art. And finally, there are these creepy faceless monkey charms you can buy in Kyoto and Nara.

Come explore Japanese monkey folklore with me.

[Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.]

Follow Uncanny Japan

Credits

Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura

About SpectreVision Radio

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

spectrevisionradio.com
linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial

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

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