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...
Latest episodes
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21 min
Never Say Monkey! Japan's Strangest Mountain Superstitions (Ep. 201)
What happens if you say "monkey" before entering the mountains? Why shouldn't you sing or whistle in the forest? And what on earth is wrong with pointing at a snake? As I prepare f…
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40 min
The Lost Wolves of Japan: Gods, Guardians, and Ghosts (Ep. 200) -from the archives
Once, wolves roamed the mountains of Japan—not simply as predators, but as protectors, messengers of the gods, and sometimes gods themselves. For this special archive episode, I’ve…
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20 min
The Yōkai That Drops from the Trees *squish*: Tsurube Otoshi
The cicadas are fading, the bell crickets are singing, and autumn is beginning to creep into Japan. There’s an old saying: aki no hi wa tsurube otoshi—“an autumn day falls like a w…
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25 min
Folklore Story Time: The Sea Monster of the Oki Islands (Ep. 198)
This episode is story time. We’re traveling to the remote Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan for an old Japanese tale collected by Richard Gordon Smith in his 1908 book Ancient Tales…
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27 min
100 Ghost Stories in the Dark: Why Summer Is Ghost Season in Japan (Ep. 197)
In Japan, ghosts don’t wait for October. Summer—especially the hot, humid weeks around Obon—has long been the season for ghost stories, strange encounters, and deliberately scaring…
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35 min
How to Welcome the Dead Home: Obon in Japan (Ep. 196)
Every Obon, Japan’s ancestral spirits return home—guided by tiny fires and carried on cucumber horses. This year, for the first time, I’m responsible for preparing my father-in-law…
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44 min
Creepy Story Time: "By the Japanese Sea" -- Lafcadio Hearn
On the final days of Obon, fishermen along Japan’s western coast once believed the sea belonged to the dead. In this episode, I read Lafcadio Hearn’s eerie and beautiful essay “By…
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19 min
Tanabata: Star-Crossed Lovers (Ep.55) -- From the Vault
A short Tanabata tale from the Uncanny Vault: Orihime the weaving princess, Hikoboshi the cowherd, and the river of stars that keeps them apart. On the seventh night of the seventh…
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29 min
Childhood Incantations: Engacho, Pain Magic, & Severed Pinkies! (Ep. 194)
Two little boys find a dead bird on a mountain path. One accidentally touches it with his shoe, and suddenly the invisible contagion begins. Fingers cross. A circle is made. A hand…
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16 min
Utsuro-Bune: The Hollow Ship Revisited (Ep. 193)
In 1803, fishermen on Japan’s Hitachi coast spotted something round and unfamiliar drifting offshore. They hauled the hollow vessel onto the beach—and discovered a mysterious young…
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30 min
The Big Three UFO/UAP Incidents in Japan + One! (Ep. 192)
Japan’s 1970s UFO boom gave us some wonderfully strange cases: children capturing a tiny hat-shaped UFO in Kōchi, two boys encountering wrinkled aliens in a Yamanashi vineyard, and…
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31 min
The Ghost-Playing Actor Who Became a REAL Vengeful Ghost: Kohada Koheiji (Ep. 191)
Not all Japanese revenge ghosts are wronged women. Meet Kohada Koheiji: a failed Edo-period actor who became famous for playing ghosts, only to be murdered, drowned, and returned a…
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23 min
All That Flows: Benzaiten, White Snakes, and Human-Headed Serpents
In this episode of Uncanny Japan, we follow Benzaiten — also known as Benten — from her origins as Saraswati to her place among Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods. Along the way: Enoshima’s…
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33 min
Everyone Has a Throat Buddha / What is it and Why? -- Nodohotoke & Story Time: "The Buddha Bone" (Ep. 189)
Have you ever heard of the nodo-hotoke, or “throat Buddha”? In everyday Japanese, it usually refers to the Adam’s apple. But after death, especially in the context of cremation, th…
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29 min
Ofuda & Omamori: Lucky Talismans & Charms
After exploring animal spirit possession last episode, Thersa turns to the Japanese ways of staying safe, getting a little lucky, and maybe even finding love through ofuda and omam…
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31 min
Tsukimono: Possessed by an Animal (Ep. 187)
What is tsukimono? In Japanese culture, it’s the unsettling idea of possession—when a human or animal spirit attaches itself to you and usually does harm. In this episode of Uncann…
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22 min
Takiyasha Hime & the Gashadokuro: Japan's Frog-Riding Witch & Giant Skeleton
A vengeful princess rides a giant toad into battle while a monstrous skeleton tears through castle walls — and these two legends are connected in ways you might not expect. In this…
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16 min
Why the Year of the Fire Horse is Dreaded in Japan and Cursed Kimonos
2026 is the year of the fire horse—a year that happens only once every 60 years. Across East Asia, it symbolizes transformation, intensity, and bold action. But in Japan? It's fear…
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26 min
Osechi: Japanese New Year Food Traditions
What if the meal sitting in those beautiful lacquered boxes held messages from the gods? In Japan, osechi-ryōri isn't just New Year's food—it's a sacred offering. Each dish carries…
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31 min
Japanese Moon Lore: Selfless Rabbits, Murdered Goddesses, and Tsukimi
Don't point at the moon—you might wake up without your ears. In Japan, the moon rabbit isn't just making mochi. Its image was placed there by the gods to honor an act of pure sacri…