Browsed by
Category: Japanese

Episode 6: Japanese Superstitions 1

Episode 6: Japanese Superstitions 1

Comments 2 comments

In May’s Uncanny Japan you get three Japanese superstitions and why:

1)Please don’t cut your nails at night.

2)Please don’t whistle at night.

3) Please do kill spiders at night…or don’t, actually you might not want to. There’s a good argument why you should let those night spiders live.

Above is an Edo Era woman cutting her nails with some ginormous nail clippers.

—–

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.

Episode 4: Monkeys and Monkey Lore!

Episode 4: Monkeys and Monkey Lore!

Comments 8 comments

March’s Uncanny Japan podcast is all about monkeys and monkey lore — wordplay, superstition, and good luck charms. You can listen to that below.

Also, if you’re interested in me retelling/reimagining obscure Japanese folktales, take a look at my Patreon page. This month’s Bedtime Story (5$ and up reward) is “The Monkeys’ Ojizo Statue” (“Saru no Ojizo”).

(Me holding my smashed faced Sarubobo.)

Finally, below I give you a lucky saru. It’s a hanga-engraving I carved of a cheeky monkey flashing the peace sign while the character for ‘dream’ floats overhead. What could be luckier than that?

Thanks for listening!

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.

Episode 3: Koshin Shinko–庚申信仰

Episode 3: Koshin Shinko–庚申信仰

Comments 5 comments

Koshin Shinko is the belief that you are born with three worms (called sanshi) inside your body, and that these creatures’ only purpose is to shorten your life so they can be free again.

In this podcast I not only tell you more about those nasty parasites and how you can hinder them, I also talk about those three monkeys (See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil) and how they are here to help you out. Oh, and immortality. I also talk about how you can gain immortality.

I found the dates for 2017: Feb. 2/April 3rd/June 2nd/August 1st/September 30th/November 29th.

—–

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.

Episode 2: Hatsu-yume – 初夢

Episode 2: Hatsu-yume – 初夢

Comments 6 comments

Hatsu-yume is the first dream you have in the New Year. In Japan there is a saying: ichi fuji, ni taka, san nasubi. Which means the luckiest dream you can have is of Mt. Fuji, the second luckiest thing to see in a dream is a hawk, and the third is an eggplant.

In this podcast I tell you why an eggplant is considered prosperous and also talk about the little known fourth, fifth, and sixth lucky things to dream about to guarantee a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

—–

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.