I’ve had quite a few requests via email, DMs, and reviews for a show on Japanese urban legends. Episode #23 is in answer to those requests. Here are two urban myths that have always intrigued me: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (kuchisake onna) and The White Thread That Comes from Your Ear (mimi kara shiroi ito).
Notes: Intro and Outro music is provided by Julyan Matsuura. He also does the music beds for my Bedtime Stories (available on Patreon).
Here are the last four Buddhist Hot Hells for your enjoyment. There is extreme heat, much screaming, and a flaming rooster. Also, I was able to catch a local summer festival on the binaural mics. That is very cool.
The third Monday of July is Umi no Hi (海の日), Marine Day, so this month on Uncanny Japan I decided to talk about three otherworldly ocean creatures: Ship Goddesses, Boat Ghosts, and Sea Monks. Funa dama (船霊), funa yurei (船幽霊), and umi bozu (海坊主).
This month’s Bedtime Story (over on Patreon) is a folktale I translated called: The Umbrella Sea Monster.
Umi Bozu
Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (from the album Ting Shuo).
This month’s podcast is a special one. Not only did I do a podcast about a strange little creature called the amanojaku (天邪鬼), but at the end I attached one of my Bedtime Stories that I record monthly for my Patrons. So if you stay tuned after the podcast (a whopping 10 minutes), you’ll be treated to my interpretation (the happy-ending version) of Urikohime (瓜子姫), The Melon Princess and the Amanojaku.
The podcast: The amanojaku is a nasty Japanese beastie that predates Buddhism, might have originated from a Shinto deity, who you can usually find getting trampled on by the Four Heavenly Kings at temples all around Japan.
Amanojaku is also a word used to describe a contrary person.
I want to give super special thanks to my Tech Guy for working so hard on getting the sound so good. I’m not an attention-to-detail kind of person. But he is and works his butt off, not to mention he has mad skills. Thank you, Rich Pav!
Notes: The intro/outro music of Uncanny Japan is a song by Christiaan Virant (fromthe album Ting Shuo). The music bed on the Bedtime Story is by Julyan Matsuura. I’m looking forward to having more of his songs accompanying my Bedtimes Stories and most likely the intro/outro soon.
Welcome to May’s Uncanny Japan. In this episode I talk about the God of Smallpox (housougami/疱瘡神). Come listen to the beliefs in this fearsome god and how dogs and the color red kept him at bay.
In the above picture you can see a child sick with smallpox and all the talismans
placed around him for protection. Notice all the red and the taisha, too. 
The above photo is of an aka-e (red picture) of a taisha (sea bream car).
Above is the samurai Tametomo scaring away the God of Smallpox.
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.