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Episode 10: Hungry Ghosts (Gaki)

Episode 10: Hungry Ghosts (Gaki)

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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.

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 9: Obon Part Two-Sending Away Fires (Okuribi)

Episode 9: Obon Part Two-Sending Away Fires (Okuribi)

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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.

Above and below are photos of my local okuribi – sending away fires.

 

Notes: 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.

Thank you for listening. Uncanny Japan is me, Thersa Matsuura (author). If you’d like to help support the podcast and even get your own creepy bedtime story sent to you monthly, check me out on Patreon.

Episode 8: Obon Part One-On Cucumber Horses They Ride

Episode 8: Obon Part One-On Cucumber Horses They Ride

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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 vegetable livestock.

Notes: 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 Thersa Matsuura (author) who is also on Patreon.

Episode 6: Japanese Superstitions 1

Episode 6: Japanese Superstitions 1

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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.

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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.