Scary Story Time: "Go-Away Monkey" (Ep. 86)

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 five-headed dragon, white snakes as divine messengers, snake-skin wallets, house snakes, and Ugajin, ...  Show more

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, the nodo-hotoke becomes something else entirely, the actual seat of your soul. In this episode of Unca ...  Show more

Three connected stories of samurai from medieval Japan. On the first, Kintaro, a buff eight-year-old, discovers his destiny. On the second, Watanabe no Tsuna, a samurai warrior in his prime fights a demon that's been terrorizing a gate in Kyoto, and on the third he's recruited by ...  Show more

A super-powered monkey from Chinese folklore meets more than he bargained for: a sloshing hollow gourd full of pus. The creature is the Mikaribaba (箕借り婆) from Japanese folklore, a great reason not to shower (because she will literally gouge out your eyes). -- Scoundrel! New episo ...  Show more

Three stories from Japan about love gone wrong. On the first, the fairest youth in all the land is set to marry the daughter of a rich noble. The problem? His father kind of oversold his looks... On the second, we'll see why moths and other nighttime bugs go toward the light, and ...  Show more

There's a killer on the loose in Kyoto. Young women are disappearing from the streets, never to be heard from again. Minamoto no Raikō, the legendary samurai, knows that it isn't merely a serial killer, but the demons. After he and other samurai like him drove the demons away, ...