Story Time: The Kappa's Abyss (Ep. 75)

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

The podcast returns as sharp as ever with a discussion of an example of a Malaysian blade called a kris! Allyson talks about the transition… 

Battleship Island - Also known as Hashima Island, is an abandoned island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan. What once was a mining metropolis with a dark secret is now abandoned and inhabited only by ghosts.  Discover more TERRIFYING podcasts at http://eeriecast.com/ Follow Carm ...  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

Hupia - rooted in Caribbean folklore, are spirits of the deceased known to wander the islands, driven by a relentless desire to possess the living. These ethereal entities, with an insatiable inclination for the corporeal, embody the eerie tales that have endured through centurie ...  Show more