223B-Samurai Legends: Dinner Party

🍜Samurai Pirates, Stabby Sumo Wrestlers, and Punchable OniAre the consequences of Jiuyemon's actions. We all make mistakes. Too many of the samurai Jiuyemon's mistakes involved killing people with a sword while drunk, though. While the heat dies down, he needs to start a new lif ... Show More

✨Cobbler Ahmet just wants to fix shoes✨But his wife wants those sweet, sweet bath reservations, so it looks like he's going to go be the Chief Astrologer to the Sultan. The only problem(s)? He doesn't like astrology, doesn't know how to do it, and starts out by selling his astrol ... Show More

✏️Osmo is a pretty solid sketch artist✏️He’s not drawing a criminal, though. He’s drawing his sister, whose only crime is stealing the prince’s heart. And also maybe trying to escape the prison of the sea king, but that comes later.😈 The Creature: The JuruaJust when you thought ... Show More

The obscure and terrifyingly deadly yokai, the korori, ravaged Edo Japan. On today's episode I'll tell you all about it, what it really was and how foreigners were the ones who brought it to Japan. Visit the Uncanny Japan website to read the show notes and transcript. Uncanny J ... Show More

For the spooky month of October, I'm reading my short horror story, "Go-Away Monkey" from my collection The Carp-Faced Boy and Other Tales. It's set in an older Japan in a small village that has been ravaged by smallpox. If you remember Episode 4 (Monkeys and Monkey Lore), you'll ... Show More

The Hell Courtesan (Jigoku Tayuu) is a mysterious figure that appears in art and story in Japan since the 1600s. But who is this beautiful high-ranked oiran who wears a kimono covered in images of hell? In this episode I talk about her legend and relationship with the eccentric m ... Show More

His eyelids. He cut off his eyelids. But that is not all that the Daruma (Bodhidharma) is famous for. He's the man who brought Chan to China and Zen to Japan. Some say he taught the Shaolin monks how to fight while other tales talk about how he invented green tea, or well, his ey ... Show More

If a you hear a tree fall in the woods, but can't find any sign of that fallen tree, is it the work of a tengu, a creepy dead guy ghost, or something else? [This description contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission a ... Show More

<p>Yasuke is one of the most captivating and yet mysterious figures within Japanese history. In 1581, at the height of the civil war, he crossed paths with the country’s most powerful warlord, Oda Nobunaga. Their meeting bound the two men together and set Yasuke on a path to beco ... Show More

Oda Nobunaga, samurai warlord. He’s one of Japan’s most infamous and consequential figures, known to many as Japan’s first ‘Great Unifier’. From humble beginnings as the daimyo of Owari province, he embarked on a mission to unite all of Japan under his sole control. But how did h ... Show More

tailor MStephen and Wendy Reid had moved back to Concord, New Hampshire, to enjoy their retirement. Over lockdown, they had discovered a love of hiking, relishing the numerous trails that were just  stone’s throw away from their apartment. But one afternoon in April of 2022, the ... Show More

Tracey Marceau had just woken up on the 7th of November, 2011, when she heard a knock at the front door of her home in Hillcrest, Auckland, New Zealand. When she opened up the front door, she saw a man standing there before her. She recognised him immediately. Before she even had ... Show More

Episode Notes Join our Patreon for early access and bonus episodes and help support the show! Get exclusive Japanese horror merchandise and join the Discord! Do we really know what’s lurking out there? What if the other side tries to speak to us in strange ways that we just can’t ... Show More