Ame-onna - Rain Woman's Original Ghost Story (Ep. 180)

About this episode

The episode explores the lore of Ame-onna, the rain woman, and presents an original ghost story inspired by her legend.

We're getting closer to Halloween. How about another ghost story? Ame-onna, the rain woman - a haggard looking thing, soaked to the bone, wandering rainy nights. There's lore about her, rumors, theories... but she doesn't have her own ghost story. So I fixed that. First, I'll tell you the fascinating history: from Toriyama Sekien's 18th century yokai art (where she secretly represented courtesans) to the evolution into a grief-stricken mother searching for her stolen child. The Chinese literary connections. The "morning clouds, evening rain" idiom. The transformation from ephemeral beauty to child-stealing spirit. Then I'll read you my original story, "Rain for Days" - because Ame-onna deserved her own complete ghost tale. A middle child named Jiro. A mother's warning. Rainy days in old Japan. And the moment when the rain woman appears in his room, reaching out with bony fingers... [Please Note: Some of the links are affiliate links (both Amazon and other). This means that at no cost to you, if you use and purchase through them I receive a small compensation. This is paid by the retailer. It also helps support me and my artistic endeavors. Thank you.] Follow Uncanny Japan Patreon…

People in this episode

Host: Thersa Matsuura

Topics covered

• Ame-onna
• ghost stories
• Japanese folklore
• yokai
• cultural history

Keywords

• Halloween
• Toriyama Sekien
• child-stealing spirit
• Japanese culture
• original story

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Books on Amazon

Books & works: Rain for Days

Places: yokai, Japan

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