About this episode

The episode features a reading of Lafcadio Hearn's essay 'By the Japanese Sea', exploring themes of death and the supernatural in Japanese coastal culture.

On the final days of Obon, fishermen along Japan’s western coast once believed the sea belonged to the dead. In this episode, I read Lafcadio Hearn’s eerie and beautiful essay “By the Japanese Sea.” Along the journey, we encounter drowned spirits rising from the waves, cats carried aboard fishing boats to ward off ghosts, delicate straw vessels made for lost souls, and a haunted futon whispering in the voices of two freezing children. This reading originally appeared as one of the bedtime stories shared with Uncanny Japan Patreon supporters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics covered

• Obon
• Japanese folklore
• ghost stories
• fishing culture
• spirits

Keywords

• Lafcadio Hearn
• By the Japanese Sea
• Obon
• ghosts
• Japanese sea
• fishing
• spirits
• haunted futon
• cats

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