Japanese Horror Stories

This episode is rated mature. Horror and uncanny stories are fundamental elements of Japanese storytelling. We’ll start with a note about genre in general and “horror” in particular. We’ll continue with a discussion of horror in traditional Japanese storytelling, especially the kaidan popular in Edo Japan. We’ll move on to the decline and rebirth of kaidan and uncanny fiction between the Meiji Restoration and the Pacific War before we discuss Japanese horror fiction of the last 70 years. Then...