Category: Poetry

Show Notes for bonus episode 23 of our Podcast – The Demon Candlestick. Story Notes Now this particular tale I came across when doing research into the yokai from the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi by Toriyama Sekien. And notes alongside this creature in the book I was using also led us[...]

Show Notes for episode 84 of our Podcast – The Three Bonsai. Story Notes In the reign of the Emperor Go-Fukakusa there lived a celebrated Regent, Saimyoji Tokiyori. When thirty years of age this Regent retired to a monastery for several years, and not infrequently his peace of mind was[...]

Show Notes for episode 81 of our Podcast – A Troubled Stomach. Story Notes Now this is a tale which can be found in the konjaku monogatari shū, a tale revolving around a man known as Fujiwara no Tamemori from the Province of Echizen. A Province he was made Governor[...]

Show Notes for episode 80 of our Podcast – Hoichi the Earless. Story Notes More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of Shimonoséki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the Heiké, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the[...]

Show Notes for episode 77 of our Podcast – To Live Forever. Show Notes This is another story by Yei Theodora Ozaki, a woman who sorely deserves her own episode on our show some time soon! Long, long ago there lived a man called Sentaro. His surname meant “Millionaire,” but[...]

Show Notes for bonus 20 of our Podcast – Pearl Diving in Japan. Story Notes Pearl Diving in Japan is carried out by a group of women known as Ama or to us Diving Women. Their jobs consisted of catching seafood to sell, but over time these women had grown[...]

Show Notes for episode 73B of our Podcast – Becoming Maiko. Story Notes We continue today the tale of Mineko, as she comes ever closer to becoming a fully fledged Geisha. But it is not going to be an easy time for her. On January 9th one of her nephews[...]

Show Notes for episode 72 of our Podcast – Higuchi Ichiyo. Story Notes Today we finally delve into the life of Higuchi Ichiyo, the woman you can see on the 5000円 note. Ichiyo was born on May 2, 1872. Her name at birth was Natsu, although she also called herself[...]

Show Notes for episode 71 of our Podcast – Hidden Names. Story Notes Our first episode during Womens History Month, so I wanted to do an episode on 3 women I have come across in my time making the website and they are women we do not know the names[...]

Show Notes for episode 70 of our Podcast – Making Withered Trees Bloom. Story Notes Long, long ago there lived an old man and his wife who supported themselves by cultivating a small plot of land. Their life had been a very happy and peaceful one save for one great[...]

Show Notes for episode 66C of our Podcast – Tattooing – The Suikoden. Story Notes So lets us bring to a close our episodes on the history of tattoos.  We have mentioned throughout the popularity of the heroes from the Suikoden so I feel it makes sense to bring it[...]

Show Notes for episode 66A of our Podcast – Tattooing a History. Story Notes Now first off I want to say there was an unfortunate death in my family recently, hence the break in episodes. But we are here now. And I am much better than I was.   But[...]

Show Notes for episode 64 of our Podcast – To Hell and Back. Story Notes Listeners discretion advised for this episode. It is gory, and graphic, and due to the age of the document translated, sexist.   Now you may recall this from Yasuke, but I mentioned a tale known as[...]

Show Notes for episode 63 of our Podcast – Turtle Folklore. Story Notes There are four divine beasts in Chinese culture, and it’s from this that Japanese culture derives some of the basis for its own turtle folklore   The four divine beasts are the dragon, bird, and tiger. Each of[...]

Show Notes for episode 62 of our Podcast – The Exploits of Okuninushi. Story Notes Now we haven’t been here since Episode 44, a long time ago now, but we will be continuing on with the story of Shinto.   And so we left it off last time with Susano-o having[...]

Show Notes for episode 61 of our Podcast – Golden Week. Story Notes Today Heather brought us the history of Golden Week so lets get into it. Golden week got its start in 1948. The Japanese government established a “public holiday law” designating 9 official holidays as well as stating[...]

Show Notes for episode 60B of our Podcast – The Road to Kyoto Story Notes We carry on from where we left off. With Yasuke and Allesandro finishing up their meeting with Lord Arima. And so it was time for the two of them to return home, through the territory[...]

Show Notes for episode 57 of our Podcast – A Brief History of Noodles. Story Notes If you mention Japan and noodles in the same sentence, most people in America would, I assume, think you are talking about ramen. Ramen has become so ingrained in American culture that, along with[...]

Show Notes for episode 56 of our Podcast – The Tongue Cut Sparrow. Today we read the translation from 1901 by Yei Theodora Ozaki. As it is now in the public domain here is the story in full for you. Story Notes Long, long ago in Japan there lived an[...]

Show Notes for episode 55 of our Podcast – The Life and Poems of Manzei. Story Notes Now the poems we will talk of today come from the man’yōshū, a large poetry collection of 20 volumes and more than 4,500 waka poems. The document in question was divided into three[...]

Show Notes for episode 54B of our Podcast – Divine Crow. Story Notes Reading through my notes and the books again to double check everything before todays episode I came across a mistake from the last episode so lets quickly rectify that.   We talked about Naga-sune-hiko and how he attacked[...]

Show Notes for episode 54A of our Podcast – The First Emperor. Story Notes Today we are going to talk about Jimmu Tenno 神武天皇, or to the Western world, the Emperor Jimmu.   Now he is going to act as we have said as the first in our chronological telling of[...]

Show Notes for episode 53 of our Podcast – Kettles and Sparrows. Story Notes Today we had two folktales from a very old source, The Folk Lore Record dating to 1878. So sit back and enjoy the tales. The Bewitched Tea-Kettle This story is originally called the Bunbuku Chagama. A[...]

Show Notes for episode 51 of our Podcast – Kintaro the Golden Boy. Story Notes Long, long ago there lived in Kyoto a brave soldier named Kintoki. Now he fell in love with a beautiful lady and married her. Not long after this, through the malice of some of his[...]

Show Notes for episode 49 of our Podcast – The Sacred Regalia. Story Notes Today I wanted to try and piece together the history of the Sacred Regalia in Japan. Where as England has their crown jewels for example, in Japan they have these Regalia, or the Sanshu no Jingi[...]

Show Notes for episode 48 of our Podcast – Iroha and Dragonflies. Story Notes So if I was to ask you what a pangram was, what example could you give?  If you are an English speaker you may already know of one, even if you didn’t realise such a thing[...]

Show Notes for bonus episode 9 of our Podcast – Momiji Meat. Story Notes All the way back in Episode 16 we heard of a poem from Sarumaru Taifu that went as follows.  (From the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.) 奥山に 紅葉踏みわけ 鳴く鹿の 声きく時ぞ 秋はかなしき  Okuyama ni momoji mireba naku shika no koe kiku toki zo aki wa kanashiki  In[...]

Show Notes for episode 46 of our Podcast – The Peony Lantern. Story Notes I There once lived in the district of Ushigome, in Yedo, a hatamoto called Iijima Heizayemon, whose only daughter, Tsuyu, was beautiful as her name, which signifies “Morning Dew.” Iijima took a second wife when his[...]

 Show Notes for episode 45 of our Podcast – Beginning Basho. Story Notes 古池や蛙飛びこむ水の音  furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto   Breaking the silence of an ancient pond, a frog jumped into water – A deep resonance We’ve encountered Basho so many times during the podcast, that[...]

Show Notes for episode 44 of our Podcast – Yamata no Orochi. Story Notes So finally Susano-o is leaving Heaven, he has caused offence, he caused the sun kami to flee for a time causing the land to fall into darkness, and generally he has proven to be not a[...]

Show Notes for episode 42B of our Podcast – Falling Blossoms. Story Notes We want to make you aware of the sensitive topics we will be sharing today. We will do our best to present this information to you as educational, and encourage you to do further research as well.[...]

Show Notes for episode 42A of our Podcast – A Passion for Cherry Blossoms. Story Notes In ancient Japan, blossoms were a symbol of new life, new beginnings. But this began to change through in second half of 19th century, accelerating dramatically in the 1930’s. They changed them to be[...]

Show Notes for episode 41 of our Podcast – Hokusai. Story Notes Hokusai, is the name he is most well known by, but his given name when he was born in 1760 was Tokitaro. Born some believe in the Warigesui section of the Honjo District in Edo.  People believe his[...]

Show Notes for episode 40 of our Podcast – Cat Folklore #1. Cat Folklore covers so much in Japan, and there is no way we could do it all in one episode for you all, so lets delve into a little part of the Cat Folklore that fills Japan. Story[...]

Show Notes for episode 39 of our Podcast – First Antarctic Expedition. Story Notes To start off it is best to talk a little about the man behind the expedition. His name was Nobu Shirase, born originally in Akita Prefecture (so I nice little tie in with last weeks episode),[...]

Show Notes for episode 38 of our Podcast – Hachiko: The Dog Who Waited. Story Notes To tell the story of Hachiko it is no doubt also good to know a little about the man who raise him.  Now this man was known as Hidesaburō Ueno ((上野 英三郎) born January[...]

Show Notes for episode 36 of our Podcast – A Brief History of Rice. Story Notes What is rice? How is it grown?  The rice plant is a grass. The product, also called rice, is a cereal grain, and the scientific name is Oryza sativa. It is usually grown in[...]

Show Notes for episode 35 of our Podcast – Light Returns. Story Notes All the kami of Heaven gather on the banks of the river Amenoyasunokawa (meaning Heavens Tranquil Stream) while they decided what should be done to get Amaterasu to leave the cave after she flees into it from[...]

Show Notes for episode 30 of our Podcast – The Bean Throwing Festival. Story Notes There is a saying in Japan they states: On the Eve of the beginning of the Spring Season, to place heads of sardine and holly is to ward of the devil known as Kaguhana, a[...]

Show Notes for episode 29 of our Podcast – Mother of Japanese Whiskey. Story Notes Jessie Roberta Cowan was born in December 14, 1896 in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Her father was a doctor in the village. She grew up the oldest of four children, two younger sisters and a[...]

Show Notes for episode 28 of our Podcast – Shark Man. Story Notes So today is yet again another link to one of the places we seem to be growing a fondness for. And that is the area around Lake Biwa outside of Kyoto. Honestly, at this point I think[...]

Show Notes for episode 26 of our Podcast – Okiku and the Nine Plates. Story Notes Today I wanted to tell a story, this one in particular being a ghost story – The story of Okiku and the Nine Plates. Now this is one of Japanese better known Ghosts stories[...]

Show Notes for episode 23 of our Podcast – The Worms that Speak to Ten-tei. Story Notes Todays episode was a three in one combo for you all. Not three separate topics, but three different topics all which I discovered linked into one another. So lets start with a Yōkai[...]

Show Notes for episode 22 of our Podcast – En the Pilgrim. Story Notes En no Ozunu is an interesting man. Born in a time really before the Ninja, if anyone would have asked him if he considered himself to be one he would have just looked at you in[...]

Show Notes for episode 20 of our Podcast – Sole Japanese aboard the Titanic. Story Notes So today I wanted to talk about Masabumi Hosono. He was born October 15th 1870 and lived until March 14th 1939. Now we know he lived his life being a civil servant but what[...]

Show Notes for episode 19 of our Podcast – Japanese Curry. Story Notes The origins of Japanese curry come from British curry. When the British navy came to Japan, they brought along their curry as well. Curry uses easy to store ingredients like onions, potatoes, and carrots and it’s a[...]

Show Notes for episode 18 of our Podcast – The Bell of Miidera.   We know of several stories surrounding the Bell of Miidera. Story Notes Kanesama One relates how women were forbidden to touch the bell as it was feared that it would cause the bell to go dull.[...]

Show Notes for episode 17B of our Podcast – Hitobashira.   Story Notes Human Sacrifice known as Hitobashira, literally translates as ‘Human Pillar,’ and is a purported form of Human Sacrifice carried out in Ancient Japan. However, we have no physical proof that such a thing ever occoured. In times[...]

Show Notes for episode 17A of our Podcast – Human Sacrifice.   Story Notes Archaeologically speaking, the act of human sacrifice has never been documented in Japan. So I want to look into the old tales told of this practise. The Bow In times long past there was the belief[...]

Show Notes for episode 16 of our Podcast – The Devil’s Gate.   Story Notes We have portrayals of the Yokai known as the Oni, which Heather mentioned in the previous episode about Momotaro. You can find his depiction in his Yokai compendium called the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki. He[...]

Show Notes for 15 of our Podcast – Son of a Peach. Also known as the Peach Boy.   Story Notes Mukashi, mukashi, there lived an old couple. This couple was very happy, but they never had a child. They spent their days on their farm doing chores.  Now, the[...]

Show Notes for EP14B of our Podcast – Hei! Say my Name. Tales of Fuji. Story Notes Lake Motosu Now, after researching this lake I have been unable to find any stories linked to it. So if I am missing something, and if you’re listening an no I story I[...]

Show Notes for EP14A of our Podcast – Hei! Say my Name. The man on the 1000円 Story Notes Hideyo Noguchi was was born on November 9th, 1876 so we’re almost reaching modern Japan. The Edo Period had ended 8 years ago by this point. And for those in the[...]

Show Notes for EP13 of our Podcast – Palace Sparrows. Story Notes I wanted to talk today about Fujiwara no Sanekata, a member of the Fujiwara Clan he was an accomplished poet in his time. And we can find 68 of his poems in imperial waka anthologies. During his life[...]

Show Notes for EP12 of our Podcast – When Day became Night. Story Notes Izanagi having left Yomi and needing to cleanse himself bathed in the Tachibana River. From this many new Gods sprang forth, however, the Gods we will talk about today are Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi. The Sun Goddess[...]

Show Notes for EP10 of our Podcast – A Ghost Story in Tokyo. (Show notes today by Heather). Story Notes: I’m outside today for our ghost story, in the dark in Tokyo. I hope you can hear the sound of the cicadas.  Ghost stories are usually told in summer in[...]

Show Notes for episode 9 of our Podcast – Izumo Province (Mythological Creation). Story Notes The story for today comes from the Izumo fudoki, written about the Japanese Province of Izumo. (Modern Day Shimane Prefecture) This fudoki (which were created as way to record the histories and information pertaining to[...]

Show Notes for EP8B – Order 9066 and 1000 Cranes. (Show notes today by Heather). Story Notes: Sometimes there is a call to action. That even if you know what you are doing may not have a huge effect, but sometimes you need to do anything you can. For this[...]

Show Notes for EP8A – Righteous Among Nations Story Notes: Chiune Sugihara was born 1 January, 1900  in Gifu prefecture. The second son of Yoshima and Yatsu, he had 5 brothers and one sister.  His family lived in a borrowed temple, close to Kyosen-ji.  He moved to many elementary schools[...]

Show Notes for EP7 of our Podcast – Target: Nobunaga. Story Notes Sugitani Zenjubo (杉谷善住坊) was born to one of the 53 families of the Koga Clan, acting as Ninja and Sniper for them until his death in 1573. He was best known for his use of the matchlock rifle (hinawa-ju). Initially the Koga[...]

Show Notes for EP6 of our Podcast – Lord of Rice. Story Notes Fujiwara Hidesato, also known as Tawara Toda, wished for adventure and so one day set out. Reaching Seta-no-Karashi Bridge on Lake Biwa he finds a serpent-dragon sleeping across it. Undeterred he walks over the Dragon, afterwards, the Dragon changes into a[...]