Beware the shape-shifting man-eater.
Jorōgumo, the seductive spider woman of Japanese folklore, lures her victims with beauty before revealing her true form. In this Fairy Tale Flip episode, we dive into Japan’s religious and cultural history—Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and the rise of the samurai—to understand how power, belief, and sacred spaces shaped this terrifying legend. We explore themes of deception, seduction, and control, compare Jorōgumo to spider myths across cultures, and examine the real spider thought to have inspired the tale. Creepy, fascinating, and surprisingly complex—this is an episode you won’t forget.

1. Introduction (0:05)
2. Hosts and Podcast Overview (0:32)
3. Jorogumo Folktale Introduction (1:14)
4. Cultural Experiences in Japan and Korea (3:48)
5. Japanese Society and Customs (8:34)
6. Religions in Japan (12:14)
7. Confucianism and Gender Roles (20:14)
8. Samurai and the Jorogumo Story (22:48)
9. Themes and Symbolism (29:36)
10. Spider Folklore and Real Spiders (44:43)
11. Comparisons to Other Myths (48:59)
12. Gift-Giving Customs (52:14)
13. Final Thoughts and Outro (55:03)

Music Credit
Celtic Impulse - Celtic · Kevin MacLeod

Provided to YouTube by http://incompetech.com

Celtic Impulse - Celtic

℗ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses

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