The Monstrefact: The Nuppeppo

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses a ghoulish blob from the yokai tradition of Japan…

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb. And
this is The Monster Fact, a short form series from
Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures,
ideas and monsters in time. The Yokai tradition of Japan

(00:26):
is rich with strange beings that range from the comical
to the terrifying, and today's subject falls somewhere in the middle. Imagine,
if you will yourself alone in a graveyard or on
the grounds of an abandoned temple in the darkness, you
glimpse something pale and bloated. It carries with it the rancid,

(00:48):
unmistakable stench of death and decay. As it bumbles closer,
you see it more clearly, a bloated, headless torso of
ghastly flesh that walks about on two lumpy legs and
flounders about with two lumpy arms. It is naked, and
the folds of its fat seem to vaguely form the

(01:10):
contours of a saggy face. This is the new Peppo,
and despite its disturbing appearance, it is said to be
quite harmless. It just wanders about, disturbing those who encounter it,
but otherwise harming no one. It's related in the excellent
book Yokai Attack by Hiroko Yoda and matt Alt. An

(01:32):
eighteenth century tale recounts a new Peppo haunting at the
castle of Shogun took Agaya Yayishu, who lived fifteen forty
three through sixteen sixteen. According to the tale, the shogun
demanded the creature be removed from the premises and released
deep into the willderness, where a wooden trouble human settlements

(01:54):
or bother anyone again. Only afterwards did Tokugawa learn that
the new p pose flesh was said to restore youth
and health to anyone who consumed it. A frequent subject
of yokai art and toys, New Peppo depictions often walk
a thin line between the ghastly and the weirdly cute,

(02:15):
which I think is one of its appeals. Its exact
origin seems to be shrouded in mystery, though perhaps it
is related to the word new perry, a derogatory name
for older women with too much makeup, as well as
to its fellow Yokai no Parabbo, which appears to be
an otherwise normal human figure without a face. I like

(02:37):
the mystery though, is the new Peppo walking accumulation of
dead flesh some sort of shambling, amorphous grave slime and
why does it invite us to become the ghoul by
devouring its life giving meat. Tune in for additional episodes

(02:57):
of The Monster Fact each week. As a ways, you
can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your
Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a
production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts for my
heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

(03:19):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.