Summary
The popular belief that the human spirit (or soul) can escape from the body has been around since early times, with eyewitness accounts and experiences (hauntings, possessions, out-of-body experience) reported in anecdotal and fictional writings. of the living are said to inflict upon the subject or subjects of their vengeance by means of transforming into their form. It is believed that if a sufficient grudge is held, all or part of the perpetrator's soul leaves the body, appearing in front of the victim to harm or curse them, a concept not so dissimilar from the evil eye. The has even made its way into Buddhist scriptures, where they are described as "living spirits" who, if angered, might bring about curses, even just before their death. Possession is another means by which the Ikiryō are commonly believed to be capable of inflicting harm, the possessed person thought to be unaware of this process. However, according to mythology, the does not necessarily act out of spite or vengefulness, and stories are told of the who bears no grudge, or poses no real threat. In recorded examples, the spirit sometimes takes possession of another person's body for motives other than vengeance, such as love and infatuation (for example the Matsutōya ghost below). A person's may also leave the body (often very shortly before death) to manifest its presence around loved ones, friends and/or acquaintances.Classical literature
In classical literature, '' The Tale of Genji'' (ca. 1000) describes the "well known" episode of the (the more archaic term for ) that emerged from Genji's lover Lady Rokujo, and tormented Genji's pregnant wife Aoi no Ue, resulting in her death after childbirth. This spirit is also portrayed in , the Noh play adaptation of the same story. After her death, Lady Rokujo became an and went on to torment those who would later become Genji's consorts, Murasaki and . In the Heian period, a human soul leaving a body and drifting away is described by the old verb meaning "departure". In ''The Tale of Genji'', the mentally troubled Kashiwagi fears that his soul may be found wandering (), and requests that last rites are performed on his body to stop his soul from escaping if this should happen.Another example of this term occurs in the verse by the poet Izumi Shikibu which depicts the author's soul as a wandering firefly: "While I am rapt in thought, / The fireflies of the marsh would seem to be / My soul, caught up and wandering / Forth out of me." (, Tale 20). contains the tale "How the Spirit of Omi Province Came and Killed a Man of the Capital". In the tale, a commoner encounters a noblewoman and guides her to the house of a certain in the capital. Little did the guide know that he was guiding the of a woman to her neglecting husband. Upon reaching the house the lady vanishes, though the gates remain shut. Wailing noises are heard inside the house. The following morning, the guide learns that the master of the house had complained the of his former wife was present and causing him illness, shortly after which he died. The guide later seeks out the lady's house in Ōmi Province. There a woman speaks to him through blinds, acknowledging the man's services that day, and showers him with gifts of silk cloth.Folk legends
Regional near-death spirits
Sightings of belonging to those whose deaths are imminent have been recorded from all over Japan. Stories abound of spirits that materialize (or otherwise manifest their presence) to someone dear to them, such as immediate family. The recipient of the visit experiencing a metaphysical foreshadowing of this person's death, before any tangible news of bereavement arrives. Many of the local terms for the were collected by Kunio Yanagita and his school of folklorists.While terms such as , , , or are used in the Ishikawa Prefecture in isolated cases, these terms are not frequently used elsewhere. In the tradition of the Nishitsugaru District, Aomori Prefecture, the souls of the person/s on the brink of death are called , and believed to depart from the body and walk around, sometimes making noises like that of the door sliding open. According to Yanagita, is the equivalent term to the Senboku District, Akita region. Yanagita defines this as the ability of certain persons to traverse the world in their form. Such individuals are purported to have voluntary control of this ability, in contrast to those who are only temporarily capable of tapping into such a state as a precursor to their death. In the Kazuno District inSoul flames
There are cases where the wandering appear as a floating "soul flame", known in Japan as the or .A , the Japanese equivalent to the (or generically "atmospheric ghost lights">will-o'-the-wisp (or generically "atmospheric ghost lights") However, a "soul flame" from a person who is near death is not considered unusual, with the traditional conception among Japanese being that the soul escapes the body within a short phase (several days) either before or after death. Therefore, pre-death soul flames may not be treated as cases of in works on the subject of ghosts, but filed under chapters on the phenomenon. describes cases of floating balloon-like objects of yellow color (iridescence">iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...''Ikiryō'' as an illness
Similar activity or phenomena
The is, when one, in the hour of the ox (1 am to 3 am), strikes a nail in a sacred tree, and thus becomes an while alive, and using these powers, would inflict curses and calamity upon a rival. Although many generally are spirits of humans that leave the body unconsciously and move about, deeds akin to performing magic rituals and intentionally tormenting a target can also be interpreted as . In the same way, in theSee also
*Explanatory notes
Citations
References
* * * **Chapter 1 , pp. 11–36 **Chapter 2 , pp. 37–62 **Chapter 3 , pp. 63–98 **Chapter 4 , pp. 100–125 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ikiryo Buddhist folklore Japanese ghosts Japanese folklore