
are figures in
Japanese folklore
Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, Tradition, customs, and material culture.
In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The Folklor ...
analogous to the Western concept of
ghost
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
s. The name consists of two
kanji
are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...
, (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim" and (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include , meaning ruined or departed spirit, , meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing or . Like their Western counterparts, they are thought to be
spirits barred from a peaceful
afterlife
The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...
.
Japanese afterlife
According to traditional Japanese beliefs, all humans have a
spirit or
soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
called a . When a person dies, the ''reikon'' leaves the body and enters a form of
purgatory
In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...
, where it waits for the proper
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
and post-
funeral rites to be performed so that it may join its
ancestors
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...
. If this is done correctly, the ''reikon'' is believed to be a protector of the living family and to return yearly in August during the
Obon Festival to receive thanks.
However, if the person dies in a sudden or violent manner such as
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
or
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
, if the proper rites have not been performed, or if they are influenced by powerful emotions such as a desire for revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow, the ''reikon'' is believed to transform into a ''yūrei'' which can then bridge the gap back to the
physical world
The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
. The emotion or thought need not be particularly strong or driven. Even innocuous thoughts can cause death to become disturbed. Once a thought enters the mind of a dying person, their ''yūrei'' will come back to complete the action last thought of before returning to the cycle of reincarnation.
The ''yūrei'' then exists on Earth until it can be laid to rest, either by performing the missing
ritual
A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
s or resolving the emotional conflict that still ties it to the physical
plane. If the rituals are not completed or the conflict left unresolved, the ''yūrei'' will persist in its
haunting
This is a list of locations that are (or have been) said to be haunted by ghosts, demons, or other supernatural beings throughout the world. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore.
Argentina
* Cinco ...
.
Oftentimes the lower the social rank of the person who died violently or who was treated harshly during life, the more powerful as a ''yūrei'' they would return. This is illustrated in the fate of Oiwa in the story ''
Yotsuya Kaidan
, the story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon, is a tale of betrayal, murder and onryou, ghostly revenge. Arguably the most famous Kaidan (parapsychology), Japanese ghost story of all time, it has been adapted for film over 30 times and continues to be ...
'', or the servant Okiku in ''
Banchō Sarayashiki
is a Kaidan, Japanese ghost story (kaidan) of broken trust and broken promises, leading to a dismal fate. Alternatively referred to as the tradition, all versions of the tale revolve around a servant, who dies unjustly and returns to haunt t ...
''.
Classifications
''Yūrei''

All Japanese ghosts are called ''yūrei'', and there are several types within this classification. However, a given ghost may be described by more than one of the following terms, as the following terms are used differently depending on which elements of a ghost's characteristics are focused on:
* ''
Onryō
In Japanese traditional beliefs and literature, are a type of ghost () believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact Revenge, vengeance to "redres ...
'': The term ''onryō'' refers to the spirit of a person who died with a grudge or hatred and was feared by people as bringing disaster through possession.
* ''
Ubume
are Japanese yōkai of pregnant women. They can also be written as '. Throughout folk stories and literature the identity and appearance of ubume varies. However, she is most commonly depicted as the spirit of a woman who has died during childbi ...
'': A mother ghost who died in
childbirth
Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...
, or died leaving young children behind. This ''yūrei'' returns to care for her children, often bringing them sweets.
* ''
Goryō
In a broad sense, is an honorific for a spirit, especially one that causes hauntings, and the term is used as a synonym for . In a narrower sense, it refers to a person who was a noble or accomplished person in his or her lifetime, but who lost ...
'': The term "goryō" refers to the spirit of a noble or accomplished person who became an ''onryō'' after losing a political power struggle or dying prematurely from an epidemic. It is a type of ''onryō''.
* ''
Funayūrei'': The ghosts of those who died at sea. These ghosts are sometimes depicted as scaly fish-like humanoids and some may even have a form similar to that of a
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are ...
or
merman
A merman (: mermen; also merlad or merboy in youth), the male counterpart of the mythical female mermaid, is a legendary creature which is human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes mer ...
.
* ''
Zashiki-warashi'': The ghosts of children, who are described as mischievous and like pulling pranks on the living. They are often mentioned in the local folklore of
Iwate Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...
, and are said to bring good fortune to the houses they inhabit.
* : These spirits do not seek to fulfill an exact purpose and wander around aimlessly. In ancient times, the disease of the
Emperor of Japan
The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...
was thought to arise as a result of these spirits floating in the air.
Alternatively, ''fuyūrei'' refer to ghosts in which only the body of the deceased has perished and only the soul floats in the air. When used in this sense, ''onryō'' and ''goryō'' are both types of ''fuyūrei''.
* : Similar to a ''fuyūrei'' and rare, these spirits do not seek to fulfill an exact purpose and are instead bound to a specific place or situation. Famous examples of this include the famous story of
Okiku at the well of
Himeji Castle and the hauntings in the film ''
Ju-On: The Grudge''.
Buddhist ghosts
There are two types of ghosts specific to
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, both being examples of
unfulfilled earthly hungers being carried on after death. They are different from other classifications of ''yūrei'' due to their religious nature:
* ''
Gaki''
* ''
Jikininki''
''Ikiryō''
In Japanese folklore, not only the dead are able to manifest their ''reikon'' for a haunting. Living creatures possessed by extraordinary jealousy or rage can release their spirit as an , a living ghost that can enact its will while still alive.
The most famous example of an ''ikiryo'' is ''Rokujō no Miyasundokoro'', from the novel ''
The Tale of Genji
is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...
''. A mistress of the titular Genji who falls deeply in love with him, the lady Rokujō is an ambitious woman whose ambition is denied upon the death of her husband. The jealousy she repressed over Genji transformed her slowly into a demon, and then took shape as an ''ikiryō'' upon discovering that Genji's wife was pregnant. This ''ikiryō'' possessed Genji's wife, ultimately leading to her demise. Upon realising that her jealousy had caused this misfortune, she locked herself away and became a nun until her death, after which time her spirit continued to haunt Genji until her daughter performed the correct spiritual rites.
Appearance

In the late 17th century, a game called ''
Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai
was a popular didactic Buddhism, Buddhist-inspired parlour game during the Edo period in Japan.
Play
The game is played after nightfall in one of two ways.
The simplest form involves participants sitting in a circle in a room where 100 Tra ...
'' became popular, and ''
kaidan
is a Japanese language, Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative".
Overall meaning and usage
In its broadest sense ...
'' increasingly became a subject for
theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
, literature and other arts. ''
Ukiyo-e
is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...
'' artist
Maruyama Ōkyo
, born Maruyama Masataka, was a Japanese artist active in the late 18th century. He moved to Kyoto, during which he studied artworks from Chinese, Japanese and Western sources. A personal style of Western naturalism mixed with Eastern de ...
created the first known example of the now-traditional ''yūrei'', in his painting ''
The Ghost of Oyuki''. The
Zenshō-an in Tokyo houses the largest single collection of ''yūrei'' paintings which are only shown in August, the traditional month of the spirits.
Today, the appearance of ''yūrei'' is somewhat uniform, instantly signaling the ghostly nature of the figure, and assuring that it is culturally authentic.
* White clothing: ''Yūrei'' are usually dressed in white, signifying the white burial
kimono
The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...
used in
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
funeral rituals. In
Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
, white is a color of ritual
purity
Purity may refer to:
Books
* ''Pureza'' (novel), a 1937 Brazilian novel by José Lins do Rego
* ''Purity'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Jonathan Franzen
** ''Purity'' (TV series), a TV series based on the novel
*''Purity'', a 2012 novel by Jackson ...
, traditionally reserved for priests and the dead. This kimono can either be a ''katabira'' (a plain, white, unlined kimono) or a ''kyokatabira'' (a white katabira inscribed with Buddhist sutras). They are sometimes depicted wearing a , a small white triangular piece of cloth typically displayed on the forehead.
* Black hair: The hair of a ''yūrei'' is often long, black and disheveled, which some believe to be a trademark carried over from
kabuki theater, where wigs are used for all actors. This is a misconception: Japanese women traditionally grew their hair long and wore it pinned up, and it was let down for the funeral and burial.
* Hands and feet: The hands of a ''yūrei'' are said to dangle lifelessly from the wrists, which are held outstretched with the elbows near the body. They typically lack legs and feet, floating in the air. These features originated in Edo period ''ukiyo-e'' prints, and were quickly copied over to kabuki. In kabuki, this lack of legs and feet is often represented by using a very long kimono or even hoisting the actor into the air by a series of ropes and pulleys.
* Hitodama: ''Yūrei'' are frequently depicted as being accompanied by a pair of floating flames or
will o' the wisp
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
s (''
hitodama
In Japanese folklore, hitodama ( Japanese ; meaning "human soul") are balls of fire that mainly float in the middle of the night.広辞苑 第五版 p.2255 「人魂」 They are said to be "souls of the dead that have separated from their bodies", ...
'' in Japanese) in eerie colors such as blue, green, or purple. These ghostly flames are separate parts of the ghost rather than independent spirits.
Hauntings
''Yūrei'' often fall under the general umbrella term of
obake
and are a class of ''yōkai'', preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting.
These words are often translated as "ghost", but prima ...
, derived from the verb bakeru, meaning "to change"; thus obake are preternatural beings who have undergone some sort of change, from the natural realm to the supernatural.
However, ''yūrei'' differ from traditional ''bakemono'' due to their temporal specificity. The ''yūrei'' is one of the only creatures in Japanese mythology to have a preferred haunting time (midtime of the
hours of the Ox; around 2:00 am–2:30 am, when the veils between the world of the dead and the world of the living are at their thinnest). By comparison, normal ''obake'' could strike at any time, often darkening or changing their surroundings should they feel the need. Similarly, ''yūrei'' are more bound to specific locations of haunting than the average ''bakemono,'' which are free to haunt any place without being bound to it.'
Yanagita Kunio generally distinguishes ''yūrei'' from ''obake'' by noting that ''yūrei'' tend to have a specific purpose for their haunting, such as vengeance or completing unfinished business. While for many ''yūrei'' this business is concluded, some ''yūrei'', such as Okiku, remain earthbound due to the fact that their business is not possible to complete. In the case of Okiku, this business is counting plates hoping to find a full set, but the last plate is invariably missing or broken according to the different retellings of the story. This means that their spirit can never find peace, and thus will remain a ''jibakurei''.
Famous hauntings
Some famous locations that are said to be haunted by ''yūrei'' are the well of
Himeji Castle, haunted by the ghost of
Okiku, and
Aokigahara
Aokigahara (), also known as the , is a forest on the northwestern flank of the Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, thriving on of hardened lava laid down by the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE. The western edge of Aoki ...
, the forest at the bottom of
Mount Fuji
is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...
, which is a popular location for suicide. A particularly powerful ''onryō'', known as
Oiwa, is said to be able to bring vengeance on any actress portraying her part in a theater or film adaptation.
Okiku, Oiwa, and the lovesick
Otsuyu together make up the of Japanese culture. These are ''yūrei'' whose stories have been passed down and retold throughout the centuries, and whose characteristics along with their circumstances and fates have formed a large part of Japanese art and society.
Exorcism
The easiest way to exorcise a ''yūrei'' is to help it fulfill its purpose. When the reason for the strong emotion binding the spirit to Earth is gone, the ''yūrei'' is satisfied and can move on. Traditionally, this is accomplished by family members enacting revenge upon the ''yūrei''s slayer, or when the ghost consummates its passion/love with its intended lover, or when its remains are discovered and given a proper burial with all rites performed.
The emotions of the ''onryō'' are particularly strong, and they are the least likely to be pacified by these methods.
On occasion, Buddhist priests and
mountain ascetics were hired to perform services on those whose unusual or unfortunate deaths could result in their transition into a vengeful ghost, a practice similar to
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...
. Sometimes these ghosts would be
deified
Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity.
The origina ...
in order to placate their spirits.
Like many monsters of
Japanese folklore
Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, Tradition, customs, and material culture.
In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The Folklor ...
, malicious ''yūrei'' are repelled by , holy Shinto writings containing the name of a ''
kami
are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...
''. The ''ofuda'' must generally be placed on the ''yūrei''s forehead to banish the spirit, although they can be attached to a house's entry ways to prevent the ''yūrei'' from entering.
See also
*
Bancho Sarayashiki
*
*
Funayūrei
*
Hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a term in Buddhism and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.
The term zh, c= 餓鬼, p=èguǐ, l=hungry ghost is the Chinese translation of the Sansk ...
*
*
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...
*
Japanese urban legends
*
J-Horror
Japanese horror, also known as J-horror, is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horr ...
*
*
List of ghosts
*
Restless ghost
In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...
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Notes
References
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External links
What is the White Kimono Japanese Ghosts Wear?*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yurei
Japanese ghosts
Japanese folklore
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Mythological creatures
Undead