Japanese ghosts

thumb|Statue of Yama (Buddhism)|Yama

thumb|Yuki-onna (ゆき女) from the Hyakkai-Zukan by [[Sawaki Suushi]] is a yūrei or yōkai in Japanese folklore that is often depicted in Japanese literature, films, or animation.

Japanese poet

right|thumb|280px|A in a scene from Ehon Sayoshigure by Hayami Shungyōsai, 1801 is a malevolent figure in Japanese urban legends and folklore. Described as the malicious spirit, or onryō, of a woman, she partially covers her face with a mask or other item and carries a pair of scissors, a knife, or some other sharp object. She is most often described as a tall woman of about 175–180 cm; however, some people believe she is up to 8 feet tall, having long, straight black hair, white hands, pale skin, and otherwise being considered beautiful (except for her scar).

thumb|Yūrei, Bakemono no e scroll, [[Brigham Young University]] are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western concept of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, (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.

Preta (, yi dags), also known as hungry ghost, is the Sanskrit name for a type of supernatural being described in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion as undergoing suffering greater than that of humans, particularly an extreme level of hunger and thirst.

thumb|Depiction of an onryō in the , by Katsushika Hokusai.

In Japanese folklore, tsukumogami (付喪神 or つくも神, lit. "tool kami") are tools that have acquired a kami or spirit. According to an annotated version of The Tales of Ise titled Ise Monogatari Shō, there is a theory originally from the Onmyōki (陰陽記) that foxes and tanuki, among other beings, that have lived for at least a hundred years and changed forms are considered tsukumogami. In modern times, the term can also be written 九十九神 (literally ninety-nine kami), to emphasize the agedness.

right|thumb|240px|Abe no Seimei and his (bottom right) before an assembly of god-like demon spirits

thumb|"Inugami" from the Hyakkai Zukan by [[Sawaki Suushi]] upright|thumb|"Inugami" from the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by [[Sekien Toriyama. The one on the bottom-left that looks like a child is a "shirachigo" (白児, "white infant") that was either the inugami's pupil or the yōkai child of a disabled person.]] thumb|Inugami (犬神) from Bakemono no e (化物之繪, c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, [[Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. |alt=]]

samurai who led one of the largest insurgent forces in the Heian period against the central government in Kyoto

right|thumb| from the 1776 book by Sekien Toriyama

thumb|160px|right|Hitodama from the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by [[Toriyama Sekien]]

alt=|thumb|Ubume うぶめ from Bakemono no e (化物之繪, c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, [[Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.]] 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 childbirth. Passersby will see her as a normal-looking woman carrying a baby. She will typically try to give the passerby her child then disappear. When

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.

Japanese ghost story

thumb|400px|Umibōzu, from the (pub. 1801) thumb|upright|The , a kibyōshi by . Here appears an umibōzu with scales and a fin.

The is a mythical Japanese (ghost, phantom, or strange apparition) from western Japan. It is described as being a skeleton whale that is accompanied by unknown fish and weird birds. It takes its revenge against people who hunt whales or eat whale meat, and does so by cursing them with plagues and fire. It is also known as .

are vengeful spirits (onryō), dead spirits (shiryō), live spirits (ikiryō), or spirits in Japanese classical literature and folk religion that were said to do things like possess individuals and make them suffer, cause disease, or even cause death. It is also a word sometimes used to refer to yōkai or henge ("changed beings").

Japanese ghost story of betrayal

thumb|Depiction of a mujina (from the Wakan Sansai Zue, [[Edo period)]] is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the Japanese badger, but traditionally to the Japanese raccoon dog (tanuki), causing confusion. Adding to the confusion, it may also refer to the introduced masked palm civet, and in some regions badger-like animals or Japanese raccoon dog are also called mami.

right|thumb|180px|"Funayūrei" from the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by [[Sekien Toriyama]] right|thumb|240px|Kawanabe Kyōsai's "Boatman and Funayūrei". An example of a funayūrei rendered as an umibōzu-like yokai. right|thumb|260px|An example of a funayūrei appearing as mysterious flames. From the Tosa Bakemono Ehon.

Chinese conception of the preta of Buddhist mythology

right|thumb|Shirime as drawn by Yosa no Buson. is a yōkai with an eye in the place of his anus.

The Japanese word refers to the spirit of a kami or the soul of a dead person. It is composed of two characters, the first of which, , is simply an honorific. The second, means "spirit". The character pair , also read , is used exclusively to refer to a ''kami's spirit. Significantly, the term is a synonym of shintai, the object which in a Shinto shrine houses the enshrined kami''.

thumb| by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi depicting [[Sugawara no Michizane as the . After Sugawara no Michizane's death, lightning struck the palace, killing and injuring many of the powerful people involved in his banishment, and Sugawara no Michizane was enshrined in the (Shinto shrines) as the Tenjin.]] 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 noble or accomplished person who lost a political power struggle or died prematurely from an epidemic or other disease, becoming an that brin

200px|right|thumb|The house spirits [[Zashiki warashi, are described as being the size of a five or six-year-old child and prone to playing harmless pranks and occasionally causing mischief.]] is a Japanese word that is generally synonymous with the English term . Today, this word usually refers to spirits from Western legends, but occasionally it may also denote a creature from native Japanese folklore. For example, according to an old folk belief from Iwate Prefecture, it was once feared that the yōsei could resurrect the dead. It is also mentioned that the people of Mt. Hōrai are small fai

right|thumb|200px|"" from the by Toriyama Sekien '''''' are the souls of the dead in Japanese folklore. This contrasts with , which are souls of the living.

yōkai that appear above the surface of some body of water

appear in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904) as corpse-eating spirits. In Japanese Buddhism, jikininki ("human-eating ghosts"; pronounced shokujinki in modern Japanese), are similar to Gaki/Hungry ghost; the spirits of greedy, selfish or impious individuals who are cursed after death to seek out and eat humans and human corpses.

series of woodblock prints by Katsushika Hokusai

play by San'yūtei Enchō

thumb|Yūrei by Sawaki Sūshi (1737) are a genre of Japanese art consisting of painted or woodblock print images of ghosts, demons and other supernatural beings. They are considered to be a subgenre of , "pictures of manners and customs". These types of art works reached the peak of their popularity in Japan in the mid- to late 19th century.