Yūrei (幽霊) are Japanese ghosts. Like their Western counterparts, they are thought to be spirits kept from a peaceful afterlife due to some wrong caused to them in life, a lack of a proper burial, or because they committed suicide. They typically appear in the hours between midnight and sunrise, floating about to frighten and torment those who wronged them in life, but otherwise causing no harm. Some may argue that Hanzo Hasashi (aka Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat series) plays homage to this type of ghost probably due to the fact he was violently murdered and on top of that, his family and clan were all murdered. Reputed ghost of a monk. ... The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ... The afterlife (or life after death) is a generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual and experiential, beyond this world, or after death. ... Underwater funeral in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea from an edition with drawings by Alphonse de Neuville and Edouard Riou. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. ...

Features

Traditionally, they are female and dress in white kimono, typical burial clothing in ancient Japan. They typically lack legs and feet (respresented in theatre by the use of very long kimono), and are frequently depicted as being accompanied by a pair of floating flames or will o' the wisps (hi-no-tama in Japanese) in eerie colors such as blue, green, or purple. These ghostly flames are separate parts of the ghost rather than independent spirits. Yūrei also often have a triangular piece of paper or cloth known as a hitaikakushi (額隠) on their forehead. Some are depicted as possessing long black hair. Like many monsters of Japanese folklore, malicious yūrei are repelled by ofuda (御札). Kimono on a Japanese Postage Stamp Kimono (Japanese: 着物 literally something one wears) are the traditional garments of Japan. ... The will o the wisps or ignis fatuus (fools fire) is the phenomenon of ghostly lights sometimes seen at night or in twilight hovering over damp ground in still air. ... Japanese mythology is an extremely complex religion and system of beliefs. ... Image:Ofuda pic 1. ...

Vengeful ghosts, on the other hand, called goryō (御霊), traditionally haunt a person or a location as an act of revenge for a wrong done to them during their lifetime. Thus, saying "I will haunt you" became a threatening statement made in anger to someone. This is one example of the Japanese idea of urami (怨み hatred, grudge). Yūrei will also appear to punish the descendents or relatives of the dead when proper ancestor-worship rituals are not conducted (tatari or tataru). Revenge or vengeance consists of retaliation against a person or group in response to perceived wrongdoing. ... Photo of an ancestors memorial in a Chinese Buddhist temple Ancestor worship (拜祖), also ancestor veneration (敬祖), is a religious practice based on the belief that ones ancestors possess supernatural powers. ...

Buddhist priests and ascetics were sometimes hired to perform services on those whose unusual or unfortunate deaths could result in their transition into a vengeful ghost. (see exorcism). Sometimes these ghosts would be deified in order to placate their spirits. A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found from Sarnath, near Varanasi Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. Buddhism gradually spread from India... Exorcism is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have possessed (taken control of) a person or object. ...

Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan exemplifies "classical" Japanese yūrei and yōkai (妖怪) stories. Japanese horror films of the 1990s and beyond, often called J-Horror, are popular culture examples of recent Japanese yūrei narratives. Lafcadio Hearn, aka Koizumi Yakumo. ... Kwaidan (怪談, Kaidan, 1965) is a film directed by Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi and is based on one of Lafcadio Hearns collections of Japanese folk tales, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903). ... Yōkai (often spelled Youkai, Japanese: 妖怪) (apparitions, spirits or demons) are a class of creatures in Japanese folklore ranging from the evil oni to the mischievous kitsune or snow woman Yuki-onna. ... DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in any given society. ...

See also

• Hungry ghost
• Yuurei zaka
• Inoue Enryo