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Japanese spirits6/21/2023 ![]() The story: a girl was left alone after the abrupt death of her father. ![]() But sometimes things turn out differently and shiryo appear not only for a farewell but also to take their beloved along with them. Shiryo usually appear just after death, commonly to say one last goodbye to relatives. The kanji “shi” (死) in this word means “death” and strongly hints that this sort of yurei is not to be romanticized or taken as a mystically attractive. Shiryo are the Japanese ghosts of those who just left this world. She also tries to lead the people to a place where her baby is, so it can be found and buried or adopted by living relatives. She can enter the shops and buy some food for her baby, but instead of money, the seller will get a bundle of dry leaves. In the case where the baby survived, the ubume mother strives to save and care for her still-living child by any means. She is sometimes depicted as a dreadful woman in a blood-stained koshimaki (Japanese summer attire) carrying an underdeveloped fetus. ![]() Once the passerby gives a look at the baby, it turns out that it was merely a big rock or bundle of leaves. She is usually depicted as a baby-carrying woman, who gives her baby to passersby and then disappears. She returns to the living as she still cares about left children. This is the tragic ghost of a woman who has died during childbirth-with or without her baby. Due to the dark and heavy aura around the onryo, the victim experiences an unbearable headache, which eventually leads to death. Eventually, she levitates towards the victim reaching for the head in a bid to catch her or him, and finally covers the victim with its unkempt thick hair. When just passing by, this ghost could look like a collapsed woman, probably unconscious but as you approach, she starts to make weeping, groaning sounds and whispers incomprehensible words. It is believed that once an onryo decided to manifest itself, the victim starts to experience nausea, heavy headache and pain in the chest. This category also serves as a staple for J-horror movies and has appeared as the renowned Kayako from The Grudge or Sadako from The Ring. Victims of domestic abuse or women martyred by wicked stalkers or maniacs will most likely turn into onryo in the afterlife. This kind of Japanese ghost story also relates to vengeful spirits but unlike the goryo, which is not necessarily a wrathful spirit, the onryo is almost always a malicious ghost as they died full of anger, and only return to scare the living to death and take their souls. The antagonist from the film and book series The Grudge if one of the most emblematic depictions of Onryō On top of that, Michizane was idolized as Tenjin sama, which means “sky deity” and literally made a patron god of poetry, calligraphy and justice. In order to quell him, the emperor himself burned the order of exile and promoted Michizane postmortem. Moreover, the Fujiwara chief and Emperor Daigo’s crown prince soon died, which completely convinced the court that all calamities and casualties were caused by the restless spirit of Michizane. It is said that the years following the unfair murder of government official Michizane by one of the members of the Fujiwara clan, thunders and heavy rains pummeled the capital city causing fires and floods. One quite popular legend is the one of a goryo called Shinto Kami, also known as Tenjin. First mentions of them go back to the Heian period, they are believed to be “ the spirits of powerful lords, who have been wronged, that were capable of catastrophic vengeance.” Existing solely for vengeance, goryo are a type of ghost that chase after those who wronged them during their life and wreak havoc on them, causing calamities and disasters. Literally translated as “honorable spirit,” goryo are ghosts from the aristocratic class who suffered tormented and agonizing deaths. ![]() Unlike some stories about yokai, which mostly tend to be playful and hilarious, these Japanese ghost stories are more sorrowful and uncanny, and probably will make you feel uneasy. If you high-key like when chills run down your spine, let us introduce to you yurei-the vast category of Japanese folklore which includes internationally famous legends about revengeful and spiteful ghosts. Summer foliage is fluttering, but you’re stuporous and afraid to look at the trees because you know-there’s no wind outside. Obon holidays are close but the air is already filled with mystical and inexplicable eerie notes.
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