Japan is a country teeming with spirits and ghosts. At least that’s what it feels like. After three decades of living here as an American expat, this is still one of the most fascinating aspects of the culture to me. But why the abundance of otherworldly entities?
I believe it has something to do with religion. Japan is predominantly home to two major religions: Buddhism and the Shinto belief, and each plays its unique role in this preponderance of ghosts, both the helpful protecting kind and the wretched dangerous ones that you'd much rather not run into.
As for the good ones, first you have all the ancestral spirits who are still deeply respected and venerated even today. Most family lines have a butsudan in their homes. This is a beautifully crafted family altar that is usually kept in the oldest son’s or daughter’s home. It is here that prayers are made, Buddhist sutras are chanted, and the deceased – sometimes plural and many generations back – reside.
Obon is the time every summer when it is believed the world of the dead and this world of the living move closest together. At the beginning of Obon, mukaebi or “welcoming fires” are lit all over Japan to call and guide the dearly departed home. Then, a couple days later, okuribi, or “sending off fires” are lit to help lead them back to the other side. If you've ever seen images of paper lanterns floating down rivers in Japan, those are a type of okuribi.
While Buddhism pays respect to and dare I say “keeps alive” all those who have died (at least in memory), Shinto plays its part, too, in the prevalence of specters.
Shinto is a polytheistic and animistic religion that believes in spirits or gods called kami. These kami are everywhere and in everything. There's a saying that Japan has “yaoyorozu no kami”. “Yaoyorozu” literally means eight million but implies an infinite number. The full phrase means Japan has an uncountable number of spirits (and gods). You’ll find them in rocks, trees, waterfalls as well lurking at home in your hearth, storeroom, and toilet. You can also find some of them on the kamidana or god shelves that are set up in houses all across Japan. Here, like the butsudan, prayers and offerings are made to one or many kami the family chooses to worship.
But not all visitors from the spirit realm are loving relatives or helpful gods or goddesses who just want what’s best for you. Much like everywhere in the world, it’s believed on occasion with a tragic death – one where the person is filled with some intense negative emotion – that spirit might very well return as an onryō or wrathful or disgruntled spirit.
You’ll often find the theme of onryō used in J-horror (The Ring, The Grudge) as well as in other myths, legends, and stories through the ages. I would say that every city and town in Japan has at least one tunnel, bus stop, or bridge where resides an enraged and vengeful or sad and sticky ghost, ready to bring bad luck and even death to those who encounter it. But that’s not even the most disturbing hauntings you’ll find in Japan. There is something much worse.
The chances are pretty slim that you’ll cause the unfortunate death of someone and be cursed by their onryō. But you might not be so lucky with something called an ikiryō or living spirit. This is a phenomenon where a living person is filled with emotions such as anger, jealousy, or rage toward an individual and the power of these emotions creates a kind of ethereal manifestation that “attacks” the object of the emotion. This can cause that attackee illness, rotten luck, or some other emotional distress. The worst part of all, the one doing the attacking might not even realize they’re doing it.
So while visiting or living in Japan, keep your eyes and sixth sense open for any indication of something spiritual or otherworldly. There are so many spirits and ghosts lingering here and there that you’re almost guaranteed to bump into one, only you might not realize it until you have an upward or downward turn in your luck.
Link to podcast episode for more:
Link to The Book of Japanese Folklore: An Encyclopedia of the Spirits, Monsters, and Yokai of Japanese Myth
