霊 – 10 Types of Ghosts in Japanese
There are a lot of words for ghosts in Japanese. Japan has interesting influences from Shinto, Japanese folklore, Western culture, and modern ideas stemming from spiritism. Which all have influences on subculture and popular culture in Japan. In the spirit of the Halloween season, let’s take a look at different types of ghosts and how to talk about them.
INDEX
What is Ghost in Japanese?
There are several words for ghosts in Japanese but the two most common would be 幽霊 and 霊. There are some differences between these two words and other words to talk about ghosts in general.
幽霊 – How to say Ghost in Japanese
I explain the difference between these two words and other common words for ghosts in a previous post if you are interested.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/Types of Ghosts in Japanese
Basically, most words for ghosts will have the character 霊 in them. This character is pronounced れい or りょう depending on the word.
- 悪霊
- 怨霊
- 死霊
- 生き霊
- 浮遊霊
- 地縛霊
- 守護霊
- 背後霊
- 自然霊
- 人魂
悪霊 and 怨霊
First, we have two types of ghosts that you don’t want to meet. 悪霊 and 怨霊 are two types of ghosts that are out to cause harm or trouble to people.
悪霊 are evil ghosts or spirits. The word 悪霊 is a general term for ghosts that cause harm, curse or have general malicious intentions. 怨霊 can be considered a type of 悪霊 but is a little different. The character 怨 means 怨み. In English, this translates to bitterness, resentment, grudge, and so on. 怨霊 is usually portrayed as the soul of someone coming back as a ghost to take revenge on someone.
生き霊 and 死霊
生き霊 is a special type of ghost. The name literally means living spirit. This ghost is the soul of someone that is still alive which leaves the body to curse or take revenge on someone like an 怨霊. 死霊 on the other hand is a word meaning dead spirit. This word is not as common as 生き霊. It is mostly just a comparison word to distinguish between 生き霊.
浮遊霊 and 地縛霊
浮遊霊 are ghosts which are generally not a threat. 浮遊 means floating and these are wandering spirits. They are ghosts that have not been able to pass over or go to heaven. These may be spirits of people who have died without realizing it.
地縛霊 are also a type of 浮遊霊. The difference though is that 地縛霊 are ghosts that are stuck to a certain location. That may be a house, or usually where the person died. They are not wandering spirits like the other 浮遊霊.
背後霊 and 守護霊
背後霊 are ghosts or spirits that are said to watch over or accompany specific people. 背後 means behind or in the background. So you can think of 背後霊 as spirits always there in the background.
守護霊 is basically the same as a 背後霊. 守護霊 can be translated to Guardian Spirit. These spirits are similar to the concept of a Guardian Angel. The difference between 守護霊 and 背後霊 is that 守護霊 are generally some positive spirit there to help someone or protect them. 背後霊 on the other hand is not necessarily helpful. They may be just there or maybe a harmful spirit even.
自然霊
自然霊 are a special type of spirit. They are not spirits of anyone who has died. Instead, they are entities of nature. The word 自然霊 literally means natural spirits or spirits of nature. These spirits could even then be considered gods of nature. The word 神 means god, spirit, or something sacred. 自然霊 can be considered a type of 神.
人魂
Finally, we have 人魂 which are balls of fire floating in the air. These atmospheric lights are people’s spirits or said to be.
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