Yūrei ( 幽霊 , ゆうれい )

1. Yūrei (幽霊, ゆうれい)

2. Definition Usually translated as ghosts, but the category is much broader in the Japanese mind frame. Spirits may be a better approximation of the word.

3. Different Types • Tailing boy 後追い小僧 (Ato-oi-kozou) • Ghost Fire 人魂 (Hito-dama) • Doppleganger 生霊 (Ikiryou) • Specter 死霊 (Shiryou) • Laboring Maiden 産女 (Ubu-me) • Snow Woman 雪女 (Yuki-Onna) • General Ghost 幽霊 (Yuurei)

4. Tailing boy 後追い小僧(Ato-oi-kozou) • Mountain spirits of deceased children originally from anywhere, not just mt. • Young children (4-10) • Dressed in rags and furs • No footprints • Harmless • Get rid of by leaving some food on a rock or stump

5. Ghost Fire 人魂 (Hito-dama) • Floating ball of fire • Occurs when organic matter decomposes, giving off phosphorous gases • Roaming spirit of dead person

6. Doppleganger 生霊 (Ikiryou) • Spirits of living people • Looks just like person they originated from • Visible or invisible • Intense negative emotions (envy, jealousy, hate, anger, etc.) • Living person rarely aware • Haunt house of target

7. Specter 死霊 (Shiryou) • Grotesque • Show signs of death • Extremely violent deaths • Not social or interested in talking • Haunt area, not person

8. Laboring Maiden 産女(Ubu-me) • Woman holding baby in arms wearing red skirt, dyed red from recently giving birth • When woman dies during childbirth • Appears near rivers and bridges on rainy nights • Ask stranger to hold baby; if strong enough to hold baby for awhile, freed from ghost condition

9. Snow Woman 雪女 (Yuki-Onna) • Beautiful young lady • Pale skin • White kimono • Travel around snowy countryside • Freezes people during cold winter nights

10. General Ghost 幽霊 (Yuurei) • Wandering ghost • Female Is the norm • Beautiful young woman w/ long flowing hair • No legs & lame hands • White kimono • Hitakakushi (triangular piece of paper) • Put on forehead to allow reikon to reunite w/ ancestors

11. Edo Period Yūrei Ghost Paintings

12. Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795), The Ghost of Oyuki, Eighteenth Century • Tribute to one of deceased lovers • Scroll painting • Based on dream after woman’s death • Reflection of love and adoration • Beauty of woman in memory and haunting spirit in death

13. Long straight hair • Erect body • Beckoning hands • Pale clothing • Fragile figure • Fading form

14. Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), The Nightly Weeping Rock

15. Local folktale • Stone marked along Tokaido roadway • Ghost of mother (murdered on road) returns her saved child to husband

16. Husband • face marked by compassion for murdered wife & the gift of returning their child • Leans away from the ghost due to fear and loathing of the specter

17. Ghost: • Sadness for her murder, happiness for the rescue of child • Emotional expressions & attitudes are manifestations of their suffering

18. Contrasting colors • Blue sash of father • Orange robe of baby • Contrasting light • Moon & flame of ghost • Darkness of night • Tension & movement • Duality

19. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Ghost of Oiwa

20. The Ghost Story of Yotsuya • Avenge death • Fire = anger and desire for revenge • Balding head, disfigured face as result of poison

21. Continuity • Long black hair • Floating body • Change • More gruesome and vengeful • Hunched position • Explanations • Violence, social upheaval • Empowerment of women

22. Meiji PeriodPaintings & Scrolls

23. Kawanabe Kyosai (1830 - 1889) • Known for paintings of ghosts, demons, and supernatural • Different versions of the Night Procession of the Hundred Deomns • Aspects of Buddhist hell • Ghost scrolls, influential in kabuki costume

25. Buddhist Scrolls • 12th-14th century scrolls painted by Buddhist monks • Depictions of gruesome scenes of Hell • Show Buddhist followers what would happen to them if they committed sins in their earthly lives.  

27. YūREI IN MODERN MEDIA

28. What we have seen up until now is mostly yūrei associated more with Japanese folktales, which in Japanese as 民話 (Minwa), abbreviated form of 民間説話 (Minkan Setsuwa).  民話 (Minwa) can be divided into subcategories: 昔話(Mukashibanashi), 伝説 (Densetsu). 

29. Subcategories of民話 (Minwa) • 昔話(Mukashibanashi) • tales passed down orally • time and place of the story is ambiguous • 伝説 (Densetsu): Legend • passed down with belief • time and place of the story is concrete

30. TODAY • Use these two phrases interchangeably.  • Folktales are continually passed down to later generations • Emergence of fiction and 都市伝説（Toshi Densetsu）changed the depiction of “yūrei”.

31. 都市伝説（Toshi Densetsu） • urban legend, urban tales, urban narratives, modern and contemporary legend. • recent stories that takes place within a society or groups of people that are believed to be true.    • Murder story on news • Personal accounts of supernatural encounters • Younger generation

32. Developments in these new forms of ghost stories have more of less changed the appearance of Yūrei.

33. Movies

34. Dark Water (2002) • Koji Suzuki’s short story “Floating Water” • Mitsuko, child ghost, • Appearance • Corpse • Same clothes she died in • Grotesque and disfigured face • No grudge

36. Ju-On (2003) • Curse of murdered housewife • Appearance • White skin • Big black eyes • Black hair • Solid figures

41. Kairo (2001) • Appearance: • Solid • Blurred features • Dark

44. Ringu (1998) • Sadako Yamamura • Appearance: • Long black hair • White dress • Visible limbs • Solid

46. Anime/Manga

47. Continuity & Change • Continuity • Transparent, pale, white • Vengeful • Change • Movement away from excessively horrific and gruesome images • Kawaii culture • Change in Audience • Not all bent on revenge

48. Gakko no Kaidan

49. Gakko no Kaidan - Hanako

50. Gakko no Kaidan – Datto