Types of Japanese Ghosts, Illustrations by Matthew Meyer, Text from: yokai.com
Ame onna are a class of yokai that appear on rainy days and nights. They summon rain wherever they go, and are often blamed for kidnapping and spiriting children away. They appear as depraved, haggish women, soaked with rainwater, often licking the rain off of their hands and arms like wild animals.
The most dreaded type of yĆ«rei is the onryĆ. They are the ghosts of people who died with such strong passions âjealousy, rage, or hatred â that their soul is unable to pass on, and instead transforms into a powerful wrathful spirit who seeks vengeance on any and everything it encounters. OnryĆ appear as they did when they died. Often they were victims of war, catastrophe, betrayal, murder, or suicide, and they usually display wounds or marks indicative of the way they died.
Not all who die turn into vengeful beings of grudge and jealousy. Hone onna retain an undying love that persists long after their flesh has rotted away, allowing them to continue to be with the object of their affection despite having died. These ghosts appear as they did in life â young, beautiful women in their prime. Only those unclouded by love or with strong religious faith are able to see through their disguise to their true form: rotting, fetid skeletal corpses returned from the grave.
ShiryĆ are the ghosts of the dead, and are contrasted with ikiryĆ, the ghosts of the living. ShiryĆ is almost exclusively used to refer to unpleasant, malevolent spirits. They appear to be relatives or close friends of the deceased, a shiryĆ appears in the moments just after death. Often they come to take their loved ones away with them into the world of the dead.
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