Shinigami
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Template:Transliteration (Template:Langx) are Template:Transliteration that invite humans toward death in certain aspects of Japanese religion and culture. Template:Transliteration have been described as monsters, helpers, and creatures of darkness. Template:Transliteration are used for tales and religions in Japanese culture.<ref name="七会a" /><ref name="河野編1995">Template:Cite book</ref>
Japanese religion
In Buddhism, there is the Mara that is concerned with death, the Mrtyu-mara.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is a demon that makes humans want to die, and it is said that upon being possessed by it, in a shock, one should suddenly want to die by suicide, so it is sometimes explained to be a Template:Transliteration.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Also, in the Yogacarabhumi-sastra, a writing on Yogacara, a demon decided the time of people's deaths.<ref name="多田">Template:Harvnb</ref> Yama, the king of the Underworld, as well as Template:Transliteration such as the Ox-Head and Horse-Face are also considered a type of Template:Transliteration.<ref name="七会a">Template:Harvnb</ref>
In Shinto and Japanese mythology, Izanami gave humans death, so she is sometimes seen as a Template:Transliteration.<ref name="七会a" /><ref name="河野編1995"/> However, Izanami and Yama are also thought to be different from the death gods in Western mythology.<ref name="多田" /><ref name="木村2007">Template:Harvnb</ref> Some forms of Buddhism do not involve believing in any deities, so it is sometimes thought that the concept of a death god does not exist to begin with.<ref name="多田" /> Even though the Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration of Japanese Buddhist faith have taken humans' lives, there is the opinion that there is no "death god" that merely leads people into the world of the dead.<ref name="木村2007" /> In Postwar Japan, however, the Western notion of a death god entered Japan, and Template:Transliteration started to become mentioned as an existence with a human nature.<ref name="多田" />
Generally, the word Template:Transliteration does not appear to be used in Japanese classical literature, and there are not many writings about them;<ref name="村上2005">Template:Harvnb</ref> however, going into the Edo period, the word Template:Transliteration can be seen in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's works of Template:Transliteration and classical literature that had themes on double suicides.
In Hōei 3 (1706), in a performance of Template:Transliteration, concerning men and women who were invited towards death, it was written "the road the god of death leads towards",Template:Sfn and in Hōei 6 (1709), in Template:Transliteration, a woman who was about to commit double suicide with a man said, "the fleetingness of a life lured by a god of death".Template:Sfn It never became clear whether the man and woman came to commit double suicide due to the existence of a Template:Transliteration, or if a Template:Transliteration was given as an example for their situation of double suicide,<ref name="七会a" /> and there are also interpretations that the word Template:Transliteration is an expression for the fleetingness of life.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Other than that, in Kyōhō 5 (1720), in a performance of The Love Suicides at Amijima, there was the expression, "of one possessed by a god of death". Since the character was seller of paper, the character who confronted death wrote Template:Nihongo as Template:Nihongo,Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but there are also interpretations that Chikamatsu himself did not think about the existence of a Template:Transliteration.<ref name="七会a" />
Classical literature
In the classical literature of the Edo period, Template:Transliteration that would possess humans are mentioned. In the Template:Transliteration from Tenpō 12 (1841), there was a story titled Template:Transliteration. In this one, however, the Template:Transliteration was the spirit of a deceased person and had bad intent. Acting jointly with the malicious intent already within people who were living, those people were led on bad paths, which caused repeat incidents to occur at places where there was previously a murder incident (for example by causing the same suicide at places where people have hanged themselves before),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and thus these Template:Transliteration are somewhat like a possession that would cause people to want to die.<ref name="村上2005" /><ref name="村上2000">Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Clarify Similar to this, according to the essay of the Bakumatsu period titled Template:Transliteration, there were the Template:Transliteration that made people want to commit suicide through various means, namely hanging, as well as things told through folk religion such as Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration.<ref name="多田" />
In the later Edo Period, the essay Template:Transliteration in Kaei 3 (1850) by the essayist Miyoshi Shōzan, the one titled "upon possession by a shinigami, it becomes difficult to speak, or easier to tell lies" was a story where a prostitute possessed by a Template:Transliteration invites a man to commit double suicide,<ref name="大藤他">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and in the kabuki Template:Transliteration by Kawatake Mokuami in Meiji 19 (1886), a Template:Transliteration enters into people's thoughts, making them think about bad things they have done and want to die.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> These are, rather than gods, more like Template:Transliteration (meaning ghosts and Template:Transliteration),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or evil spirits.<ref name="七会a" />
In the Template:Transliteration of classical Template:Transliteration, there was a programme titled Template:Transliteration, but this was something that was not thought of independently in Japan, but rather from adaptions of the Italian opera the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the Grimm Fairy Tale "Godfather Death".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Folk religion
Template:Transliteration are also spoken about in folk religion after the war. According to the mores of Miyajima, Kumamoto Prefecture, those who go out and return to attend to someone through the night must drink tea or eat a bowl of rice before sleeping, and it is said that a Template:Transliteration would visit if this was ignored.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In the Hamamatsu area, Shizuoka Prefecture, a Template:Transliteration would possess people and lead them to mountains, seas, and railroads where people have died. In those places, the dead would have a "death turn" (Template:Transliteration), and as long as there is nobody to die there next, they shall never ascend even if they were given a service, and it was said that people who were alive would be invited by the dead to come next.<ref name="大藤他" /> Also, it is ordinary to visit graves for the sake of Higan during noon or when the sun sets, but in the Okayama Prefecture, visiting the grave for Higan during sunrise without a previous time would result in being possessed by a Template:Transliteration. However, once one has visited the grave in sunset, then it would become necessary to visit the grave again during sunrise, to avoid a Template:Transliteration possessing one's body.<ref name="大藤他" /> With this background of folk belief, it is also thought that sometimes people would consider the ghosts of the deceased, who have nobody to deify them, to be seeking companions and inviting people to join them.<ref name="大藤他" />
See also
- Ankou - the equivalent in Celtic mythology
- Azrael - the angel of death in Abrahamic religions
- Death (personification) - personifications of death
- Template:Transliteration - Chinese angels of death
- King Yama - judge of the dead who presides over Narakas
- Kṣitigarbha - Bodhisattva of hell-beings
- Psychopomp - any entity that guides the souls of the dead to the afterlife
- Thanatos - the god of death in Greek mythology
- Yanluo Wang - ruler of YouduTemplate:Div col end