There is no single cosmogonic origin in the cited materials; rather, ikiryō emerges within a worldview—attested in Buddhist scripture references and Heian-period literature—where the human soul can detach from the living body (described with verbs such as akugaru, 'departure') and wander or manifest elsewhere. Classical tales (for example, The Tale of Genji's account of the ikisudama) and folktales present instances in which strong emotions (grudges, jealousy, love, or mōnen—wayward thoughts/obsessions) cause all or part of a living person's soul to depart and act independently.
Accounts show varied manifestations rather than a single fixed form: the ikiryō may appear as a visible personlike apparition (often resembling the originator), manifest as disembodied parts (e.g., a wandering severed head in Sorori Monogatari), be perceived only as sounds or presence (wailing behind closed gates in Konjaku Monogatarishū-type tales), or operate by inhabiting another person's body (possession, as in the Matsutōya tale where spirits spoke through a possessed boy). These forms are attested in literary and folkloric sources rather than described as uniform.
Sources attest that an ikiryō can leave a living person's body and travel across distances to haunt, possess, or afflict others. In tales it may cause illness and even death (Konjaku Monogatarishū), inflict tatari (curses) when motivated by vengeance (linked in sources to onryō-like activity), possess and speak through another person's body (Matsutōya Yūrei), act from love or infatuation, or appear as a portent shortly before the originator's death. The phenomenon is variable across accounts: sometimes malicious, sometimes non-vengeful, and often tied to the originator's emotional state.
Weaknesses
- rituallast rites (preventive performance to bind or secure the soul)
- ritualpriestly exorcism by a Buddhist priest (attested cure by priest Zōkai)
- conditionrepentance / entrance into monastic life (turning Buddhist nun as remediation for mōnen)
Wards
- rituallast rites (Heian context; performed to prevent akugaru)
- ritualexorcism by a priest (attested in Matsutōya tale; performed by 'Zōkai')
- ritualrepentance and religious renunciation (e.g., becoming a Buddhist nun as in Sorori Monogatari)
Abumi-guchi
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Abura-sumashi
A yōkai spirit from the Amakusa region of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, said to inhabit mountain passes. Traditionally explained as the ghost of a person who stole oil, it appears to surprise travelers and is represented in modern media with a straw-coat body and a potato- or stone-like head.
Akaname
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Akateko
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Akubōzu
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Akuma
Akuma (悪魔／あくま) in Japanese sources is an evil spirit, devil, or demon associated with misfortune and mental disturbance. The term appears in Buddhist texts and Heian-period literature and was later used to translate the Christian figure of Satan, as well as the Buddhist Mara.
Akurojin-no-hi
Akurojin-no-hi (悪路神の火, "fire of the god of the bad road") is a flamelike ghost from the folklore of Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is reported to appear on rainy nights; those who encounter it and do not run away are said to become gravely ill. The phenomenon is sparsely documented and is usually compared to will-o'-the-wisp type ghost-lights.
Amabie
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Amanojaku
Amanojaku (天邪鬼 / あまのじゃく) is a Japanese yōkai-type being portrayed as a contrarian, heart-reading trickster. Treated in different contexts as a small ogre (ko-oni), a wicked demon (jaki) in Buddhist iconography, and a folkloric spirit that provokes human vice, it appears across regional tales with variable roles from malicious kidnapper to household oddity.
Amefurikozō
Amefurikozō (雨降小僧 or 雨降り小僧) is an Edo-period yōkai figure depicted in classical illustrated and popular print culture as a youthful attendant associated with rain. Classical sources (notably Sekien Toriyama's Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki) present it as a kozō-type servant linked by captional wordplay to a rain deity; later popular literature elaborates its rain-producing role and playful mischief on rainy nights.
Ameonna
Ameonna (雨女, "rain woman") is a figure in Japanese folklore treated as a yōkai associated with rain. Sources depict her both as a rain-calling supernatural being (sometimes helpful in drought) and as a folk label for an unlucky person whom rain seems to follow; a key pictorial source is Toriyama Sekien's Konjaku Hyakki Shūi.
Amorōnagu
Amorōnagu (Amorōnagu / 天降女子) is a tennyo or celestial maiden figure in the folklore of Amami Ōshima (Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan). Attested sources describe her as a heavenly woman who bathes in pools and waterfalls in ravines on the island.
Community Record
- [1]Ikiryō. Wikipedia: 'Ikiryō (生霊; lit. "living ghost") ... a disembodied spirit or ghost ... that leaves the body of a living person and subsequently haunts other people or places, sometimes across great distances.'; statements on vengeance, possession, non-vengeful action, and The Tale of Genji ikisudama episode.wiki
- [2]Konjaku Monogatarishū (tale excerpts referenced). Referenced Konjaku Monogatarishū tale: account of a house-master complaining that the ikiryō of his former wife was present and causing him illness, after which he died (as summarized in the sources).literary
- [3]Matsutōya Yūrei (tale as cited). Summary of Matsutōya tale: two women's spirits possessed a teenaged boy, spoke through his lips and suspended him in mid-air; the priest Zōkai exorcised and cured him.literary
- [4]Sorori Monogatari (1663) — wandering head tale. Account in which a woman's ikiryō assumed the shape of her severed head (the woman's mōnen), and she later turned Buddhist nun to repent for her sins.literary
- [5]The Tale of Genji references (ikisudama / akugaru). Heian literature notes: The Tale of Genji describes the 'well known' episode of the ikisudama from Lady Rokujo; the verb akugaru ('departure') is used to describe a soul leaving the body.literary