Yūrei

Origin and tradition

Yūrei is a broad Japanese term for ghosts. Stories, theater, and visual art developed familiar images such as loose hair, white burial clothing, and an indistinct lower body. An onryō is a vengeful spirit, but not every yūrei has that role.

Illustration in this atlas

A floating woman with no feet, dressed in a loose white burial kimono (Katabira), her raw black hair falling over her blue-black face, trailed by two blue hitodama (floating fireballs).

References and further reading

1. en.wikipedia.org — Yūrei

These references offer further reading. Accounts and depictions vary; the atlas illustration is interpretive artwork, rather than historical or scientific evidence.