Shinigami

Shinigami (死神, "Death Spirit") is the personification of death that evolved in Japan, having been imported to Japan from Europe during the Meiji period. This image of death was quickly adopted and featured in such works as the rakugo play Shinigami and in Shunsen Takehara's Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (One-hundred Story Picture-Book).

The term shinigami may also be used more loosely to refer to any death deity. It seems to be a recent term, however, as it belongs to no specific Shinto deity and is rarely used in folklore.

Perhaps the first appearance of shinigami in Japan was in a rakugo play titled Shinigami. It is thought that this play was based on the Italian opera Crispino e la Comare, which was in turn based on Der Gevatter Tod, a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

Related deities

The following are Japanese death deities but are usually not referred to as shinigami:

• Enma (-ō, -daiō)

Enma, also known as Yama, is a deity from Buddhist and Hindu tradition who judges the dead with either reward or punishment in Jigoku (the afterlife).

• Izanami

A goddess in Shintoism, wife of Izanagi. Izanami is a goddess of creation who later became a goddess of death.

See also

• Shinigami in popular culture

External links

• Article on the Grim Reaper Template:Ja icon