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Modern rendition of shinigami as depicted in the manga series, Death Note.
Izanami and Izanagi, the two deities of the Japanese creation myth
Introduction
Introduction
Various cultures have had figures that represent death for thousands of years, whether they are spirits, deities, physical symbols, or another state of being. Often, death is imagined as a sort of personified force. For example, the Grim Reaper is the collector of human souls after death, most likely founded in Europe during the 14th century as a result of the Black Death, the world's deadliest known pandemic.
In Japan, shinigami (死神, "God of Death" or "Death Spirit") are a type of yokai (妖怪, a class of supernatural monsters, spirits, deities in Japanese folklore) that invites humans towards death. They ensure that individuals die and their spirits go to the underworld at their destined times. Shinigami just ensure that an individual dies when they are supposed to, but are not involved in any killing. Normally, they are invisible to the human eye but it is said that when death is coming for you, they become visible.
In Japanese culture, there are various beings that are referred to and seen as shinigami. For instance, Izanami, the female deity of the Japanese creation myth, is sometimes considered a shinigami because she brought death upon people.
When and Where Did Shinigami Come From
When and Where Did Shinigami Come From
The concept or even the word "shinigami" does not exist in a lot of old Japanese literature because some forms of Buddhism did not believe in the idea of a death god. Since the exact history of shinigami is unclear, and the idea has evolved over centuries, shinigami tend to have various portrayals within literature and pop culture, holding both benevolent and malicious images. However, it is likely that the idea was introduced to Japan from western influences and their notion of a grim reaper.
Following the Japanese creation myth, shinigami must have the same parents as all other kami (gods), Izanami and Izanagi. Izanami is known as the goddess of both creation and death. She died giving birth to the god of fire, Kagutsuchi, who burned her in the process. She was then cast away to the underworld, yomi (黄泉), and having had already eaten the food there, she would never be able to return to the land of the living. Izanagi visited her once to bring her back, but ran away shocked at her rotting appearance. Offended, she sent her women to hunt after him and bring him back to the underworld and warned Izanagi that if he left her alone, she would kill 1,000 residents of the city everyday. Thus, death was introduced to the world of the living and there became the need for shinigami.
The main difference between the grim reaper and shinigami is that there is only one grim reaper, whereas there can be multiple shinigamis that may work together to guide souls to the underworld.
Shinigami as seen in "Ehon Hyaku Monogatari"
Appearances
Appearances
Plays
One of the first pieces of literature where the word "shinigami" is first seen, existed during the Edo period (17th-19th century Japan) when bunraku (文楽), also known as ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), was popularized by the playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon (近松 門左衛門 ). His most famous plays dealt with double-suicides of honor bound lovers. These plays depict the shinigami as death spirits that summon or draw people towards taking their own lives. Other kabuki plays have portrayed shinigami as spirits that possess bodies and fill their minds with depressive thoughts to make them want to take their own lives.
Literature
In addition to bunraku in the Edo period, shinigami was also seen in a book of yokai from called the Ehon Hyaku Monogatari, (絵本百物語, "Picture Book of a Hundred Stories" ) by the artist, Takehara Shunsensai. The chapter titled "Shinigami" in this book is an example of an evil portrayal of shinigami. It is about a shinigami that was born from the spirit of a deceased person that acted with hatred and ill intentions. Its spirit held a negative air which would rub off on the living and induce them into following bad paths of poor decisions and unpleasant consequences. The shinigami's influence combined with the existing negative feelings of living people caused repeat incidents of suicide at the same locations. This book is meant to be a follow up of of the famous Japanese artist, Toriyama Sekien's (鳥山 石燕), first book called Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (画図百鬼夜行, "The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons") which is another illustrated collection of different yokai tales from literature, folklore, or art.
Regional Folk Tales
There are various folk tales about shinigami that differ from prefecture to prefecture. For instance, in the Kumamoto Prefrecture, it is taught that if you choose to go out at night, you must drink tea or eat a bowl of rice to prevent the shinigami from visiting. Others from the Shizuoka Prefecture warn that a shinigami may possess your body and take it to dangerous locations where people have died previously, like cliffs or the sea where you can commit suicide or get taunted by dead spirits. However, some tales share a different perspective that shinigami actually serve to guard against suicide. A traditional tale shares the story of a man who was paid a visit by a shinigami when he was about to commit suicide. The shinigami informed him that it was not yet time for him to die and shared tips on how to make money, to improve his life, and continue living until his time is due. Superstition says that if the shinigami appears at the foot of your bed, then it is a good sign meaning it is paying you a visit to guard you against death, but if it appears at the head of your bed with a blown out candle, then that means your time is up.
Popular Culture
An important work to mention is Gegege no Kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎, literally "spooky kitaro") which is a manga series created by Japanese author and historian, Shigeru Mizuki. It is best known for having popularized the idea of yokai into pop culture. All of the characters in the series are yokai and has then been adapted into animations, a live action movie, as well as video games. It is so well-known that Shigeru Mizuki has his own tourist attraction, Shigeru MIzuki Road located in Sakaiminato, Tottori, Japan which features statues of various characters from his manga series, shops that sell merchandise from his works, and a museum highlighting all of his greatest works. Pictured on the right is a statue from the road that depicts the shinigami seen in his manga series. Shinigami's exact appearance is difficult to describe as they are typically invisible, but they are typically portrayed similarly to grim reapers with skull-like heads, an overall bony body structure clad in long, hooded black/gray robes, and may be holding a scythe. Although, shinigami do not look identical and may come in many forms so they are not always recognized when visible.
Statue of Shinigami seen on Shigeru Mizuki Road
Popular Culture
Shinigami also became widely known in today's modern era due to their portrayal in the famous manga series, Death Note (デスノート ), written by Tsugumi Ohba (大場 つぐみ ). This series follows a high school student named Light Yagami, who comes across a mysterious notebook, the "Death Note", that belonged to Shinigami Ryuk. Ryuk dropped the notebook into the human world out of boredom for his amusement. The notebook grants a special power to its user; the power to kill anyone whose name they write in the notebook while picturing that person's face. If a specific cause of death is written subsequently, then it will happen. If not specified, they will simply die of a heart attack. Shinigami Ryuk mainly serves as comedic relief in the manga series, but the new 2017 Netflix original movie adaptation of Death Note portrays Ryuk as the second antagonist that is much more sadistic and derives pleasure from seeing death and disorder caused by him. In either story, shinigami are portrayed as indifferent and apathetic to what happens to people and are merely there to collect and clean up souls when their time is up.
Shinigami as portrayed in Death Note
Shinigami named "Death" as appears in manga series "Soul Eater"
Popular Culture (cont'd)
Another source of shinigami's rise to recognition is from its prevalence in another popular manga series called "Soul Eater". In this series, a shinigami who goes by the name "Lord Death" is the headmaster of the Death Weapon Meister Academy. This school trains those with the ability to transform into weapons or are capable of wielding these weapons. These students are known as meisters, or shokunin (職人). Their ultimate goal is to absorb the souls of 99 evil humans and one witch, in that order, thereafter which their weapon will dramatically increase in power and turn into a death scythe which are wielded by shinigami. In this case, shinigami and their meisters do not bring chaos to the world but instead ward off evil by fighting and killing off bad spirits who wish harm on others.
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