Diaphanous

Delicate of form, translucent, vague or insubstantial. Those terms make up the meaning behind the word diaphanous. It took a bit of thought, but then something came to mind that can cover all of those meanings: Ghosts.

Yes, whether you believe in them or not, you've most likely heard ghost stories, either legends or encounters that friends or family claimed to have had... maybe even you yourself have experienced something metaphysical or paranormal. Most of the stories that we have heard, and most of what we know of ghosts, have been from a Western or American point of view, ranging from the calm and silent spirits haunting century-old homes to the Native American stories of ghosts coming and whisking away campers in the middle of the night... All of these stories have a distinctly American flair to them.

Just as America has its own ghost stories populated by phantasms and poltergeists, Japan has its own distinct and unique take on the ghostly and the paranormal.

Although I don't have too much knowledge about this area of Japanese lore, I will offer what I do know first, before going onto Wikipedia info. Japanese ghosts look human for the most part and typically wear the garb that they had on at the time of death or their funeral garments. If you've seen the Ring or similar takes on Japanese films, you probably have a good idea of how they appear. Long, dark, disheveled hair; light clothing; pale skin. That is the stereotypical Japanese ghost.

Actually, during my stay in Japan, a female Korean exchange student, who was also staying in the same dormitory, mistook me for a ghost one morning. This happened because I had just gotten up, I was in a white beater and light pajama pants, and I decided to head to the kitchen area upstairs to make something to eat. So I slipped into my soft and fuzzy slippers and made my way there without a sound. As I approached, I heard someone in the kitchen so I prepared myself to greet them. There is a large mirror in the kitchen in which someone can easily look into and see anyone who may be approaching , so as I entered the kitchen I assumed that she had seen me, but she was busy preparing her food at the counter with the mirror right in front of her, so I went by to the sink and counter on the opposite side of the room to prepare my own meal. Before doing so though, I turned around to her and said, "Ohayou... (Good morning...)," in a rather low and monotone voice. Upon hearing this, she looked up at the mirror, saw my disheveled hair and pale form, turned around in shock and screamed while crouching into a fetal position on the floor. While this was all occurring, I was a horrible person and was laughing at her reaction.=) After the initial shock and scream of terror, she fortunately started to laugh as well. Of course, I apologized. :)

I suppose this can be taken as an example of the similarity of Eastern ghosts and spirits. Long dark hair and white or light clothing, and suddenly appearing without a noise being made.

To get a few more details, I gathered some information from Wikipedia.com. Other common traits of Japanese ghosts are that they have no legs or feet, hence moving around silently. Also, their hands are constantly in a limp position. You can imagine a rabbit or dog's stance when they stand up, and you'll get an idea of how the ghost arms are positioned. Japanese ghosts also tend to have will-o-wisps, little balls of flame, floating around their forms.

The different types of ghosts fit into the same categories as some American ghosts:

Onryou are ghosts who return for vengeance upon those who wronged them.
Ubume are ghosts who died during childbirth, and they return to watch over their children.
Goryou are ghosts who belonged to the artistocratic class, and it's also mentioned that they were people who were usually martyred.
Funayurei are ghosts of those who died or vanished at sea.
Zashiki-warashi are the ghosts of children and are usually seen as being mischievous.
Warrior ghosts are ghosts of those who fell in battle.
Last, are the Seducer ghosts who return to carry out a love affair with a living person.

In regards to haunted areas... there was only one place that I heard about while there, and it's quite famous apparently. At the base of Mt. Fuji lies a deep and vast forest known as Aokigahara. Within this forest, hundreds of people have committed suicide there. With so many deaths being noted there, and hikers regularly stumbling upon the remains of those who have committed suicide, it makes sense that it would be considered a haunted area. It is of note that suicide rates are rather high in Japan, and one way that a lot of those suicide victims go about doing that is by hurling theirself off of the train station platforms when a train comes by, thus being killed by the impact or... being killed on the tracks. Both are rather morbid and horrid thoughts in my opinion.

I spent hours looking for videos that showed Japanese ghosts, and I managed to find some. I also found some American videos in order to better contrast the differences between the ghosts of one country from the other. Only the first video is subtitled. Of importance in the second video though is that they mention the dresser being very old and passed down through generations.










I personally don't believe in ghosts, but I was quite superstitious as a kid and I do still find ghost stories and evidence of the supernatural to be interesting material. It still causes shivers to run up my spine and the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end, all while taking the occasional glance behind myself.

To finish things off, while in Japan, a friend offered to take me to explore an abandoned hospital that is supposedly haunted. At first, I eagerly agreed to it, but after talking about it and the thought of a possible "curse" afflicting the place so as to cause it to be abandoned in the first place, I wisely backed out of that experience. Sometimes it's better to just let some things lie rather than disturb them...