Ikiryō

Ikiryō

Ikiryō (生霊 ‘Living Soul’) is a Yurei depicted in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Toriyama Sekien, though this book is a compendium of Yōkai, this creature is a Yurei (ghost).

In Sekien’s book it states that this entity is created through jealousy, meaning that a living person’s soul, when asleep, can detach from their body to enact mayhem and revenge. One of these creatures is detailed in the Tale of Genji.

External Links

• View the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō online here: Gazu Hyakki Yagyō Online.

Footnotes

1. Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

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