Shinigami

Shinigami (死神^?, "god of death" or "death spirit") are gods or supernatural spirits that invite humans toward death, and can be seen to be present or interpreted to be present in certain aspects of Japanese religion and culture.

In Buddhism, there is the Mara that is concerned with death, the Mrtyu-mara. It is a demon that makes humans want to die, and it is said that upon being possessed by it, in a shock, one should suddenly want to commit suicide, so it is sometimes explained to be a "shinigami". Also, in the Yogacarabhumi-sastra, a writing on Yogacara, it was a demon that decided the time of people's deaths.Yama, the king of the Underworld, as well as oni like the Ox-Head and Horse-Face are also considered a type of shinigami.

In Shinto and Japanese mythology, Izanami gave humans death, so Izanami is sometimes seen as a shinigami.

However, Izanami and Yama are also thought to be different from the death gods in western mythology. Some forms of Buddhism do not involve believing in any deities, so it is sometimes thought that the concept of a death god does not exist to begin with. Even though the kijin and onryō of Japanese Buddhist faith have taken humans' lives, there is the opinion that there is no "death god" that merely leads people into the world of the dead.

Generally the word "shinigami" does not appear to be used in Japanese classical literature, and there are not many writings about them, but going into the Edo period, the word "shinigami" can be seen in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's works of ningyō jōruri and classical literature that had themes on double suicides.

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