Yomi

[gentle music] So what are the yurei? According to the English language sources that Jen was able to track down, in both Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, there is an afterlife.

In Shinto traditions, after you die, the soul, which is said to contain part of God, is released and travels to the Yomi no Kuni, which is the afterlife.

Buddhist beliefs also contain an afterlife called the Anwayo.

In an article called Yurei: The Japanese Culture of Ghosts Through History, Maria Penescal explains the hurdles a soul goes through to reach the afterlife.