Shinigami

Shinigami (死神?, "death god" or "death spirit") is the personification of death in Japan. It's unclear when the concept entered Japanese culture; it may have been imported from China (where there are several psychopomp deities), or possibly been imported from Europe during the Sengoku era—that period in European history featured a common motif of the Grim Reaper gathering souls. The term appears twice in the play The Love Suicides at Amijima by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1721).

The term shinigami may also be used more loosely to refer to any death deity. It seems to be a recent term, however, as it belongs to no specific Shinto deity and is rarely used in folklore.

Today, the use of shinigami for psychopomps and other supernatural beings associated with death in Japanese manga and anime is common. For example, the series Ballad of a Shinigami, Black Butler, Bleach, Death Note, Full Moon o Sagashite, and Soul Eater use shinigami as a major plot device.

Related deities

The following are Japanese death deities but are usually not referred to as shinigami:

Enma, also known as Yama, is a deity from Buddhist and Hindu tradition who judges the dead with either reward or punishment in Jigoku (a world in the afterlife usually referred to in English as the Japanese "Hell").
A goddess in Shinto and wife of Izanagi. Izanami is a goddess of creation who later became a goddess of death.

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