Souls

Hitodama

As a consequence of their long standing close relationship with kami, the souls of the Japanese, also called Hitodama will sometimes do things that would be unusual for other mortal beings after they die. The souls of most Japanese will pass onto the heavenly realm of the kami known as "Tengoku" if they were Shinto believers. The souls of non-believers and evil doers will find themselves in the underworld known as "Jigoku".

These various souls, regardless of where they end up, however also have a unique tether to the material world in the form of an object treasured by the owner. This might be a fan, kimono, umbrella, sword, tea cup, instrument, or so on. These objects are believed to still contain the influence of these long passed people, and can become cursed or blessed items that are treasured or feared by their families, friends, and descendants. To the Japanese, the souls of their ancestors play an active role in the material world, continuing to influence things from beyond the grave, capable of bestowing blessings or curses depending on the behavior of their living descendants.

Hitodama will sometimes appear as glowing orbs of wispy fiery energy that will float in the air. Japanese of strong spirituality, especially shrine maidens, are able to see the hitodama of living people and spirits to properly judge their nature.

Ki

Ki is the power of ones Hitodama manifested in either divine or dark energy. While there is a strong correlation between the intensity of a soul and one's Ki power, they are not the same thing. The average Japanese will have very little Ki, and would not be able to manifest it in a visible or effective way. Something like a kami, shrine maiden, or yokai might have enough Ki to produce powerful effects. In Japanese society it is thought that women are more spiritually attuned, and are therefore more likely to be able to see spirits, communicate with them, and channel their power. Those girls who are seen at an early age to have high levels of Ki often become shrine maidens at a shrine. Unfortunately a lot of these young women will not live to see old age, as this spiritual power comes at the expense of bodily integrity. Mortal illness is not uncommon for these shrine maidens, and while many of them will survive, they will likely carry some sort of ailment with them through life.

If a Japanese soul dies whilst having unfinished business, or is cursed for one reason or another, the soul might never make the passage to final rest, and might endure and a purgatorial state in whats known as the "spirit world". In this spirit world, these former Japanese take on the form of ghosts, monsters, and other aberrations known as "Yokai" that are doomed to an immortal existence of suffering, base desires, and a narrow obsessive focus on one or two objectives like revenge, hunger, blood-lust, and other curses. Some of these former human Yokai may be able to pass on are they able to achieve their revenge or goal, but most simply wander on infinitely.

Yokai are able to partially interact with the material world, but are limited. Maybe they are only able to do physical or mental harm towards those that abused or killed them in the material world. Maybe they can only physically interact in certain places of high spiritual density, or at certain times, like during a blood moon. Yokai are typically going to be more active at night, and will linger in places of great importance to them.