Every culture, of course, has stories about strange things that happen when you die. Many people believe that they have seen a brief light leave the body, or a small cloud exit from the mouth, at the point a body “gives up the ghost.” In Japan, many people claim to see tailed orbs of light leaving the body at the point of death, and floating around in graveyards afterwards. Today let’s take a look at this strange phenomenon!

Hitodama

Hito-dama (人魂)

Translation: human soul
Habitat: graveyards and near the recently deceased
Diet: none

Appearance: Hito-dama are the visible souls of humans which have detached from their host bodies. They appear as red, orange, or blue-white orbs, and the float about slowly not too far from the ground.

Behavior: On warm summer nights, these strange glowing orbs can be seen floating around graveyards, funeral parlors, or the houses where people have recently died. Most often they are only seen just before or just after the moment of death, when the soul leaves the body to return to the ether. It is most common to see them at night, though they are occasionally seen during the daytime too. Rarely, hito-dama can materialize when a person loses consciousness, floating about outside of the body for some time, only to return to the body when the person regains consciousness.

Hito-dama are harmless, and so it is important not to confuse them with other fireball yokai, which can be potentially deadly. Hito-dama can be distinguished from other hi-no-tama by the distinctive tails of light which trail behind them.

Interested in learning more about hitodama and other yokai? Check out my book, The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, on Amazon.com and learn the story behind over one hundred other bizarre monsters! | 世界中で、人の死後に不思議な現象が起こるという話はあります。多くの人が臨終の時に人体からすぅっと光が出るのを見たり小さなモヤが口から出てくるのをみたと信じていますが、日本では光の尾をゆらめかせた球体が体から出るといわれています。そしてそれは後に墓場を浮遊するというのです。今回はこの不思議な現象をご覧いただきましょう。

Hitodama

Hito-dama (人魂)

食べ物: 無し

外見: 人魂は人間の体から分離した魂である。それらは赤か橙、または青っぽい白色の球体であり、ゆっくりと地表近くでゆらめいている。

習性: 人魂は暑い夏の夜に墓場か葬儀場、近いうちに人の死んだ家などで奇妙な光る球体として浮遊している。多くは人が死ぬ直前に魂がその体を離れた時にみられ、時に日中にみられる事もあるがほとんどは夜に現れるといわれる。まれに人が意識を失った場合にも現れて外を浮遊し、意識を取り戻す際にまた体に戻る事もあるという。

人魂は無害であるため、人体に危害を加える可能性のある他の火の玉の妖怪とは区別しなくてはならない。人魂と他の火の玉との違いは、人魂には球体の後に尾がついているという点である。

他の妖怪にも興味をもっていただけたなら、是非アマゾンから「The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons（百鬼夜行）」をどうぞ！