In Japanese folklore, hitodama are balls of fire that mainly float in the air during the night. They are also referred to as onibi or hikarimono. They are said to be "souls of the dead that have separ
Hitodama from the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by Toriyama Sekien
Ikiryō, also known as shōryō, seirei, or ikisudama, is a disembodied spirit or ghost in Japanese popular belief and fiction that leaves the body of a living person and subsequently haunts other people
Ikiryō (生霊) from the 1776 book Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Sekien Toriyama
Nihonga Honō (焔, Flame) by Uemura Shōen, 1918. Tokyo National Museum. This work was inspired by Lady Rokujō, the ikiryō from The Tale of Genji and the Noh play Aoi no Ue.
"Onna no Mōnen Mayoiaruku Koto" (女の妄念迷ひ歩く事) from the 1573 work Sorori Monogatari (曾呂利物語)
Rikonbyō (離魂病) from the Kyōka Hyaku Monogatari, illustrated by Masasumi Ryūkansaijin in 1853. The woman on the left is afflicted by the "soul separation illness", and her ikiryō appears next to her.