Onryō

ancestor Japanese single tradition · 3

Onryō is a vengeful ghost that manifests in a physical rather than a spectral form in Japanese folklore.

↻ synthesized from 3 sources

When

First attested
735 CE
Attested period
735 – 2020
Historical notes
Smallpox introduced to Japan in 735.

Relationships

manifests as
hannya

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“Onryō (Japanese) – Vengeful ghost that manifests in a physical rather than a spectral form”

#5149 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“The gold-painted eyes and tooth tips on the deigan masks indicate that the women have already begun the transformation from human to onryō (怨霊, vengeful spirit) or ikiryō (生霊, disembodied spirit).”

#6535 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“According to the Shoku Nihongi, smallpox was introduced into Japan in 735 into the Fukuoka Prefecture from Korea. In those days, smallpox had been considered to be the result of onryō, which was a mythological spirit from Japanese folklore who is able to return to the physical world in order to seek vengeance”

#39834 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001