Ghost

Japanese: おばけ

…There are also creatures that appear as giants or with one eye and one leg, such as the Ōnyūdō and Hitotsume Kozō, and creatures that confuse or mislead people, such as foxes, raccoon dogs, and badger dogs. The commonly held belief that a monster is a very vague concept that includes ghosts, spirits, foxes, raccoon dogs, demons, and monsters, and is often called an obake. However, in folklore, monsters and ghosts are considered to be different entities. …

From 【Yokai】

...In a broad sense, it means an abnormal thing or phenomenon beyond human understanding, but in a narrow sense, it is a general term for spiritual beings or strange phenomena that are not regularly worshiped, that inspire fear in people, and even bring disaster. They are also called monsters, demons, or demons, and since many of them can change into various things, they are also called "bakemono" or "obake." Folk words that are the general term for monsters can be roughly divided into the "moo" series found in eastern Japan, such as mo, moo moo, momonga, mokko, amo, and anmo, and the "ga" series found in western Japan, such as gagama, gagamo, gango, gagoji, and gamo. ...

*Here are some explanations of terms that mention "ghosts."

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…また，大入道や一つ目小僧のように巨大な姿や片目片足などの姿で現れたり，狐･狸･狢（むじな）などのように人をアヤカシたりマドワカシたりするものもある。　一般通念としての〈化物〉は，幽霊や亡霊，狐狸，鬼天狗，怪物などの類まで含んだ非常にあいまいな概念で，〈おばけ〉と呼ばれることが多い。しかし，民俗学では，化物と幽霊は別の存在であるととらえる。…

【妖怪】より

…広義には，人知の及ばない異常な事物や現象を意味するが，狭義には，恒常的に祭祀されていない，人々に恐怖感を与え，さらには災厄をもたらすこともある霊的存在もしくは怪異現象の総称。妖異，妖物，魔物ともいい，またその多くがさまざまな事物に姿を変えることができるので，〈ばけもの〉〈おばけ〉などとも呼ばれる。妖怪の総称に相当する民俗語は，大別して，東日本に分布する〈モー〉系のモー，モーモー，モモンガー，モッコ，アモ，アンモなどと，西日本に分布する〈ガ〉系のガガマ，ガガモ，ガンゴー，ガゴジ，ガモなどに分けられる。…

※「おばけ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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