In Japanese folklore, a yūrei is a ghostly spirit traditionally linked to a person who died with unresolved emotions.
Yūrei are spirits of the dead who remain in the human world because of powerful attachment, grief, anger, betrayal, or another unsettled condition. Traditional accounts often describe them as unable to complete the transition to the afterlife or to join the ancestors. Their stories vary widely, so not every yūrei is portrayed as malicious.
The familiar visual image of a yūrei developed strongly in the Edo period. It commonly includes a white burial kimono, long black hair, and hands hanging forward from the wrists. Artists and theater traditions helped standardize these features, which later influenced Japanese horror cinema and popular culture.
Yūrei should not be confused with kami, which are sacred beings or forces associated with Shinto, or with every yōkai, a much broader category of supernatural creature. The term is specifically connected with ghosts of the dead.