In Japan, Yurei are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western model of ghosts. The meaning of yurei is faint spirit, ghost. It's a Japanese word for ghost. In Japanese myth, art, literature ghost stores are a common topic. Yurei has many different types. How they appear depends on the circumstances on their death, in most cases. All humans have a spirit or soul called a 霊魂 (reikon), According to traditional Japanese beliefs. These ghosts are capable of invoking powerful curses. The reikon leaves the body and enters a form of purgatory, when the person dies, where it waits for the proper funeral and post-funeral rites to be performed so that it may join its ancestors. When they died or buried they retain the features and the clothing they wore, it means they are dressed in white burial kimonos or the uniforms of fallen warriors.

They have bloody wounds indicative of the way they died, occasionally. Usually, their hair is long and disheveled, often obstructing their face and adding to their disturbing appearance. From their wrist, their hands hang limply. They are translucent and only faintly visible. They are so faint that they appear to have no feet, in most cases. Typically, yurei are portrayed as spirits who are unable to transition to the afterlife due to some injustice, or passion such as revenge, love, jealousy, hatred, or sorrow. In some cases, due to some unfulfilled duty yurei remain earthbound. In Japan, ghosts were once taken seriously. Wealthy individuals spent vast sums of money building temples and shrines in an attempt to appease an angry spirit, in some cases. The yūrei will persist in its haunting if the rituals are not completed or the conflict left unresolved. A game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular, and Kaidan increasingly became a subject for theater, literature, and other arts, in the late 17th century.

They began to gain certain attributes, at this time to distinguish themselves from living humans, making it easier to spot yūrei characters. 

Yurei classified mainly by the manner they died or their reason for returning to Earth, while all Japanese ghosts are called yūrei.

Onryō: These are the vengeful ghosts who come back from purgatory for a wrong done to them during their lifetime.

Ubume: This is a mother ghost who died in childbirth, or died leaving young children behind who returns to care for her children, often bringing them sweets.

Goryō: These are vengeful ghosts of the aristocratic class, especially those who were martyred.

Funayūrei: These are the ghosts of those who died at the sea area, sometimes they depicted as scaly fish-like humanoids and some may even have a form similar to that of a mermaid or merman.

Zashiki-Warashi: These are the ghosts of children, they are often mischievous rather than dangerous.

Samurai Ghosts: Are Veterans of the Genpei War who fell in battle. They almost exclusively appear in Noh Theater. These ghosts are usually shown with legs, unlike most other yūrei.

Seductress Ghosts: These are the ghosts of a woman or man who initiates a post-death love affair with a living human.

Yurei does not roam about but haunts one particular place or person. As the person, it originated from each haunting is as unique. A yūrei can finally rest, only when its purpose for existing is fulfilled or it is exorcised by a priest. For those who are affected by haunting it is the possibility that salvation exists is a glimmer of hope. When a person dies his soul lives on as a separate entity, passing on to a heavenly afterlife, according to traditional Japanese beliefs.