Hitodama

In Japanese folklore, hitodama (人魂 "human soul" or 人玉 "human ball") are the souls of the recently dead in the form of a fireball. They appear as a pale blue or sometimes green sphere with a long tail, and are believed to originate from gases rising from human graves.

In folklore

• Hitodama are usually seen near graveyards and forests in summer time, the traditional time for ghosts and spirits in Japan.
• They are sometimes said to appear near a dying person as the soul leaves the body.
• Most hitodama are said to fade away or fall to the ground shortly after being spotted.
• They are said to lead travellers off track so that they become lost.
• Ghostly fires in Japan may also be called onibi (鬼火 "demon fire").
• Its counterpart in English folklore is the Will o' the Wisp.

In Fatal Frame games

• In Fatal Frame, some vanishing ghosts leave behind hitodama containing their thoughts. Hostile ghosts also turn into hitodama when exorcised, and are drawn into the Camera.
• Certain ghosts in the series (such as the Headless Priests) can conjure up and fling hitodama at the player, damaging them upon contact.
• In Fatal Frame II Mayu's charm is a magatama, which, in addition to being a talisman in the Shinto religion, traditionally represents the hitodama.
• Hitodama are seen rising to the sky in the endings of both Fatal Frame and Fatal Frame IV.
• In Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir, ghost voices appear in the form of hitodama.

Japanese Culture
Religion
Buddhism - Shinto
Japanese Ghosts/Creatures
Funayūrei - Goryō - Hitodama - Ikiryō - Onryō - Ubume - Yōkai - Yūrei
Specific Japanese Ghosts/Creatures
Oiwa - Okiku - Yuki-onna
Terms
Dosojin - Grave Mound - Hannya Mask - Higanbana - Jizo - Kaidan - Miko - Mukoyōshi - Sanzu River - Shimenawa - Toro-Nagashi - Wara Ningyo
Locations
Northeastern Japan - Shizuoka - Sugisawa Village - Tono
Media and Entertainment
Kagome, Kagome - Ringu