Shinigami - The death gods

If you’ve watched Bleach, read Death Note, seen Yami no Matsui it’s hard to avoid this word. Who are the shinigami? You wonder, and why are they such a popular part of Japanese pop culture?

死神 – shini-gami – The death god is the god your soul meets when you die. This god is a guide that helps you move on to where you’re supposed to be in the next life. Be it heaven, hell or some other realm.

There are only two articles that I can find on the Japanese version of this popular mythological character. What I’ve read boils down to this: Shinigami are not native to Japan but imported by the Western and Chinese versions of death gods. It seems like the Japanese got the visual image of the shinigami from the West and the bureaucratic nature of the job from the East. Below are the referenced articles.

Manga News
Wiki Shinigami

One of the most unique takes I’ve seen is from the Japanese movie After Life or Wonderful life.

After Life’s premise is that when you die, you get taken to a waiting area and assigned as a case to the workers there (shinigami). Your task is to choose a moment that you can spend eternity in. Basically, you’re choosing your idea of heaven. You’ve got seven days to complete this task. But of course, it’s more difficult than it seems.