It is said that there have been different viewpoints throughout the ages in Japan and across different regions including that 'the dead become sacred beings', 'the dead become beings to be abhorred' or that 'people who die of unnatural causes become revengeful ghosts and curse the living.'
日本の各時代や地域によっても「死者は聖なる存在」「死者は忌み嫌うべき存在」「自然死以外は、悪霊化し、生者に祟る」など様々な見解がとられていたといわれている。