In the Shinto view of souls, even after a person dies, the soul lives on eternally, and souls that have been enshrined and appeased will become sorei (ancestral spirits, usually ones which have lost their individuality) to watch over descendants.
神道の霊魂観においては、人が無くなった後も霊魂は不滅であり、祀られて鎮まった御霊（みたま）は子孫を見守る祖霊となる、とされる。