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In Japan, the spirits separated at death from the body are divided into two categories: benevolent spirits (nigitama) and malevolent spirits (aratama). It is the Japanese belief that neglecting to worship the ancestors' spirits can have evil consequences, while paying due respect to vengeful spirits can turn them into lucky gods. Historically, spirits as ghosts are first mentioned during the Heian period in works such as Nihon Ryöki or Konjaku Monogatari. Later, the word goryo was introduced to designate the spirits of powerful men who died bearing grudges or a desire for revenge and who became ghosts causing epidemics and destruction. The beginning of the Edo period marked the golden age of the kabuki theater, when ghost stories became popular. The development of the Japanese theater went hand in hand with the development of ukiyoe (woodblock prints), as the artists started to create more and more ghost images. This paper focuses on the development of particular ghost motifs and themes, as well as on the evolution of the ghost imagery along centuries in Japanese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]