There are different types of ghosts (wandering, frightening, trying to start a conversation, etc.), but Japanese hungry ghosts act in a very unusual way.
One of the most famous ghosts in Japan are the so-called "Hidarugami" (Hidarugami), which roughly translates as "hungry gods." They say that these are the souls of those who died of starvation, lost their way in the mountains, and whose bodies were never found.
Depending on the region, Hidarugami can be called the words "Hidaruts" or "Darashi" or "Daru", but their behavior is the same. They wander in search of someone with whom to share their agony of eternal hunger. Such a curse is imposed on them. And it is natural that most often the same lonely travelers become their victims.
Many stories are told of how travelers, walking along lonely mountain paths, are suddenly overcome by an insatiable feeling of hunger like they have never experienced. This sensation is reported to be absolutely overwhelming and almost overwhelming. It is often accompanied by unexplained fatigue and numbness in the limbs, with the result that the victims of the "hungry ghost" attack fall to the ground, not understanding what is happening.
If the traveler is not helped in time, all this is believed to almost certainly lead to his death or a state of complete insanity, and after his death the traveler will become the same hungry ghost.
According to legends, you can avoid this ominous fate if you have at least a small piece of food at hand, even one grain of rice will do. And even such a small amount of food can quickly take away the supernatural feeling of hunger when it attacks.
That is why, even today, the Japanese who go alone along the mountain trails take at least a little food with them, even if they have to walk a very short distance.
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Curiously, in the traditions of Shiga Prefecture on the island of Honshu, Hidarugami are described as zombies. For them, these are aggressive creatures that can attack and maim a person, eating his flesh to satisfy their insatiable hunger. Keep rice balls on hand to protect against them.
While all of this may seem like just folk tales, there are actually quite a few stories from people who may have actually encountered hungry ghosts. One such story comes from a man named Senkichi, who in 1736 set out on a journey along a secluded mountain trail.
When he was later found by other locals and brought to his village, he was in a very frightened state and told the eerie story of being attacked by a group of hungry ghosts.
In another story from the same years, a traveler named Mizuki Shigeru was also attacked by a horde of nasty hungry ghosts. He managed to escape from them by grabbing a handful of rice from his bag and scattering the rice on the ground. The hungry ghosts were distracted by the search for grains and the man managed to escape.
Many Japanese maps and guidebooks of those years contained warnings about hungry ghosts and urged to take rice with you. Also throughout rural Japan, there were many legends associated with hungry ghosts.
In Wakayama Prefecture, there is a supposedly deep hole in the ground near the Okumotori and Shokumotori Mountains, in which aggressive Hidarugami are ambushed. Also, in many parts of Japan on mountain trails there are special holy places where you can pray so that you will not be attacked by hungry ghosts.
It is widely believed that these stories are just the epitome of the severe famine that has plagued rural Japan for centuries. However, such stories were spread even in relatively wealthy areas of the country. Fortunately, Hidarugami is considered a relatively weak spirit compared to many other Japanese evil spirits.
Hidarugami are sometimes credited with disgusting and also very hungry ghosts called "gaki" or "preta." These creatures came to Japan from Tibetan mythology and are eternally tormented by thirst and hunger in their otherworldly counterpart of Hell.
Gaki are most often described as humanoid creatures with horribly bloated bellies, strange heads, and useless little mouths that they constantly seek for something to eat. Gaki / pretas are the lowest form of existence, into which envious, greedy and generally bad people turn into after death.
They are tormented by such intense hunger that they will look for anything to eat it. Including feces, vomit, corpses and so on. They desperately lick their lips at the slightest drop of blood, but their hunger is never satiated.