Sadako is a shadowy woman whose face is covered in hair, crawling out of a television. This appearance is typical of Japanese ghosts, who are known as
yūrei. Specifically, Sadako is a type of yūrei known as an
onryō, a yūrei bound by a desire for
vengeance.
Yūrei are Japanese ghosts, ones who have been bound to the
physical world through strong emotions which do not allow them to pass on. Depending on the emotion that binds them, they manifest as a particular type of ghost.
Like many creatures of
folklore, yūrei have a traditional appearance and follow a certain set of rules. They are generally female, although male yūrei do exist. They wear white clothing, which is the color of clothing that corpses are traditionally dressed with in Japan. They have long, often unkempt black hair and white faces, which comes from
Kabuki theater where each character has a particular type of wig and make-up that identifies them to the audience.
In addition to the standard yūrei appearance, Sadako is also an amalgamation of two famous Japanese ghosts,
Oiwa and
Okiku. From Oiwa, Sadako takes the single, misshapen eye. From Okiku, the style of murder, of being thrown down a well and then having the ghost rise from the well to seek vengeance.
The success of the 1998 film
Ring brought the image of the yūrei to Western
popular culture for the first time, although the image has existed in Japan for centuries. This image is often used in
J-Horror films, such as
Ju-on (and its remake
The Grudge),
One Missed Call and
Dark Water.
