also: にいじょうりょう
noun
spirit of someone on their first Obon after death
Refers to the spirit of a person who has died within the past year and is being honored for the first time during the Obon festival. Compare with 新仏 (あらぼとけ), which can also refer to the deceased person or their spirit in a similar context.
See also: 新仏
今年の盆は、祖母が新精霊として迎えられる。
This Obon, my grandmother will be welcomed as a new spirit.
新仏 can refer to the deceased person themselves or their spirit during the first Obon, while 新精霊 specifically emphasizes the spirit aspect. 新仏 is more common in everyday speech.
Compound of 新 (あら, 'new') and 精霊 (しょうりょう, 'spirit of the dead'). The reading あら is a native Japanese prefix meaning 'new', while しょうりょう is a Sino-Japanese word for ancestral spirits honored during Obon.