Explore Words Kanji Grammar Guides

Copyright © 2026 Kotomora. All Rights Reserved.

Get the Kotomora apps for iOS and Android.

Explore Words Kanji Grammar Guides About Support Privacy

Copyright © 2026 Kotomora. All Rights Reserved.

幽冥界 (ゆうめいかい, yuumeikai) Japanese meaning: hades | Kotomora

幽ゆう冥めい界かい

ゆ

う

め

い

か

い

Meanings

1

hades; realm of the dead; underworld

A Buddhist term for the dark world where the dead reside; used in religious, mythological, or literary contexts.

幽ゆう冥めい界かいに迷まよい

込こ

ん

だ

魂たましい

の

話はなし

を

読よ

ん

だ

。

I read a story about a soul that wandered into the realm of the dead.

Kanji

幽seclude, confine to a room, deep
冥dark
界world, boundary

Related words

冥めい界かい
冥界 is a more common term for the underworld or Hades, while 幽冥界 is more literary and explicitly Buddhist.
黄泉よみ
黄泉 is the native Japanese word for the land of the dead, often used in Shinto contexts, whereas 幽冥界 is a Sino-Japanese Buddhist term.

Built from

幽ゆう冥めい+界かい

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 幽冥界, composed of 幽 (dark, secluded), 冥 (dark, underworld), and 界 (world, realm). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is used in Buddhist texts to refer to the realm of the dead.