also: いいきのおに
person who died in a foreign land; ghost in a foreign land
Idiomatic expression for someone who died away from their homeland, often with a sense of pity or loneliness. The literal meaning is 'demon/ghost of a foreign land'.
He died in a foreign land.
Many people died in foreign lands during the war.
異国 simply means 'foreign country', while 異域の鬼 specifically refers to a person who died there.
鬼 usually means 'demon' or 'ogre', but in this expression it metaphorically refers to the spirit of the deceased.
Standard kanji spelling for this idiomatic expression.
Alternate reading おに for 鬼; less common for this expression.
Classical variant using 之 instead of の; mainly found in older texts.
Classical variant with alternate reading; very rare.
Compound of 異域 (foreign land) + の (possessive particle) + 鬼 (ghost/demon). The expression likely originates from classical Chinese literature, where dying away from one's homeland was considered a tragic fate.