Soul Society

In the anime and manga series BLEACH, the afterlife is known as Soul Society (尸魂界)*, also called the spirit world (in a BLEACH-related context). It is meant to correspond to heaven or nirvana in human belief systems.

Template:Spoiler According to Rukia Kuchiki, nine out of ten times Soul Society is better than the living world and you never need to worry about hunger. However, as displayed in the series, the concept of the afterlife is anything but sublime. Soul Society consists of two portions, the cities where most people live, called the Rukongai; and the walled castle where the spirit world nobility and the shinigami live, known as Seireitei (lit. Court of Pure Souls).

It should be noted that even within Soul Society, no one is immortal. People grow old, albeit at a slower pace, and might be able to die of old age. They can also be killed in battle. A soul that dies in Soul Society is reincarnated on earth as a new human.

 * - Soul Society, despite being written using kanji in the manga, is pronounced Soul Society, and has no Japanese pronunciation.

Government

Soul Society is ruled by a royal family. Farther down, the Royal Guard and the shinigami enforce order in Soul Society, whereas the Central 46 Chambers serves as the judiciary. All the above, except the royal family, reside in the Seireitei (see below).

The king and the royal family reside in a separate dimension in the very core of Soul Society, which can only be opened with a key, fittingly named the "Royal Key". The king's practical role is unknown. The king seems to have no interest in politics and leaves the Central 46 Chambers to such affairs. According to Rangiku Matsumoto, no shinigami in the Gotei 13 has ever seen the king.

Rukongai

Rukongai (流魂街 lit. wandering soul city) is divided into 320 districts (80 in North Rukongai, 80 in West Rukongai, etc.), each numbered in descending order on how far they are from the center; this results in the higher-numerated (and farther) districts decaying into slums. Thus, while District 1 is peaceful and lawful (and in many cases resembles the antiseptic lifestyle of early-Edo era Kyoto), District 80 is a hardscrabble, violent, crime-infested area that more depicts Heian era Kyoto. There is no indication that the shinigami or any other agencies patrol the streets of rukongai, and as a result, the citizenry are mainly responsible for their day-to-day welfare.

So far, only four names of Rukongai districts are known:

• 1 - Junrinan (潤林安), part of West Rukongai
  • Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Momo Hinamori, and Jidanbō, the West Gate Keeper, came from here. When he comes to Soul Society, the spirit of Yūichi Shibata, the boy who inhabited Chad's parakeet, also comes to reside here. According to Sōsuke Aizen, West Rukongai is also the "headquarters" of Kisuke Urahara.
• 78 - Inuzuri, the South Alley of Flowing Spirits
  • Both Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai grew up here.
• 79 - Kusajishi (草鹿), the North Alley of Loitering Spirits
  • Yachiru Kusajishi was found here by Kenpachi Zaraki.
• 80 - Zaraki (更木), the North Alley of Loitering Spirits
  • Kenpachi Zaraki came from here.

Seireitei

Seireitei (瀞霊廷, lit. court of pure souls) is in the center of Soul Society, a circular shirō with four main entrances, each guarded by a Gate Guardian. The walls are made of deathstone, a material known to sap all spiritual and psychic energy when one portion is faced in a particular direction, similar to magnetic lodestones.

The majority of the residents of Seireitei, nobility and shinigami alike, do not interact with the citizens of Rukongai. However, residents of Rukongai are allowed to apply for the shinigami academy, which is often the only escape from the poorest conditions of Rukongai. Some Seireitei residents, such as shinigami Yoruichi Shihouin and the Shiba clan, do maintain residences outside the castle.