The Eastern do emphasize self-control to a very strong degree. Maybe it has something to do with much greater population densities than the West would find tolerable.

Anywho, some of the distinctions between humans and beasts are that humans have five fingers AND ( more importantly ) that humans have emotional self-control.

The standard Ghost in the West is the spirit with unfinished business.

The Japanese Ghost or Demon/Ogre is a person who let their emotions get the best of them. They live in a state of emotion and have ceased to be human.

A sign that they are no longer human is that they have just three fingers and a thumb. The ogre shows it and the long sleeves and leg-coverings fading to invisibility conceal it in the ghost.

( Trivia time: When Manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka was assimilating the lessons of Disney he realized that he couldn't adapt the simpler four-fingered cartoon hands of Western animation. If he did so he'd be signifying that Princess Knight and her ilk weren't humans but beasts or ghosts. )

I'm not sure that I'm 100% Pelagian. But I'm also not a telepath. So I know I can never feel another's love for me directly. I can see their actions. But all I have is their word as to how they feel inside.

Dante