[Skyraida]

straight off wiki
"Shinigami (死神, Shinigami?, literally "death god") is the Japanese name for personifications of death, in particular the Grim Reaper, which was imported to Japan from Europe during the Meiji period. This image of death was quickly adopted by the Japanese, and early on featured in such works as a rakugo play called Shinigami and in Shunsen Takehara's Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (One-hundred Story Picture-Book). [1]"