Even though shinigami are not youkai who live in Gensokyo, they do appear in Gensokyo on rare occasions, so they will be given an introduction here.

Shinigami usually live in Hell, responsible for working at the ministry that determines the life spans of humans, guiding spirits, acting as ferrymen on the Sanzu River, or performing other "tour guide"-type duties.

While they have the image of greeting humans who have died and taking their souls, in reality, they're the Yama's metaphorical hands and feet, performing any necessary manual labor.

One characteristic of a shinigami is that they carry enormous scythes with them.

It is said that this scythe is a symbol of a shinigami's prestige, but in actuality, it is more of a service to the recently deceased.

When the deceased first gazes upon a shinigami wielding a giant scythe, they think "there really are such things as shinigami" and then gladly accept their fate (*1).

1: It's relatively well-received.

They record the life spans of living humans, and if something happens that wasn't in the original plan, a recalculation is performed (*2).

Because this job requires constant recalulations while managing a vast amount of data, shinigami who are cut out for such a job are always being sought after.

Because there are spirits that will be unfamiliar to the system in Hell, these guides will explain the details to them and present them with directions to various destinations.

Shinigami that appear to know about Hell are in charge of this role.

They collect the fare paid by the spirits who come to the Sanzu River, and then have the job of ferrying the spirits to Higan.

Because this involves hard manual labor away from the office, it's not very popular.

But because you work by yourself at your own pace, and can meet and talk with all kinds of spirits, those who like this kind of work thoroughly enjoy it.

Sitting in at the court of the Yama, this work further involves documenting the minutes of the proceedings.

Only the elite among the shinigami are sought for this position, but the actual work itself is fairly simple.

2: Because this only involves record keeping, even if something deviates from the plans, they do not kill.