Soul Society
Soul Society is an afterlife also called the spirit world. This is also where Shinigami live and where most Souls dwell until they are reincarnated into the Human World.
Soul Society consists of the Rukongai, where souls live when they arrive in Soul Society, and Seireitei, which is at the center of Soul Society. The mode of life here closely resembles that of feudal Japan. Although nine out of ten times it is better than the living world, Soul Society is far from sublime. In fact, aside from the slowed aging and aforementioned lack of hunger, life there is much like that in the living world.
The Human World and Soul Society are parallel to each other and are two sides of the same coin. Families separated by death are rarely reunited in the Soul Society unless they arrive in Soul Society together. People live nestled together like a family of strangers. Children can be born as they are in the Human World. People can also be killed as regular Humans are, though they are capable of surviving wounds that would normally be considered fatal. A soul that dies in Soul Society is reincarnated on Earth as a new Human with no past memories.
One of the more unusual aspects of Soul Society is its technology level. While the lifestyle and culture of Soul Society is comparable to feudal Japan, they possess technology of a level exceeding that time period. The Shinigami Research Institute has developed amazing technology to their credit, mixing technology with organic components. Allowing for the creation of creatures that do everything from detecting spiritual energy signatures to allowing Humans to see a spirit without the use of a Gigai. They possess touch-screens and databases which are in use for files and historical documentation storage found extensively in the Daireishokairo, which contains all the knowledge and history of Soul Society. View screen technology that is capable of sending signals to the Human World and Dangai, allowing for face to face conferencing. All manner of portable hand-held devices for tracking and communication purposes. Blending old traditions and ideas with new innovation, Soul Society is an enigma in this comparison.
Shinigami enter and leave Soul Society by unlocking the Senkaimon and using a Jigokuchou. Pluses, on the other hand, enter Soul Society through the ritual of Soul Burial. When people die, they are assigned a number to a part of Soul Society according to when they died. Spirits can be born in Soul Society as much as in the living world, with the Shinigami acting to balance the souls.
Intruders can pass through the Senkaimon in the same manner, but only in soul form. This allows spiritual beings to enter without permission. Humans can also use such a gate through the use of Reishihenkanki, which convert solid matter into Reishi. Finally, Hollows and Arrancar can also directly rip a hole to Soul Society from Hueco Mundo using a Garganta.
Seireitei
Seireitei is a circular Japaneese-style castle with four main entrances, ten days walk apart, each guarded by one of the Gatekeepers. These massive, almost cartoonishly-large, gates are collectively called the Four Great Pure Soul Gates. There are, however, normal-sized doors within the gates themselves.
The walls of Seireitei and its buildings are made of Sekkiseki, a rare type of stone known to negate all Reiryoku. The stone also forms a spherical barrier around the city, extending above and below, stopping anything spiritual from breaching it from ground level, from the sky or from underground. There is another wall, which drops down from the sky, that surrounds the entire Seireitei as an extra means of protection in case of an emergency.
In the center of the Seireitei is a white tower known as the Senzaikyū, where criminals are imprisoned; on the hill adjacent to it is the Sōkyoku Hill, where prisoners are executed. Those permitted to live in the tranquility of the Seireitei are Shinigami and the Noble Houses. Shinigami live in the Division barracks, while high-ranking officers commute from their own homes inside the Seireitei.
Here is a map for the Seireitei, it is click-through for a larger version:
Rukongai
Rukongai is the name of the massive city around the Seireitei. Rukongai 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-numbered (and farther) districts decaying into slums. Thus, while District 1 is peaceful and lawful, much like the antiseptic lifestyle of early-Edo Era Kyoto, District 80 is a hardscrabble, violent, crime-infested area that more depicts Heian era Kyoto. The duties of the Gotei 13 Divisions include defending allocated districts of Rukongai. The living standards in Rukongai decline sharply beyond the fiftieth district, with an increase in people wearing rags and no footwear. According to statistics from the last 550 years, no Rukongai resident wears sandals beyond District 59.
Rukongai is full of families that are not related by blood. People die at different times and places, and it is rare for a person to find their real family in the vast Rukongai. When a soul arrives in Soul Society, they are given a ticket according to the time they died and are sent off in different directions. Even if two people were to die together, if they do not receive tickets at the same time, they will not know where the other is.
When the balance of souls between the Human World and Soul Society is endangered, a Captain can request permission to kill citizens in Rukongai in order to restore the balance of souls between the two worlds.
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