Real folklore word — now almost entirely owned by anime.

What a Japanese person actually thinks
Most readers under fifty go straight to anime. Older readers get the folkloric sense, where 死神が憑く ('a shinigami has attached itself to you') means you're being drawn toward death — which is a grim thing to invite onto your skin.

Meaning

Literally: death + god
Actually: A god or spirit of death; the Japanese equivalent of the Grim Reaper. Genuine folklore, but the modern association is overwhelmingly Death Note and Bleach.

Scores

Naturalness●●●●●

Real word, both folkloric and pop-cultural.

Coolness●●●●●

Two solid characters. The pop-culture saturation is the main drag.

Watch out

mediumIn the folk sense, having a shinigami on you is specifically a bad omen — it means something is pulling you toward death.

Get this instead

無常 mujō
impermanence

If mortality is the theme, this is the philosophical version rather than the character-design version.

On skin

死神

Orientation: vertical

Bold brush.