What would be the most apt word in kanji, for "Animal world"?


Okay, that may sound a little confusing, and no, not looking for the name of a
zoo or theme park here XD

Essentially, simply put, I'm writing a novel, and for that, building a world
around it. Yes, there is no need for the Kanji - I am well aware of that, and
yet, I feel like using kanji for specific phrases.

My story has several locations. Much like a heaven - earth - hell, except they
are based on a reincarnation and enlightenment system instead of an afterlife
based on a moral judgement sort of thing. Those souls that achieve
enlightenment and 'ascend' beyond their eternal cycle of death and rebirth in
Jinkai by discarding their current worldly attachments, go to Tenkai, where
celestials and other deities live. And "hell" is fully inhabited by demons,
not inherently evil, merely fundamentally different to those that live on
"earth". Yes, sinners and saints don't matter in this universe. Morality is a
human construct (at least in this story if you would disagree on that, as I
really don't want to be dragged into a meaningless debate).

Anyways, the three worlds are as such:

Tenkai - Celestial World (天界)

Ningenkai/Jinkai - Human World (人界/人間界)

Makai - Demon World (魔界)

Particularly, using Yōkai instead of another phrase for Demon, such as Akuma,
as that would be more 'Devil' I believe, and would have more 'Evil'
connotations. I thought of using Mazoku, except that implies 'Demon Race', as
in a singular species. I want 'Demons' in Makai to be the equivalent of all
'Organisms' on "Earth", as opposed to merely being the opposite of Humans.
(But, I would **very** much appreciate if someone could provide a general term
as such to use the would imply Demons - or even something like "Others" as in
fundamentally different from Earth's inhabitants, as Yōkai's meaning is closer
to ghosts and strange apparitions.)

**As such, here I come to the crux of the matter.** Particularly, the naming
of the Human World. I believe that sounds rather pretentious, as Humans alone
are not the inhabitants of Earth. Yes, they are the apex predators and all
that, but to keep Makai and Jinkai parallel while giving the impression that
Makai is not of only one species, but composed of several diverse set of
beings that are merely fundamentally different to all creatures on earth. As 魔
(Demon) is up to interpretation, it does not have the same problem. For
example, there would be demonic equivalents of dogs and bacteria as well, on
Makai.

So, is there another prefix I could use, instead of Jin or Ningen, that would
imply all the known organisms on earth (animals inclusive of humans at least,
**preferably** others outside the animalia kingdom as well, such as
microorganisms)? I would also like it if it is simpler in terms of the number
of syllables, even if the term itself is particularly obscure.

I understand this is a very tall order, on top of a very lengthy request. I
think the above would be important context as to understand the exact
implications of my query. If not, I apologize for the long read, so thanks for
at least putting up with me XD Thanks in advance for the assistance as well,
if I may be so forward as to presume as such? :D




**人間界** is very commonly used for this purpose, and I recommend you accept
this term unless you really have a good reason. 人間界 just means "the world
where humans exist", and everyone understands that there are also other
animals, plants and bacteria and so on in 人間界. Another good option is **地上界**
( _Chijōkai_ , lit. "the world on the Earth") if your other two worlds are not
on our planet. **自然界** ( _Shizenkai_ , lit. "the world of nature") may be
another option, but in many works of fiction 自然界 can be an opposing concept of
人間界 (for example in movies like _Lion King_ or _Princess Mononoke_ ), so
you'll have to explain your definition of 自然界. 動物界 would be the literal
translation of "Animal World", but it obviously doesn't meet your requirement.

I think **魔界** is OK as long as this is the term named by humans, and humans
are more or less afraid of the beings living there. Residents in 魔界 (ie 魔物/魔族)
are not necessarily evil in many works, and in some cases [humans and 魔物 live
happily together](http://www.dragonquest.jp/dqm2/) even though they're still
called 魔物 from 魔界. (Think of _Monsters Inc._ , though I don't know whether
their world is actually called 魔界 in the movie)

But if you want to avoid the "evil" and "dark" connotation of 魔界, I also
recall seeing **冥界** ( _Meikai_ ) and **幽界** ( _Yūkai_ ) several times, both
of which don't have a fixed definition and just feel like "yet another
different world which is not bound to flesh" to me. Please try Google Image
Search before accepting any of these. Another option might be **異界** ( _Ikai_
, lit "different world") if you really want to emphasize the "parallel"
nuance. This essentially just means parallel world in general, but I think you
can determine to use it as a proper noun in your novel.




**人間界** is very commonly used for this purpose, and I recommend you accept
this term unless you really have a good reason. 人間界 just means "the world
where humans exist", and everyone understands that there are also other
animals, plants and bacteria and so on in 人間界. Another good option is **地上界**
( _Chijōkai_ , lit. "the world on the Earth") if your other two worlds are not
on our planet. **自然界** ( _Shizenkai_ , lit. "the world of nature") may be
another option, but in many works of fiction 自然界 can be an opposing concept of
人間界 (for example in movies like _Lion King_ or _Princess Mononoke_ ), so
you'll have to explain your definition of 自然界. 動物界 would be the literal
translation of "Animal World", but it obviously doesn't meet your requirement.

I think **魔界** is OK as long as this is the term named by humans, and humans
are more or less afraid of the beings living there. Residents in 魔界 (ie 魔物/魔族)
are not necessarily evil in many works, and in some cases [humans and 魔物 live
happily together](http://www.dragonquest.jp/dqm2/) even though they're still
called 魔物 from 魔界. (Think of _Monsters Inc._ , though I don't know whether
their world is actually called 魔界 in the movie)

But if you want to avoid the "evil" and "dark" connotation of 魔界, I also
recall seeing **冥界** ( _Meikai_ ) and **幽界** ( _Yūkai_ ) several times, both
of which don't have a fixed definition and just feel like "yet another
different world which is not bound to flesh" to me. Please try Google Image
Search before accepting any of these. Another option might be **異界** ( _Ikai_
, lit "different world") if you really want to emphasize the "parallel"
nuance. This essentially just means parallel world in general, but I think you
can determine to use it as a proper noun in your novel.

