Aging...

[RukiaIkari]

I am so confused. Yoruichi supposedly hadn't been around for 100 years. They show flashbacks and she looked exactly the same as she does now. Same thing with Soi Fong. This made me assume that people in Soul Society don't age. But then again, we have flashbacks of Renji, Rukia, Gin, and Matsumoto, for example, and these flashbacks show them as little kids in Soul Society. This means they grow up and become the death gods that they are today. BUT I thought you don't age in Soul Society! Also, there are a few old people in Soul Society as well. ex; the 1st squad captain dude. What exactly are the rules of aging in Soul Society?

I should also add that in the episode where Yoruichi saves Ichigo from Byakuya, she says something to him that implies that they played tag or something when they were little kids. That means that even Yoruichi aged at some point...
HELP!

[Chef Wun]

You do age, but much slower, but i think you grow to adulthood at the normal rate but after that you grow old very slowly. so basically you can live as a young adult for a looooooooong time. Look at Captains Kyuoraku and Ukitake, 2000 years ago they were young men but now they are about 40ish appearance wise, and Yama-Jii stayed the same. Plus if you die In Soul Society you get reincarnated as a new human on earth, which prompts the Ichigo-Kaien theory.

But this brings up the question, if all the souls on the planet are flowing to soul society and staying there for so long how can they fit them all in one city? and why do they all speak and live Japanese?

[lil'dragon]

But this brings up the question, if all the souls on the planet are flowing to soul society and staying there for so long how can they fit them all in one city?
That might be a reason why the really bad areas of Rukongai exist, so souls can die quicker and go back to earth to avoid overpopulation.

and why do they all speak and live Japanese? Cuz its from the mind of a Japanese author. :D

[likenewbie]

as well, its hard to say just how large that "one city" is. there are 80 sections, or rings that make it up. and its never been said how many ppl populate soul society...

and yes, they all speak japanese because its japanese anime. i'm sure if the anime were in a different language, less ppl from the lands creation would watch it.

[blackknight]

But this brings up the question, if all the souls on the planet are flowing to soul society and staying there for so long how can they fit them all in one city? and why do they all speak and live Japanese?
I have yet to read the manga, but as I understand it from the anime there are four areas corresponding to the cardinal directions, each with eighty sections. That's quite a bit of room, then you can also look into reincarnation as a way to keep population down.

As to why they all speak Japanese (apart from it being from a Japanese source) it could be that it is the Japanese afterlife. There may be a different place to go depending on what you truly believed during your lifetime. Thus the Christians go one place, Bhuddists another, Shintoists yet another, and so on and so forth. Then your atheists just disappear.

[Dessa]

RE: the whole Japanese thing

I'd assume that it works similar to how it is in Yami no Matsuei. Since, if you think about it, 13 squads to cover the ENTIRE Earth? In Yami no Matsuei, the Ju Oh Chou covers Japan. There are other judgement bureau's in other parts of the world. So I'd say that, similar to what blackknight said, there are different Soul Societies all over the world (probably one "world", though, in that you could likely travel from one to another).