User blog comment:Njalm2/Nanja's Point of View: Shinigami Edition/@comment-24384232-20150504221239/@comment-24384232-20150505160257

The issue of the language barrier aside, cultural differences are even harder to pin down. From what I can tell, Soul Society only houses the population of Japan. Then again any significant genre parades its own mythos of heaven and hell as the sole spiritual existence. Though some of my earlier theories helps to sort this mess out. Given the brief implications given by Komamura's own grandfather, it gave a bit more credence to Doubutsu Kato, which served as a sort of spiritual crossroads. Deceased souls would end up there and travel to whatever spiritual plane they most strongly resonated with. Well before ole Yama came in with his flaming sword of justice and razed it to the ground.

Seireitou and Ten established a Chinese version of soul society in their own stories, and we cant assume that Soul Society was the first. Remember it only came into existence just 2000 years ago. What was there before? Were there other places beyond Soul Society? Given the rather long lived culture and mythos that exist, we have to assume yes. I mean just ask yourself this; what happened to the babylonian gods and heaven? That culture was the first so by all rights it should have a heaven, should it not? Bleach may be Bleach but it still is based in the real world. Meaning all our actual cultural and mythology applies. Otherwise we assert that only the Japanese got it right and that in Bleach God doesnt exist, because of the existence of Soul Society.

Thus the only plausible explanation I could think is the differing spiritual realms where souls bound by their own culture and belief go to upon their death. Besides, Rukongai doesnt have the space to house the entire population of the world, and its deceased. Less than six centuries ago the world population was no more 30 million. By 2011, an average of 55 million die every year, with more than twice that being born. Were that the case, 28,000 is barely a drop in the bucket, and nothing significant as to warrant a spiritual imbalance. Were it contained to japan only, then that number is a bit more significant.

Japan has a total population of 127 million, while the average death toll is roughly 9 deaths for every 1000 people in the population. As a rough figure thats 14,111 deaths per year average. So when Mayuri killed 28,000 people, he killed more than twice the number of japanese citizens who die every year to bring balance back. That's pretty damn significant, and telling since it supports the idea that Soul Society only houses the population of Japan and its culture only.