Yuki Onna is a spirit or yokai in Japanese folklore. Her character is often depicted in Japanese literature, films, and animation. She is also known by various names related to icicles, such as tsurara-onna and kanekori-musume.
1. Origins
Yuki Onna originates in ancient folklore. In the Muromachi period, Sogi Shokoku Monogatari, by the renga poet Sogi, there is an account of how he saw a Yuki Onna while in the province of Echigo (now Niigata Prefecture), indicating that legends already existed in the Muromachi period.
2. Stories
In legends from the Ojiya region of Niigata Prefecture, a beautiful woman came to visit a man and became his wife of her own accord. This woman was reluctant to go to the bathroom, and when she was forced to go anyway, she disappeared, leaving only thin, fragmented icicles floating in the air.
In Aomori and Yamagata prefectures, there is a similar story about a woman called “Shigama-onna.” In the Kaminoyama region of Yamagata, a Yuki Onna came to visit an elderly couple on a snowy night to warm herself by the irori.
When the Yuki Onna left again late at night, the old man tried to take her hand to stop her, but he realized that she was freezing cold. Then, before his eyes, the girl turned into a whirlwind of snow that left the house through the chimney.
It also has some similarities with the kokakucho, as on a night of snowstorm, the Yuki Onna would stand there hugging a child (yukinko) and ask passersby to hug the child. When someone hugged the child, the child became heavier and heavier until it was covered with snow and froze to death. It has also been said that if one refuses, one would be pushed into a snowy valley.
In Hirosaki, Aomori, it is said that there was a warrior (bushi) whom a Yuki Onna asked to embrace a child in a similar manner, but the warrior held a short sword (tanto) in his mouth and embraced the child while holding the blade close to the child’s head, which allowed the warrior to avoid the aforementioned phenomenon.
When the warrior returned the child to the Yuki Onna, the ghoul gave him many treasures as a token of gratitude for embracing the child. It is also said that those who are able to endure the increasing weight of the yukinko and last until the end will acquire great physical strength.
3. Legends
There are several legends about the true identity of the Yuki Onna, such as saying that the Yuki Onna is a snow spirit or the spirit of a woman who fell in the snow. In a setuwa from the Oguni region of Yamagata Prefecture, a yuki-jorō (Yuki Onna) was originally a princess from the moon world who, to escape a boring lifestyle, came down to earth along with the snow but was unable to return. It is said that she appears on moonlit snowy nights.
Yamaoka Genrin, an intellectual of the Edo period, said that the Yuki Onna is born from snow. It was believed that if there was a lot of something, a living being would emerge from it, giving birth to fish if the water was deep enough and birds if the forest was thick enough. Since both snow and women are considered “yin,” in places like Echigo, it is said that Yuki Onna could be born from deep snow.
In traditional Japanese culture, Yuki Onna can be seen in kowaka, such as the Fushimi Tokiwa, which can also be seen in modern times. In Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s Yuki Onna gomai Hagoita, the story is about how a woman who was deceived and murdered became a Yuki Onna and took revenge as a vengeful ghost.
The enchanting and terrifying aspects of a Yuki Onna are often used in such depictions. Old tales and legends like these have been confirmed in Aomori, Yamatagata, Iwate, Fukushima, Niigata, Nagano, Wakayama, Ehime, among other places.
4. Appearance
Yuki Onna appears on cold, snowy nights as a tall, attractive woman with long black hair and blue lips. Her skin is unnaturally pale or even transparent, blending into the snowy landscape (as described in Lafcadio Hearn’s famous book, Kwa Nippon: Stories and Studies of Strange Things).
She often wears a white kimono, but other tales and legends depict her as a naked woman with only her face and hair visible above the snow.
Despite being extremely beautiful, this specter’s eyes terrify mortals. She floats above the snow, leaving no footprints, and can turn into a cloud of fog or snow if threatened.
5. Variations
There are several variations of Yuki Onna throughout Japan, enough to fill an entire book on this yokai alone. Some notable ones are described below:
Water beggars: This variation comes from Tottori Prefecture, where Yuki Onna is said to travel with the wind and appear on days with light snowfall. She walks around wielding a white Gohei wand and shouts to anyone she meets, saying, “Please give me water or cold.” If someone gives her cold water, she grows in size, but if someone gives her hot water, she melts and disappears.
The Princess of the Moon: This variation comes from Yamagata Prefecture, where Yuki Onna is said to be the princess of the lunar world, who lives on the moon. Her life was full of luxury, but it was extremely boring for her. She was fascinated by the sight of planet Earth below. So, she sneaked out one night and fell to Earth, traveling on the snow. However, coming to Earth was easier for her than returning. So, on command, she got stuck on Earth. She used to appear on snowy full moon nights, sighing for her old home.
The snow vampire: this version of Yuki Onna comes from three Japanese provinces: Aomori, Niigata, and Miyagi. Here, Yuki Onna is said to be a terrible snow vampire who haunts snowy forests, looking for food. She lives by sucking the life energy out of human bodies, which is referred to as Seiki.
She is said to extract the Seiki by first freezing her victims and then sucking the Seiki through the mouth of the dead victim. Especially in Niigata Prefecture, Yuki Onna is said to like the Seiki of children, so mothers are warned not to let their children play on snowy nights, especially near a forest.
The Talking Snow Women: This version comes from the prefectures of Ibaraki, Fukushima, Akita, and Fukui. Here, the Yuki Onna engages her victims in conversation in order to attack them. When she meets someone on a dark, snowy night, she calls out to them. If the person responds to her greeting, she attacks. But in Fukushima and Ibaraki, it is said that Yuki Onna attacks those who ignore her, grabbing them and throwing them into a nearby ravine.
