The Yuki-Onna (Snow Woman)

Ren Stelz-Sullivan

English 212-005

Xr. B

15 March, 2023

The Yuki-Onna

**Summary**

The yuki-onna or the "snow woman" is a rather popular folkloric tale from Japan. And while there is no single story that one can tie down to its origin, or even its etymology, her role in developing an interest in Japanese folklore and ghost stories cannot be understated. From pop culture to a couple of films, the Yuki-Onna has made her mark as one of the most recognizable creatures in Japans stories that revolve around yokai. While she is usually depicted as a snowy pale woman, that is really all that stays consistent, as her other names can include:

雪乳母 – Yuki Onba – Snow Nursing Mother

雪娘 – Yuki Musume – Snow Daughter

雪女子 – Yuki Onago – Snow Young Woman

雪女郎 – Yuki Joro – Snow Hooker

雪姉 – Yuki Anesa – Snow Older Sister

雪女房 – Yuki Nyobo – Snow Wife

(Zack Davidson, 2013)

As shown above, these multiple various appearances all share one word in common. 雪. This kanji is a shorthand for snow.

**History**

While no particular tale can be rooted in where the myth originates, by using Sogi Shokoku Monogatari (宗祇諸国物語; Sogi’s Tales of Many Lands 1333-1573) as a reference for her original appearance, one may make the assumption that her history lies within the snowy mountain and lands of northern lands of Japan in the 1400s. This novel by the monk Sogi, is the first known written description of what we now call the Yuki Onna. In this novel, the first sighting of her is from the perspective of a monk who upon waking one morning in Echigo(now Niwata) prefecture, saw a hulking figure of a woman who disappeared as he attempted to speak to her. This particular version of the yuki-onna was detailed from Sogi's friend (local to the area) as the Spirit of Snow (雪の精霊; yuki no seirei). This would indicate that the snow woman is much more ancient tale, given that a local would have known of her prior to this engagement.

**Encounters**

Over the course of this myth's existence, there have of course been various encounters with the Yuki-Onna. While some may consider each and every variant of her to be distinct and different, due to the multitude of comparisons one may make between each figure, this section will speak more on the general encounters of 2 major versions or variants of the creature. The first encounter written, as said in the above-most section, was the depiction given by Sogi Shokoku Monogatari. That tale followed the monk Sogi, and his own experiences with the rather unusual appearance of a snow spirit.

The second of the tales I choose to detail would be of the Tsurara Onna, or the "Icicle Woman." Much like the Snow-Woman, the Icicle Woman only appears during the winter months in Japan. But where the story divides from how the Icicle Woman is much less flexible in her depictions, as they all start with "a lonely man gazes out of his window in winter"(Hyakumonogatari's Zack Davidson) or some other variation of this. The man wishes upon the crystalline beauty of the icicle outside and sort of just spawns in a tsurara onna, which leads to one of two endings. One in which she meets the fate of melting in a bath after being coerced, and the other where things take a darker turn leading to the husband getting an icicle shoved thru his eyes for moving on after she leaves for the summer.

**Adaptations**

Different Japanese authors and locations have depicted different adaptations of the Yuki-Onna. There are multiple movies and other adaptations in anime and manga as well. The most notable of the adaptations of the Yuki-Onna in modern(ish) film would be the "Snow Woman," a film made in 1968 starring Shiho Fujimura, given that the film holds to what most would consider the most faithful to the original myth found in Sogi Shokoko Monogatari. In the film, the horror element is not lost on the transition between book to film screen, harrowing visual imagery to aid the audience and solid sound design go a long way in making it feel down to earth. In more typical pop culture however, the Yuki-Onna does not really take much of a role aside from a few stereotypes; cold temperature drops and moody atmosphere typically being the major contributors in other contemporary series found in anime and videogames.

**Analysis**

Honestly when I first started research into the Yuki-Onna and her other contemporaries, the one thing I was not expecting was the lack of proper time or placement of when the myth began. This can happen of course, given that the nature of folklore does lend itself to having a mysterious beginning. That said, I think the most interesting variant of the snow women in this sect of the world would be the Icicle Woman, or the "Tsurara-Onna," given her story unlike some of the others seems to have had the most impact on more popular renditions of snow women in fiction in the modern day. The horror aspect of the original is perhaps not as scary as having an icicle shoved into ones face. My conclusion that I have come to with the Snow Woman would be that I enjoy how most of the media has portrayed them in film and cartoons, and for the future I hope they will continue to develop her character further then simply the "danger of spirits," give her some sort of meaning or emotion that draws the attention.

**Works Cited**

* Mitatsu, National Institute of Japanese Literature. *Sogi Shokoku Monogatari* . National Institute of Japanese Literature, 1685.

* Davisson, Zack. “Yuki Onna – the Snow Woman.” *百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai*, 19 Dec. 2013, https://hyakumonogatari.com/2013/12/18/yuki-onna-the-snow-woman/
* *The Snow Woman*. Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, performances by Shiho Fujimura, Daei, 1968.
* Davisson, Zack. “Tsurara Onna – the IcicleWoman.” *百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai*, 19 Dec. 2013, https://hyakumonogatari.com/2013/12/09/tsurara-onna-the-icicle-woman/