Yuki-onna

The Yuki-onna (雪女) is an yōkai that appears in Japanese folklore. Yuki-onna, which literally translates as ‘’snow woman’’, was believed to be an evil entity to be feared before the 1700s. This was for a good reason, for the yuki-onna is the personification of the very real danger faced by anyone unlucky enough to get caught out in the merciless winter snow storms of Japan. When spring had come and the snows of winter had melted, it was not uncommon for villagers to find the frozen corpses of those who ventured up the mountains or those who went missing during the winter. The legends she appears in were probably developed as cautionary tales for those who were considering traveling through the mountains during the winter. The people of northern Japan were particularly strong believers in the yuki-onna, and may be where most of her tales originated from. Just like the snow in her name, the yuki-onna can be a beautiful sight, but can also at time be a ruthless killer.

Appearance

The yuki-onna is said to appear on dark, snowy nights and during snowstorms in isolated or mountainous areas where lost or weary travelers were located. The yuki-onna is typically described as a tall, strikingly beautiful woman with unnaturally pale skin and long, flowing black hair. What makes her truly stand out though is that she is said to have blue lips, wears a white kimono (which is typically reserved for the dead and seen on yūrei) and her eyes are said to strike terror into anyone who gazes into them. As she walks, she is said to leave no footprints behind. In some tales, she is described as being completely nude, having skin so white that she is able to blend in with the snowy landscape where only her black hair and facial features are visible. The yuki-onna is said in other legends to be void of feet altogether, another feature typically seen in yūrei.

Evolution of the Yuki-onna Legends Over Time

In the oldest legends, the yuki-onna was portrayed as a truly merciless killer that was indiscriminate in who she killed and was satisfied to simply watch her victims die. Her favored method of killing was to leave her victim as an icy corpse using her frosty breath to instantly freeze them. When she found a lost traveler, she would appear and offer to help lead them to a safe place until the storm had passed. She would then lead them far off the trail and when she felt they would have no hope of finding their way back; she would suddenly disappear, leaving the helpless traveler to die of exposure. A more uncommon method the yuki-onna uses to kill her victims is similar to those seen in ubume legends. She would manifest herself as a woman holding what appears to be a child, asking people to take the child with them to safety. When a well-intentioned soul would take the “child” from her, they instantly became frozen into place. The yuki-onna seems to have some control over the element of wind. In some stories she invades homes that were isolated from the village by blowing their doors open and killing them as they sleep.

In some parts of Japan, the yuki-onna is considered to be the yūrei of a woman that died in some manner in the snows of winter. These spirits are believed to return whenever there is snow, which is similar to the way that the funayūrei return only during stormy weather at sea. It is believed that sutras can be read to pacify these spirits and prevent them from returning during snow storms.

As time went on the perception of the yuki-onna began to change. The legends began to portray the yuki-onna with a compassionate side that made her, in some ways, feel more human. She would spare certain people’s lives for a variety of reasons, which included them being too young, too old or too good looking to kill. If she chose to spare their lives, it was usually required that the person never speak of seeing her to anyone, lest she come back for the kill that was rightfully hers. The yuki-onna would also take on a human form when she took a liking to a strikingly handsome male she had spared in order to marry and produce offspring with him (as can be seen in Lafcadio Hearn's story 'Yuki-onna'). She would accompany this man in life, quietly and happily until he either died of old age or gave up the secret he promised long ago to never tell. In this human form, the yuki-onna would appear to never truly age regardless of how harsh a life she had and her offspring would have very fair white skin.

In more modern legends, the yuki-onna took on vampiric overtones in which she would kill her victims by draining them of their blood or “life force”. These legends of the yuki-onna were developed sometime after western influence was introduced to Japan (most likely sometime after 1854). Prior to the introduction of western culture, the Japanese had no concept of vampires nor blood sucking creatures. There are only two Japanese stories that include any reference to a vampire-like creature prior to western influence, the kappa and a folktale known in English as The Vampire Cat of Nabeshima. In other tales, the yuki-onna took on some of the characteristics of another foreign creature, the western succubus. She would tempt weak-willed men with her beautiful looks and convince them to give her a kiss or have sexual intercourse with her, after which, she would drain them of their blood or leave them as an ice-covered corpse.

Yuki-onna Stories

• 'Yuki-onna' in Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn

• 'The Snow Ghost' in Ancient Tales and Folk-lore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith

Japanese Culture
Religion
Buddhism - Shinto
Japanese Ghosts/Creatures
Funayūrei - Goryō - Hitodama - Ikiryō - Onryō - Ubume - Yōkai - Yūrei
Specific Japanese Ghosts/Creatures
Oiwa - Okiku - Yuki-onna
Terms
Dosojin - Grave Mound - Hannya Mask - Higanbana - Jizo - Kaidan - Miko - Mukoyōshi - Sanzu River - Shimenawa - Toro-Nagashi - Wara Ningyo
Locations
Northeastern Japan - Shizuoka - Sugisawa Village - Tono
Media and Entertainment
Kagome, Kagome - Ringu