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Who is Yuki-Onna?

Niki Foster
Niki Foster
Niki Foster
Niki Foster

Yuki-onna is a legendary Japanese spirit or yokai. In the Western world, she is best known from Lafcadio Hearn's version of the story in his book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903). A 1965 film based on Hearn's stories, also titled Kwaidan, features the Yuki-onna.

Yuki-onna, whose name means "snow woman," can be considered a personification of the winter. She always appears in snow, and her skin is pure white. She is very tall and either nude or dressed entirely in white, sometimes with blood staining her clothing or feet. Like a winter storm, she is both serenely beautiful and a merciless killer. She freezes her victims with a touch or with her breath.

Some parents have used Yuki-onna as a boogeyman figure, to threaten their children into behaving.
Some parents have used Yuki-onna as a boogeyman figure, to threaten their children into behaving.

Sometimes, Yuki-onna kills only those who wander into a snowstorm, and other times she is quite aggressive, blowing down the doors of her victims' homes. Some tales tell of Yuki-onna carrying a child to attract victims, who are frozen to death when they attempt to rescue it. In such stories, she is often said to be the ghost of a pregnant woman who died in the snow. Some parents use Yuki-onna as a boogeyman figure, to threaten their children into behaving. In other stories, Yuki-onna is similar to the Western idea of a succubus, a female demon who seduces men and drains them of life energy through sex or a kiss.

Yuko-onna is similar to the Western idea of a succubus, a female demon who drains men of their life energy through sex.
Yuko-onna is similar to the Western idea of a succubus, a female demon who drains men of their life energy through sex.

In the legend recounted by Lafcadio Hearn, a woodcutter and his apprentice encounter Yuki-onna in a blizzard. She takes pity on the boy and allows him to live, but makes him promise that he will never tell anyone about her. Later, when the boy is grown, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful, pale girl named O-Yuki, or "Snow." They marry and have ten children, and one day the man tells his wife of his encounter with Yuki-onna. Of course, O-Yuki is Yuki-onna, and she is furious with her husband for having broken his promise. She spares him again for the sake of the children, but leaves forever, assuring him that he will not be so lucky if he dares reveal the secret again.

Niki Foster
Niki Foster

In addition to her role as a CulturalWorld editor, Niki enjoys educating herself about interesting and unusual topics in order to get ideas for her own articles. She is a graduate of UCLA, where she majored in Linguistics and Anthropology.

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Niki Foster
Niki Foster

In addition to her role as a CulturalWorld editor, Niki enjoys educating herself about interesting and unusual topics in order to get ideas for her own articles. She is a graduate of UCLA, where she majored in Linguistics and Anthropology.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

anon1005246

There are more similarities with the Mermaid than with the Succubus, because using the Yuki-Onna as a boogie man is wishful thinking -- you need to be in a cold desolate place, not inside a dwelling which is located in the city. At the least, if you there to be in a cabin at the edge of civilization, it would be again possible, or on guard duty on the outer wall of your kingdom.

It's just another western abuse of foreign mythology we don't understand, mixed with the fearful overthinking of a kid, abused by parents. I still remember my nightmares, because of the boogie man stories. What wicked fairy-tale -- just as the Series Legion -- you tell your child, such demons, shall he see in his nightmares.

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    • Some parents have used Yuki-onna as a boogeyman figure, to threaten their children into behaving.
      By: Ella
      Some parents have used Yuki-onna as a boogeyman figure, to threaten their children into behaving.
    • Yuko-onna is similar to the Western idea of a succubus, a female demon who drains men of their life energy through sex.
      By: Forgiss
      Yuko-onna is similar to the Western idea of a succubus, a female demon who drains men of their life energy through sex.