Snow Woman - Yukionna

A female-shaped monster that appears on snowy nights. It is also called snow maiden, snow woman, or snow-falling old woman. It is difficult to find a unified appearance because of the complex combination of various elements, but (1) many legends have her having white skin or wearing white clothes, based on the impression of snow. (2) The Yuki-onna in Kitagawa Utamaro's Nishikie woodblock prints is in the form of a beautiful woman, but this is the result of a literary development, and she is more often thought of as an old woman or someone who has died in childbirth. (3) In addition to appearing on snowy nights, there is a legend that she descends on New Year's Day and returns on the first day of the Rabbit. This coincides with the legend of the descent of the New Year god. (4) There are stories of Yuki-onna asking people to hold a baby, and those who accept are either granted great power or killed, which coincides with the legend of the birth woman. [5] The story of a young woman seeking lodging on a snowstorm night, who is given a place to stay and the next morning finds gold in her white robe, is also found in the old tale of "The Guest of the Year of the Great Year." [6] Although not female in appearance, Yuki Nyudo and Yukinbo have one leg, and are similar in appearance to the One-Legged God and the Mountain God who visit on the 23rd night of November. Taking all of this into consideration, the dreadfulness of snow damage and the suffocating conditions of winter trapped in snow may have led Yuki Onna to become a spirit-type monster, such as the spirits of those who died in childbirth, and also to be associated with ancestral deities such as New Year Gods.

[Shoji Inoguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

雪の夜に現れるという女性姿の妖怪(ようかい)。雪女郎(じょうろう)、雪おんば、雪降り婆(ばば)などともいう。種々の要素が入り組んでおり、統一的な姿をみつけだすことは困難であるが、〔1〕雪の印象から、肌が白いとか白衣を着ているなどの伝承が多い。〔2〕喜多川歌麿(うたまろ)の描く錦絵(にしきえ)の雪女は美女の姿であるが、それは文芸的な発展の結果であって、むしろ老女や産死者の姿を考えている場合が多い。〔3〕雪の降り積む夜に出るというほか、正月元日に降りてきて最初の卯(う)の日に帰るという伝承がある。これは年神の降臨伝承と一致する。〔4〕雪女から赤子を抱いてくれと頼まれ、引き受けた人は大力を授かるとか、逆に殺されるなどの話があり、その点は産女(うぶめ)の伝承と一致する。〔5〕吹雪(ふぶき)の夜に宿を求める娘があり、泊めてやって翌朝みると、白衣の中に黄金があったという話は、「大歳(おおとし)の客」の昔話とも共通する。〔6〕女性の姿ではないが、雪入道や雪ん坊は1本足で、霜月二十三夜に訪れくる片足神(かたあしがみ)や山の神の姿に類似している。以上を総合すると、雪女は、雪害の恐ろしさや、雪中に閉じ込められた冬の閉塞(へいそく)状態を背景として、一方では産死者の霊など御霊(ごりょう)系の妖怪となり、また一方では年神など祖霊(それい)系の神々とも結び付いたのであろう。

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