Yuki Onna - WK 12
Yuki Onna, or the “Snow Woman” is supernatural being in Japanese mythology. According to folk beliefs, she is an attractive woman with long black hair and bright, almost white complexion that roams around during storms. It is said that Yuki Onna can walk over snow without leaving impression behind her or even stopping snow from continuing to fall and she is said to freeze her victims to death just by breathing on them. In some stories she is depicted as vengeful and against men but in other cases she may spare the man, or better still fall in love with him. Yuki Onna appears in the limelight in animé “GeGeGe no Kitaro” is where she is depicted as one of the many yokai or creatures that are in between the human and spiritual worlds. Another movie that uses this concept is “Kwaidan”, a Japanese horror movie released in 1965, and the part “The Woman of Snow”liberated from the Yuki Onna legend. From an analysis point of view, Yuki Onna can be regarded as the spirits of winter, the dangerous but beautiful part of winter. During winters which were fatal due to extreme cold, perhaps, legends about a beautiful but dangerous snow spirit were a means of explaining why people disappeared or died during snowstorms. Furthermore, Yuki Onna’s kind and deadly aspects might relate to the of winter. One moment it is like a benefits, the next, it is a danger.











