Yuki onna 雪女 means snow woman.
She is one of the most well known yōkai, and this video tells her most well known story.
In a snowy village, lives an old woodcutter and his apprentice, Minokichi.
Everyday, the two hike to a nearby forest to cut trees.
But one day, their journey back is interrupted by a snowstorm that has no manners.
Luckily, they spot a small hut and rush inside.
The hut is bare, with not even a place to light a fire.
They lock the door and lie down, each man using his raincoat as a blanket.
Beyond their chattering teeth, the two men hear the wind howl
and the pat-pat-pattering of snow against the walls.
The hut creaks like a ship on the high seas, but still they fall asleep.
In the middle of the night, the young apprentice wakes up to a shocking sight.
A beautiful woman dressed in white stands above his master.
Her face and skin are as white as the snow outside, and her hair is as dark as the night.
Minokichi stares, unmoving, as she exhales and a white breath escapes her mouth
to surround the old man.
The room gets even colder.
The woman finally notices the young man and slides over,
putting her icy white face next to his.
“I was going to do the same to you,” she says.
“But you are young and handsome and deserve to be spared.
However if you tell anyone about what you saw, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
And then she glides out the door, leaving only a chill.
Minokichi touches his master’s face and it is ice cold.
His breath has left his body.
Minokichi grieves for his master, but he does not tell a soul about that night.
A year later, the young man is in the forest, walking back from another workday.
He sees a pretty girl walking the same path.
He says hi, and she says hi, and he falls in love.
She says her name is Oyuki.
Her parents passed away, so she’s going to the city to stay with relatives who will help her.
They start talking and soon they’re laughing and having a good time.
He asks if she’s married.
She giggles and says no she’s free.
She asks if he’s married.
He says the happiest no that he’s ever said.
He’s been busy supporting his widowed mother and has not even thought of marriage.
Until now.
When they reach the village, he invites her home, where Minokichi’s mother prepares a meal.
His mother is also charmed by Oyuki, and by the end of the meal,
they’ve convinced her to stay and make babies.
Their marriage produces 10 kids.
It’s a wonderful, happy marriage, despite the 10 kids.
And even after all that, she still looks as young as she did
when she came to the village years ago.
It seems a bit weird to Minokichi,
but men rarely complain when their wives look too young, so he ignores it.
One night, while Oyuki is sewing,
the light from the paper lamp makes her face look white as snow.
The sight reminds Minokichi of something.
“I am reminded of something,” he says.
“Something that happened last year.
I saw a woman as beautiful and white as you.
Now that I think of it, she looks a lot like you.”
“Oh?” says Oyuki.
And Minokichi tells her all about that night his mentor died.
After he finishes, she narrows her eyes and says, “Did you forget my words?”
And then a snowstorm hits.
A snowstorm called his wife.
Oyuki throws away her sewing kit and shrieks.
She looms above him, looking exactly like the woman he saw last year.
Minokichi is horrified as he remembers her threat that night.
She says, “I would kill you if not for those 10 children.
From now on, you must take good care of them.
If not, I will deal with you as you deserve!”
She screams again, but her voice becomes thinner and thinner until it is the sound of the wind.
She melts away like a mist, never to be seen again.
Hope you guys liked that.
For more Japanese folktales, check out these videos.
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