''Yuki-onna Monogatari'' (雪女物語) is a Japanese ''

otogi-zōshi are a group of about 350 Japanese prose narratives written primarily in the Muromachi period (1392–1573). These illustrated short stories, which remain unattributed, together form one of the representative literary genres of the Japanese m ...

'' in two books (one volume), likely composed in the Azuchi-Momoyama period or the beginning of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Date, genre and sources

''Yuki-onna Monogatari'' is a work of the ''

'' genre in two books (one volume). It was probably composed in the Azuchi-Momoyama period or the beginning of the

. It is one of a number of works depicting the defeat of a monster and the legendary origin of a famous sword, other such works including the '' Heike Tsurugi no Maki''. This particular work portrays a marriage to a ghostly figure (怪婚 ''kai-kon''), which is not an uncommon theme in such stories. The work shows the influence of the '' yōkyoku'' (

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

libretti) ''

Kokaji ' is a Japanese Noh play by an unknown author. A popular noh play centered around the creation of a sacred sword and the ''kami'' ''Inari'', it has influenced other works of art, including several bunraku and kabuki plays. It belongs to the fift ...

''. In his article for the ''

Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten (Japanese: 日本古典文学大辞典) is a reference work about Japanese literature published by Iwanami Shoten circa 1983-1985. References External links * CiNii CiNii () is a bibliographic database service for ...

'', Motoichi Kinoshita also notes the apparent influences of ''

setsuwa ''Setsuwa'' () is a Japanese literary genre. It consists of myths, legends, folktales, and anecdotes. Among the , those that are full-length are generally referred to as . In Japan, the term is also applied to similar works around the world. '' ...

'' such as ''Izumi Shikibu Inari-mōde'' (和泉式部稲荷詣), ''Rashōmon Modori-bashi'' (羅生門戻橋), ''Tsuchi-gumo Taiji'' (土蜘蛛退治) and ''Tamamono Mae'' (玉藻前), as well as the Noh play '' Momiji-gari'', on the work. The word ''yuki-onna'' appears in the ''

kōwakamai is a Japanese recitative dance, originating in the 15th century and popular during the Sengoku and early Edo periods (late 16th to early 17th centuries). Although kōwakamai has dance and musical components, scholars consider its textual component ...

'' '' Fushimi Tokiwa'' (伏見常盤), and the motif of people being taken by old raccoons is also seen in a story in the ''

Kokon Chomonjū , lit. ''A Collection of Notable Tales Old and New'', is a Kamakura-period collection of ''setsuwa''. It was compiled by and completed in 1254. The twenty volumes are divided by subject into thirty chapters: chapter 16 concerns art and painting a ...

''.

Plot

In the first year of Chōtoku (995),

Emperor Ichijō was the 66th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 一条天皇 (66)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Ichijō's reign spanned the years from 986 to 1011. Biography Before he ascended to the Chrysanthe ...

is told in a dream to commission the forging of a sword by

Sanjō no Kokaji Munechika In Japanese, may refer to: People *Emperor Sanjō (三条天皇; Sanjō-tennō), the 67th emperor of Japan * , a Japanese kuge family Fictional characters *Kairi Sanjō and Yukari Sanjō, fictional characters from the manga series ''Shugo Char ...

(三条小鍛冶宗近). Munechika, with the assistance of the god

Inari Inari may refer to: Shinto * Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit ** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari ** Inari shrine, dedicated to the Shinto god Inari * Inari-zushi, a type of sushi Places * Inari, ...

, forges the valuable blade '. That winter, a malevolent female

raccoon dog ''Nyctereutes'' (Greek: ''nyx, nykt-'' "night" + ''ereutēs'' "wanderer") is a genus of canid which includes only two extant species, both known as raccoon dogs: the common raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes procyonoides'') and the Japanese raccoon do ...

manifests as a ''

yuki-onna is a spirit or yōkai in Japanese folklore that is often depicted in Japanese literature, films, or animation. She may also go by such names as ''yuki-musume'', cited by (雪娘, "snow daughter"), ''yukihime'' (雪姫, "snow princess"), ''yuki- ...

'' and starts spiriting people away. Several warriors, including the retainers of

Tada Mitsunaka was a Japanese samurai and court official of the Heian period. He served as '' Chinjufu-shōgun'' and acting governor of Settsu Province''.'' His association with the Fujiwara clan made him one of the wealthiest and most powerful courtiers of hi ...

, are commissioned to eliminate the beast, and manage to injure it but fail to capture it. The following spring, Taira no Kanenobu encounters a beautiful woman on and takes her home with him. Kanenobu's former lover realizes the woman's true nature and attempts to warn him, but is strangled to death. A fortune-teller tells Kanenobu that this was the work of the ''yuki-onna'', and Kanenobu uses the sword ''Kogitsune-maru'', with which he is entrusted by the emperor, to slay the creature.

Textual tradition

In the holdings of the

Katei Archives was a after ''Bunryaku'' and before ''Ryakunin.'' This period spanned the years from September 1235 to November 1238. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du Japon'', pp. 242-243 Varley, H. Paul. (1980). '' ...

(霞亭文庫) in the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, there is a Shōkaiban (松会版) printed edition dating to Kanbun 5 (1665). The 1909 ''Kinko Shōsetsu Kaidai'' (近古小説解題) also reproduces a Manji 3 (1660) edition printed by Ishizu Hachirō Uemon (石津八郎右衛門).

References

Citations

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuki-onna Monogatari Otogi-zōshi Azuchi–Momoyama-period works Edo-period works