Japanese legends, Davis retelling
Yuki-Onna
Minokichi encounters a woman in white while sheltering from a snowstorm with his master. She kills the older man but spares the apprentice on condition that he never tells what happened. Years later, his wife reveals herself as Yuki-Onna after he recounts the encounter, then vanishes as white mist.
Also known as Lady of the Snow · Snow-Bride · Yuki Onna
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In the sources
Mercy made conditional on silence
TraditionalThe woman kills Mosaku with her icy breath but spares Minokichi because of his youth and beauty. She warns him against telling anyone about the meeting.
A familiar person disclosed as the spirit
TraditionalMinokichi later marries Yuki and has ten children. When he recalls the earlier encounter aloud, she identifies herself as Yuki-Onna, spares him for the children's sake and disappears.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows the Snow-Bride episode in Davis, not every version of Yuki-Onna or an account of real cold-related deaths. The condition of silence and the later marriage are features of this particular narrative. The spirit's threats and transformation remain traditional storytelling rather than independently established events.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths and Legends of Japan
Threatening Minokichi with instant death if he dared to mention to any one what he had seenOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Snow-Bride, printed p. 150
Read directly from the active prepared scan; line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0169
- Original scan leaf
- 192
- Recorded leaf number
- 192
- Current Reader position
- 168
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths and Legends of Japan
changed into a white mistOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Snow-Bride, printed p. 151
Read directly from the active prepared scan; line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0171
- Original scan leaf
- 195
- Recorded leaf number
- 195
- Current Reader position
- 170
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed