The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, East Asian Studies Center, Institute for Japanese Studies, and the OSU Center for Folklore Studies present:
“Snow Woman: Yuki onna”
Noriko T. Reider
Miami University of Ohio
Abstract: Yukionna (snow woman), a Japanese supernatural being that represents snow or wintry weather, is frequently described as a striking, ethereal female figure. Among the numerous legends of snow women, arguably the most famous one was written by Lafcadio Hearn. The talk gives a brief history of yukionna while considering how the symbolic role of snow relates to conceptions of the female and to female yōkai (weird or mysterious creatures), and it will give a special attention to Hearn’s rendition of yukionna as an amalgamation of Japanese and Western traditions and its influence on the character in subsequent tellings.
Download the PDF flyer here.
Noriko Tsunoda Reider is Professor of Japanese at Miami University of Ohio in the Department of German, Russian, Asian, and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. Her research interest is the supernatural in Japanese literature, folklore, and art. She has published Mountain Witches: Yamauba (2021), Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan (Utah State University Press, 2016), Japanese Demon Lore: Oni, from Ancient Times to the Present (Utah State University Press, 2010), Tales of the Supernatural in Early Modern Japan (Edwin Mellen Press, 2002), and many articles. Currently she is updating her book on Japanese Demon Lore.