Tradition / Region: Japan (Yamagata; Miyagi Prefecture)
Alternate Names: Yuki-joro, Yuki-onna (related)
Category: Snow spirit / yōkai
The Myth
Yukijorō is one of the names used for a type of Yuki-onna, spoken of in various regions as a supernatural presence connected to snow and winter nights.
In the Yamagata region, Yukijorō are said to appear to people and make them hold a baby, much like the figure known as Ubu-onna. When this happens, the person holding the child is granted superhuman strength. In other stories from the same region, Yukijorō are said to kidnap and eat human children.
In Ichisako, in present-day Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, it is said that during the depths of winter people sometimes encounter a pale and beautiful woman dressed entirely in white. She appears near Tagawa Bridge, at the boundary between the villages of Masaka and Nagasaki. If a passerby doubts her presence or becomes suspicious, the woman suddenly vanishes. In this area, this apparition is known as Yukijorō.
Across these accounts, Yukijorō is remembered as a winter apparition—sometimes helpful, sometimes deadly—appearing silently in snowbound places and disappearing as suddenly as she arrives.
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Esoteric Deep Dive
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