Yuki-onna Monogatari
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Yuki-onna Monogatari (雪女物語) is a Japanese otogi-zōshi in two books (one volume), likely composed in the Azuchi-Momoyama period or the beginning of the Edo period.
Yuki-onna Monogatari is a work of the otogi-zōshi genre[1] in two books (one volume).[1] It was probably composed in the Azuchi-Momoyama period or the beginning of the Edo period.[1]
It is one of a number of works depicting the defeat of a monster and the legendary origin of a famous sword,[1] other such works including the Heike Tsurugi no Maki.[1] This particular work portrays a marriage to a ghostly figure (怪婚 kai-kon),[1] which is not an uncommon theme in such stories.[1]
The work shows the influence of the yōkyoku (Noh libretti) Kokaji.[1] In his article for the Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten, Motoichi Kinoshita also notes the apparent influences of setsuwa such as Izumi Shikibu Inari-mōde (和泉式部稲荷詣),[1] Rashōmon Modori-bashi (羅生門戻橋),[1] Tsuchi-gumo Taiji (土蜘蛛退治)[1] and Tamamono Mae (玉藻前),[1] as well as the Noh play Momiji-gari,[1] on the work.
The word yuki-onna appears in the kōwakamai Fushimi Tokiwa (伏見常盤),[1] and the motif of people being taken by old raccoons is also seen in a story in the Kokon Chomonjū.[1]