In Japanese folklore, the beautiful snow demon who lures travelers to their deaths is Yuki-onna.
Yuki-onna, literally “snow woman,” is a yōkai or ghostly spirit associated with winter, blizzards, and deadly cold. She is often described as tall and beautiful, with long black hair, pale or translucent skin, blue lips, and a white kimono. Stories say she glides over snow without leaving footprints and may dissolve into mist when threatened.
Her behavior differs by region and version. She may lead travelers astray until they die of exposure, freeze them with an icy breath, or drain their vitality. In some tales she carries a child and tricks rescuers into taking it from her, freezing them in place. Other stories make her less purely monstrous: she spares a young man who promises never to reveal their encounter, then later becomes his wife under the name O-yuki.
The tradition is old. A reference to seeing a snow woman appears in the Muromachi-period travel narrative Sōgi Shokoku Monogatari, while later writers and storytellers expanded her romantic and tragic dimensions. She is not the same as a yūrei in every depiction, though many versions treat her as a ghost. Jorōgumo, by contrast, is a spider spirit that takes a woman’s form.