In the Fukui Prefecture, they are called "koshi-musume" (越娘, "passing girl") and it is said that those who turn their backs to a koshi-musume when being called by one would get pushed into a valley. In Ibaraki Prefecture and in Iwaki Province, Fukushima Prefecture, it is said that if one does not answer when called by a yuki-onna, one would be shoved down into the bottom of a valley. In Nishimonai, Akita Prefecture, looking at a yuki-onna's face and exchanging words with her would result in being eaten.
In the Iwate and the Miyagi Prefectures, a yuki-onna is thought to steal people's vitality and in Niigata Prefecture, they are said to take the livers out of children and freeze people to death. In Aomori, it is said that a yuki-onna would come down to the village on the third day of Shōgatsu and return to the mountains on the first day of Rabbit, and it is thought that on years when the day of Rabbit is late in arriving, how well the harvest does will be different from before.
These characteristics, that of waving around a white wand ( gohei) and possessing a mirror, are thought to be the characteristics of a miko who serves a mountain god that rules over birth and harvest. In the area around the Kumano River in Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, the "Oshiroi baa-san" or " oshiroi babaa" is also thought to be a type of Yuki-onna, and they are said to drag along mirrors, making clinking sounds while doing so.
In the village of Oshika, Tōhaku District, Tottori Prefecture (now Misasa), it has been said that a yuki-onna would come during light snow and say "Koori gose yu gose" ("Give me ice, give me hot water")-"gose" is a dialect word for "give me"-while waving around a white wand, and she would bulge when splashed with water and disappear when splashed with hot water. In the Ito region of Wakayama Prefecture, it is said that there would be a one-legged child jump-walking on a night when snow accumulates, and the next morning there would be round footprints remaining, and this would be called the "yukinbō" (snow child), but the one-legged snow kid is thought to be the servant of a mountain god. It can be thus seen that yuki-onna are often considered the same as the yama-uba, sharing the similarity that they are fecund and take many children along with them. Also, in the Tōno region of Iwate Prefecture, and on Little New Year ( koshōgatsu) or the 15th day of the first month, a yuki-onna would take many children along to a field to play, so children were warned against going outside. Similarly, in Yoshida, Ehime Prefecture, on a night when snow is accumulating on the ground, a "yukinba" is said to appear, and people would make sure not to let their children outside. In the Ina region of Nagano Prefecture, Yuki-onna is called "yukionba", and it is believed that they would appear on a snowy night in the form of a yama-uba. It is also said that those who are able to withstand the ever-increasing weight of the yukinko and last all the way through would acquire great physical strength. When the warrior handed the child back to the Yuki-onna, the ghoul gave many treasures as thanks for hugging the child. In Hirosaki in Aomori, it is said that there was a warrior ( bushi) who was asked by a yuki-onna to hug a child similarly, but the warrior held a short sword ( tantō) by the mouth and hugged the child while making the blade go close to the child's head, which allowed the warrior to avoid the aforementioned phenomenon. It has also been told that if one refuses, one would be shoved down into a snowy valley. When one hugs the child, the child would become heavier and heavier until one would become covered with snow and freeze to death. Also, it has some points of similarity with the kokakuchō and on the night of a blizzard, as the Yuki-onna would be standing there hugging a child ( yukinko), it would ask people passing by to hug the child as well. Then, before his eyes, the girl turned into a whirl of snow that exited the house through the chimney. When late at night the Yuki-onna would again go out on a journey, the old man would attempt to take her hand to stop her, when he noticed that she was chillingly cold. In the Aomori and Yamagata Prefectures, there is a similar story about one called the "Shigama-onna." In the Kaminoyama region of Yamagata, a yuki-onna would come visit an old couple on a snowy night to warm herself by the irori.
This woman was reluctant to go into the bath and when she was made to go in anyway, she disappeared, leaving only thin, fragmented, floating icicles (see also tsurara-onna). In legends from the Ojiya region of Niigata Prefecture, a beautiful woman came to visit a man and became his wife from the woman's own desire. Yuki-onna (雪女) from the Gazu Hyakki Yakō by Toriyama Sekien
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