Yuki Onna（The Snow Woman）
【Masterpieces of Modern Japanese Literature㉞】
By Yakumo Koizumi / Patrick Lafcadio Hearn
Narrated by Nana Nagao
Buy from Retailers
A short story by Yakumo Koizumi (Lafcadio Hearn)
“In a village of Musashi Province, there were two woodcutters named Mosaku and Minokichi. At the time of this story, Mosaku was an old man. Minokichi, who was his apprentice servant, was a boy of eighteen. Every day, they went together into the forest, about two ri (approximately 7.8 kilometers) from the village. On the way to the forest, there was a large river they had to cross. A ferry boat operated there. Although a bridge had often been built at the crossing, it was washed away each time by floods. When the river swelled, no ordinary bridge could withstand the swift current. One bitterly cold night, Mosaku and Minokichi encountered a heavy snowstorm on their way home. When they arrived at the ferry landing, they found that the ferryman had left, taking the boat to the opposite shore and gone home. It was not a day for swimming across. So the woodcutters sought refuge in the ferryman’s hut—thankful to have found shelter in such a desperate situation.“
This audiobook is a new recording of the “Reading Timeless Story Series” that was performed at the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature on July 12, 2025.
Author : Yakumo Koizumi (Lafcadio Hearn)
Narrator : Nana Nagao
Produced by：Koé no Shoten
Special Thanks：Shigoto, Inc.／ROUDOKU.TALKER.JP
Listening Length：00:14:21
Release Date：2025/9/2
＊For how to listen, pricing, purchase methods, payment options, and more, please check each distribution site.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1850 – 1904
Born on the island of Lefkada in western Greece. His birth name was Patrick Lafcadio Hearn. He was educated in England and France, then worked as a newspaper reporter and in other occupations in the United States before coming to Japan in 1890 (Meiji 23), where he took a post at Matsue Middle School in Shimane Prefecture. That same year, he married Koizumi Setsu. While teaching at the Fifth Higher School in Kumamoto, the University of Tokyo, and Waseda University, he introduced Japanese folktales, ghost stories, and traditions in English, helping to spread Japanese culture to the West. His works include *Kwaidan*, *Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan*, and *Kottō*.