A socialist revolutionary parable and story of Buddhist compassion in “Yuki: Snow Fairy”

Tadashi Imai, “Yuki: Snow Fairy” (1981)

In the hands of Tadashi Imai, notable as a director of social realist films in Japan in the 1950s / 1960s, the novel by children’s author Ryusuke Saito becomes a socialist revolutionary parable. Thirteen-year-old snow spirit Yuki is entrusted by her heavenly grandparents with saving a village in mediaeval Japan from robbers and rapacious samurai over a twelve-month period, after which time, if she fails, she will turn into an insubstantial grey puff of smoke. Yuki descends to earth and is befriended by orphan girl Hana who leads her to her adoptive family of other orphaned beggar children led by the one-eyed, one-legged patriarch Only One. The beggars hang about the village whose farmers pay rent to local landlord Goemon. Almost as soon as Yuki becomes known in the village, a gang of robbers attacks but Yuki is able to best their leader thanks to her ability to tame and ride Goemon’s high-strung colt Blizzard. The farmers and Goemon’s hired samurai are able to drive the robbers away.

Next thing you know, after the summer rice harvest Goemon raises the taxes the farmers must pay and this leads to a revolt against him. Goemon flees but Yuki and the beggar children pursue him and the chase leads to Goemon’s ignominious death at the bottom of a cliff. The farmers rejoice that they have overthrown their oppressor and are now able to govern themselves but a series of earthquakes shakes their confidence and leads them to wonder if Goemon’s invocation to the Demon God to rain disaster on them is having effect. At this point Yuki realises that the farmers are faltering in their belief that they can be self-governing and determines to battle the Demon God herself – though this confrontation is certain to kill her …

The social realist slant of the film’s plot is noteworthy: significantly Yuki doesn’t appear to do a great deal apart from being an inspirational role model and catalyst but that’s the point of her mission: to show humans the path to their liberation and allow them to seize their destiny and work towards freedom. Gifts are best appreciated when blood, sweat and tears are exerted in the effort to obtain them. The farmers overcome their fears at upsetting the social hierarchy but become emboldened as they realise that by working together they can defeat the robbers and get rid of Goemon. Once the Demon God intervenes on behalf of lackey Goemon, the farmers are trapped by superstition and pagan belief and Yuki realises that the psychological warfare waged by elites against the common people can be as dangerous and deadly as physical warfare. She then determines to battle the Demon God, no matter what the consequences may be for her, to free the villagers and her friends from the internal mental fetters that Goemon has placed on them to keep them under control.

The film can also be read as an example of Buddhist compassion and empathy for one’s fellow humans: Yuki resembles a bodhisattva returned to earth to help others overcome negative karma and work towards their own enlightenment. Only when one is emptied of all selfish attachments and desires, when one is prepared to sacrifice oneself for others, is nirvana possible.

The plot is easy and straightforward to follow and its pace is fairly brisk. There are stereotypical characters in the film but they never seem limited and one-dimensional in what they do and say, and Yuki herself gives the impression of being self-possessed and having reserves of inner strength. She certainly needs all that strength when she confronts the Demon God. Other characters can be fun and child viewers can readily identify with Hana and the other beggar children. The film’s delivery is so matter-of-fact and business-like that one barely blinks an eye at the schmaltzy pop music that plays while Yuki and her fellow mendicant minors travel through treacherous mountain territory to find and confront the villagers’ ultimate oppressor.

While the film’s look has dated somewhat and can be placed in the late 1970s / early 1980s, its unfailing optimism, hilarious child characters and detailed shots of nature and people hard at work cultivating and harvesting the rice in ways typical of rural Japan hundreds of years ago are sure to appeal to all age groups and pique interest in the history and culture of pre-modern Japan.