Who Is Mosaku?
The old woodcutter frozen by the Snow Woman
Mosaku is the old woodcutter in "Yuki-Onna" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan. He is the master of the young hero, Minokichi.
On a cold winter evening, Mosaku and Minokichi are caught in a fierce blizzard on their way home from the forest. The ferry boat is on the far bank and the ferryman is gone, so the two decide to spend the night in the ferryman's small hut. The old man falls asleep quickly, but that night the Snow Woman enters the hut, breathes her white breath on him, and he freezes to death.
Mosaku's death shows how terrifying the Snow Woman is. It is also the reason Minokichi must carry the promise to "tell no one." He dies at the very start of the story, but his death sets the whole tale in motion.
