INAWASHIRO, Fukushima Prefecture--When a desperate hot spring town here wanted to pray for snow to attract skiers, they advertised for someone who could seek help from a higher power. 

The Nakanosawa Onsen hot spring town, which has many ski resorts in the area, sent out the ad, “Wanted: Yuki-onna.” 

A “yuki-onna” is a female “yokai” supernatural being such as a ghost, monster or shapeshifter, which typically appears in all-white clothing on a snowy night.

Kazunari Aida received the inquiry six winters ago from a youth member of the Nakanosawa Onsen town.

Aida, 44, runs Yokai-ya, a Tokyo-based company that plans and operates yokai-themed community revitalization events.

The question was, “Can you call up yuki-onna?”

The Nakanosawa Onsen area has long been popular with visitors who come for its “hot spring cures,” and is also known for its Showa Era (1926-1989) atmosphere with rows of ryokan inns and souvenir shops.

There are four ski resorts operating nearby, and the local economy evolves around attracting ski tourists from Japan and abroad. Its easy accessibility from the Kanto region is also a selling point.

But the particular year was plagued by a serious lack of snow. Local residents were desperate enough to turn to the “powers” of the supernatural creature.

Aida has a network of fellow yokai enthusiasts around Japan. When he is called upon to hold an event, incarnations of yokai from all over the country would respond and show up.

Aida immediately posted an ad on Twitter, stating, “There is a plan to hold a ceremony to pray for snow.”

“Is there anyone out there who is an incarnation of a snow woman?” the ad asked. “Please help us.”

Within a half-month of posting, three snow women from across the country came forward.

Since then, an event called “yuki-onna matsuri” (snow women festival) has been held annually from the end of December to January.

The temperature is always below zero. However, Aida said, “During the ceremony, everyone says they don’t feel the cold. It’s like a mysterious power comes over them.”

The success rate of the “snow begging” is said to exceed 50 percent in the week between events.

This year’s festival, now in its sixth year, was held for two days on Jan. 20 and 21.

Due to the increased number of participants, Listel Inawashiro, a hotel resort located outside the Nakanosawa Onsen area, was added to the festival venues.

A total of 13 yuki-onna came from Fukushima Prefecture as well as Tokyo and other cities such as Osaka and Nagoya.

In the “human world,” these yuki-onna live as men and women, working in jobs such as a system engineer and a bar clerk.

They dyed their faces and arms white with stage foundation, and expressed their icy beauty with light blue-based makeup around their eyes. Wearing handmade white costumes, they gathered in the hotel lobby one after another.

The children who were staying at the hotel showed a wide range of reactions, from crying out, “Noooo! I’m going home!” to approaching them and high-fiving them, saying, “You’re so beautiful.”

Parents were thrilled as well while taking pictures of them.

The climax of the ceremony was the “yuki-goi” (prayer for snow) performed by the yuki-onna.

Men and women who were born in a year with the same Chinese zodiac sign as the current year lit pillars of fire, praying for good health and safety.

And the snow women performed a dance, moving their hands up and down, while chanting, “Snow, fall!”

Immediately afterward, “blessed snow” indeed began to fall. With the rhythm of Japanese taiko drums beating furiously, the voltage of the venue reached its peak.

Aida was born and raised in Aizu-Wakamatsu, a city adjacent to Inawashiro. His family ran a liquor store. As a child, when he was locked in a warehouse for misbehaving, he “felt the presence of something” in the darkness.

His enthusiasm for yokai was ignited when he came across a yokai-illustrated book at a local bookstore, he said.

In recent years, due to the warm winter and lack of snow, it is not unusual for ski resorts in Fukushima Prefecture not to open for full-scale skiing until January.

When skiers are unable to hit the slopes from December as they once did, local inns and restaurants struggle to stay in business.

Climate change has had a major impact on the local economy, Aida said.

“If we cannot rely on skiing, we need to create another mechanism to enliven the region. In such a case, we can make use of yokai,” he said, dreaming of expanding the festival throughout Inawashiro.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, for the next three months from January, 40 percent of the Tohoku region along the Sea of Japan, including the Aizu region, is expected to have little snowfall.

Aida and residents in Nakanosawa Onsen are hoping that the effect of the snow women will magically change that dire forecast.