The Snow Empress is a 2007 mystery novel written by Laura Joh Rowland, set in the Genroku (AD 1688–1704) of historical Japan It is the 12th book in the Sano Ichirō series.

Lord Matsumae (松前矩広), who administers the country's northernmost domain, has failed to report to the capital as scheduled, and messengers despatched to Hokkaido have not returned.

Left with little choice, Sano departs, accompanied by a small retinue, including his wife Reiko, his chief retainer Hirata (平田), and "The Rat", an Ezo migrant to Edo.

When Sano finally managed to get an audience with Lord Matsumae in his court at his castle in Fukuyama, he found the daimyō half-mad with grief at the unsolved murder of his favourite concubine, who was an Ainu native.

As the story developed, Sano and his friends got a first-hand glimpse on the little-known effects of the impacts and clashes of the "civilised" Japanese people intruding into the lives of the natives who were of very different backgrounds and views of the world.