Similar film to one I'm looking for? Help?

I have been looking everywhere for an old Japanese film that I think was very much like this one. It was much more like a fairytale than a standard monster movie. All I can remember about it aside from the superb acting is that a young woman was involved. Her mother had given her a fan with a spider decoration and told her that the spider would come to life and help her when she was in danger. There was a fire-breathing monster on a bridge near where she stood. I'll never forget the way she hurled that fan at the thing and a giant silver-white version of the spider appeared, and threw not the expected silk but *snow* on the fire-breather, eventually freezing him. What was I watching?

[Edit: I've done a bit of digging and found that this is actually the film I was watching! Amazing what thirty years does to a person's memory. I now remember that my mother and I tuned in in the first place because it was called "The Magic Serpent" and we were crazy about Asian films that were more like fairytales. Her #1 is "Demon Pond."]