What happens when a stone that is said to harbor an evil spirit suddenly splits into two?
This is what residents of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture currently find themselves concerned about as it’s been discovered that the massive boulder called Sesshoseki (or “Killing Stone”) that is believed to have the spirit of the nine-tailed fox demon encased within it is now broken into pieces. People everywhere began to fear that this is a bad omen for a potential big event and that the spirit of the demon has regained its power and is roaming free.
The Sesshoseki has been regarded as a natural scenic spot since 1957 because of its connection to the myth of the nine-tailed fox. According to the myth, the fox spirit turned itself into a beautiful woman Tamamo-no-Mae and attempted to assassinate Japanese Emperor Toba, who reigned from 1107 to 1123. But when a sorcerer discovered the woman’s true identity, she fled to Nasu and turned into a huge rock. Anyone who’d dare to go near the rock will find themselves infected with its poison that leaked out of it, thus earning the name “Killing Stone.”
SoraNews24 shared photos of the Sesshoseki before, when it was still whole and bound with a sacred rope, and after, when it had split into pieces.
Photos from SoraNews24
Though many are terrified for what this could mean, others brought up the belief that a 14th century monk had already come to exorcise the huge stone that harbored the nine-tailed fox before, splitting it into three smaller pieces—two of which had ended up somewhere else and this one remaining in that area.
Some visitors also alleged that they’ve spotted cracks on the stone in the recent years so it was only a matter of time for the stone to give in to natural causes.
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