The , or "Killing Stone", is a stone in the volcanic mountains of Nasu, an area of

Tochigi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi). Tochigi ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, that is famous for sulphurous

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

. In

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...

, the stone is said to kill anyone who comes into contact with it. In Japan, rocks and large stones in areas where volcanic toxic gases are generated are often named ''Sessho-seki'' (殺生石), meaning Killing Stone, and the representative of such stones is this one associated with the legend of

Tamamo-no-Mae Tamamo-no-Mae (, , also ) is a legendary figure in Japanese mythology. One of the stories explaining the legend comes from Muromachi period genre fiction called '' otogizōshi''. In the otogizōshi Tamamo-no-Mae was a courtesan under the Japanes ...

and the

nine-tailed fox The nine-tailed fox () is a mythical fox entity originating from Chinese mythology that is a common motif in East Asian mythology and the most famous fox spirit in Chinese culture. In Chinese and East Asian folklore, foxes are depicted as spiri ...

.Sessho-seki.
Kotobank.

Legend

The stone is believed to be the transformed corpse of

, a beautiful woman who was exposed as a

working for an evil ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' plotting to kill

Emperor Toba was the 74th Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 鳥羽天皇 (74)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Toba's reign spanned the years from 1107 through 1123. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chr ...

and take his throne. According to the ''

otogi-zōshi are a group of about 350 Japanese prose narratives written primarily in the Muromachi period (1392–1573). These illustrated short stories, which remain unattributed, together form one of the representative literary genres of the Japanese med ...

'', when the nine-tailed fox was killed by the famous warrior named Miura-no-suke, her body became the Sessho-seki. Later, a Buddhist priest called Genno stopped for a rest near the stone and was threatened by the spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae. Genno performed

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

rituals and begged the spirit to consider her salvation. Tamamo-no-Mae relented and swore never to haunt the stone again.

Split

It was reported on March 5, 2022 that the stone had split into two parts, likely as a result of natural weathering. Some netizens expressed their fear of the exorcised Kitsune. On 26 March 2022, the local government had priests host a ceremony to appease the spirit and pacify the beast at the site with prayers, offerings, and waving '' haraegushi'' upon the split rock.

In literature

* A

Noh play is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

about the stone, attributed to Hiyoshi Sa'ami."Sesshoseki play
Sesshōseki (殺生石) , .Theatre Nohgaku Blog.
Retrieved September 11, 2018. * It was mentioned in ''

Oku no Hosomichi ''Oku no Hosomichi'' (, originally ), translated as ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and ''The Narrow Road to the Interior'', is a major work of ''haibun'' by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, considered one of the major texts of Japanese l ...

'' by

Matsuo Bashō born then was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest ma ...

as he visited the stone in the 17th century and tells of his visit in his book (''Narrow Road to the Deep North''). * ''Tamamo-no-Mae'', a novel by

Kido Okamoto was a Japanese author. His real name was . His best known work is the Shin Kabuki play Bancho Sarayashiki. Kido was born in the district of Shiba Takanawa, a neighbourhood in Minato Ward, Tōkyō Family Kido’s father, Okamoto Keinosuke (� ...

, was based on the legend of the stone. A film adaptation, ''Kyuubi no Kitsune to Tobimaru (Sesshouseki)'' followed. * In chapter 123 of the manga '' Bakidou'' the author used the story of the rock breaking to show the kick power of one of the characters.

Gallery

File:Sassyouseki,nasu-town,japan.JPG, Entrance to the area File:Stone Jizos (stone statues of Kshitigarbha) in front of the “Sessho-seki”(Killing Stone),Nasu,Tochigi,Japan.jpg, A thousand '' Jizōs'' at the site File:SekienSessho-seki.jpg, Print by

Toriyama Sekien 200px, A Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama">Miage-nyūdō.html" ;"title="Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō">Mikoshi-nyūdō, specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama , real name Sano ...

File:Tamamo-no-mae-woodblock.jpg, Print by

Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi ( ja, 月岡芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 1000. Yoshitoshi h ...

References

* * Japanese mythology Mythological objects Noh plays Stones 1967 anime films {{Japan-myth-stub