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

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, that is famous for sulphurous

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

. In

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

, 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 and the

nine-tailed fox The nine-tailed fox () is a mythical fox entity originating from Chinese mythology. In Chinese folklores, foxes are depicted as spirits possessed of magic powers. These foxes are often depicted as mischievous, usually tricking other people, wi ...

.Sessho-seki.
Kotobank.

Legend

The stone is believed to be the transformed corpse of Tamamo-no-Mae, 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 no ...

'' plotting to kill

Emperor Konoe was the 76th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 近衛天皇 (76)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Konoe's reign spanned the years from 1142 through 1155. 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 m ...

'', 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 do ...

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 people 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. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

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 , translated as ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and ''The Narrow Road to the Interior'', is a major work of ''haibun'' by the List of Japanese language poets, Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, considered one of the major texts of Japanese liter ...

'' by

Matsuo Bashō ; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. 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 th ...

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 and playwright. 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, Tokyo. Family Kido's father, , la ...

, 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 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Keisuke Itagaki. It was originally serialized in the ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from 1991 to 1999 and collected into 42 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Akita ...

'' 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 , specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama , real name Sano Toyofusa, was a scholar, '' kyōka'' poet, and ''ukiyo-e'' artist of Japanese folklore. Early life Born to a family of high-ranking servants to the Tokugawa sh ...

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

Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (; 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 has widely been rec ...

References

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

Legend

Split

In literature

Gallery

See also

References