As if the year 2022 didn’t already have enough bad omens, ancient Japanese folklore has reared its dreadful head. The Sessho-seki death stone has broken in half, supposedly sealing the spirit of a vengeful demon from the outside world. The Sessho-seki stone, a gigantic volcanic rock that is claimed to kill anybody who touches it, is firmly rooted in Japanese mythology and is thought to be the changed corpse of the fabled Tamamo-no-Mae.
Tamamo-no- Mae was said to be a lovely woman whose spirit was seized by the nine-tailed fox, also known as the kitsune, a demon spirit infamous for cunning and trickery. Tamamo-no-Mae, who could answer any question, was involved in a scheme to seduce and assassinate Emperor Toba, who became ill as a result. Two mythical warriors uncovered and chased the fox spirit, and as a final option, the spirit lodged itself into the Sessho-seki stone, which produced a toxic gas that killed anybody who touched it.
The spirit was said to haunt the rock, which had been designated as a local historical landmark in 1957 until a Buddhist monk performed rites to put the spirit to rest. The death stone has since been said to have broken in two, most likely due to natural erosion. According to the Guardian, fissures in the volcanic rock were discovered some years ago, enabling water to enter and dissolve it from the inside.
That hasn’t prevented superstitions from raging, with visitors visiting the demonic rock claiming to “feel like they have seen something they shouldn’t have seen.” We can’t say we blame them; given how the year has started, an evil fox-demon running amok would be expected.
Predictions of dark powers released by an evil vixen lingered over Japanese social media on Monday after a famed volcanic rock reputed to kill anybody who comes into contact with it was discovered split in half. According to legend, the Sessho-seki, or death stone, holds the transformed body of Tamamo-no-Mae, a beautiful lady who was involved in a covert conspiracy by a feudal warlord to assassinate Emperor Toba, who ruled from 1107 to 1123.
Her actual identity, according to legend, was a wicked nine-tailed fox whose spirit is encased in a lump of lava in Tochigi prefecture, near Tokyo, known for its sulphurous hot springs. Its split into two nearly equal sections, which is said to have occurred within the last few days, has alarmed internet users, who point out that the stone is said to constantly spew toxic gas, thus its name.
While the stone was claimed to have been shattered and its soul exorcised by a Buddhist monk who distributed its fragments around Japan, many Japanese choose to think that it still resides on Mount Nasu’s slopes. Visitors to the famed tourist destination recoiled in horror over the weekend as witnesses shared images of the cracked stone lying on the ground with a length of rope wrapped around its perimeter. In a tweet that has almost 170,000 likes, one Twitter user remarked, “I feel like I’ve seen something that shouldn’t be seen.”
