If you were unfamiliar with Japan’s Sessho-seki until today, you are not alone. Millions of people around the world are only just discovering the ‘Killing Stone’.
The Sessho-seki, found in the Tochigi mountains near Tokyo, was discovered to have cracked in half on March 5th.
A working theory is that it cracked in half due to ‘natural weathering’ as the stone is ancient – but according to Japanese mythology, the ‘Killing Stone’ aka Sessho-seki is believed to be so powerful that it kills anyone who comes into contact with it.
Understandably, people are spooked at the stone’s sudden cracking in half.
Legend states that the ‘Killing Stone’ is the modified corpse of Tamamo-no-Mae. According to legend, Tamamo-no-Mae looked to the naked eye, as a beautiful woman. However, was in actuality, a nine-tailed fox demoness who was working behind enemy lines with a Japanese daimyo (feudal lord) who was plotting to overthrow the emperor.
Miura-no-suke – a famous warrior – is told by legend to have defeated the demoness, whose body was changed into the Sessho-seki/Killing Stone as an eternal caged prison.
For reference, here is a photo of what the rock used to look like: pic.twitter.com/nqiplsRB0d
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) March 6, 2022
A traditional depiction of the demoness, Tamamo-no-Mae:
The possibility of an ancient demoness whose been imprisoned for over 1,000 years isn’t spooky at all…
