By Tim Binnall
In an eerie turn of events, a Japanese rock said to contain a sinister spirit from centuries ago has been discovered mysteriously split in half. Known as Sessho-seki, or the 'killing stone,' the sizeable boulder reportedly boasts a rather fantastic backstory. According to legend in Japan, the rock serves as something of a supernatural prison for a woman named Tamamo-no-Mae, who was caught plotting against the country's Emperor Konoe nearly a century ago. Upon being captured, the story goes, she revealed that her true identity was that of a mystical nine-tailed fox and, after being killed for the coup attempt, the entity's spirit transformed into the 'killing stone.'
The tale was passed down over subsequent centuries and it eventually came to be believed that the rock at the center of the story could be found on the country's Mount Nasu. Boasting a rope wrapped around it to presumably help imprison the nine-tailed fox, the 'killing stone' was named a historic site around six decades ago and has become a popular tourist destination in Japan. However, those stopping at Sessho-seki over the weekend could not believe their eyes when they saw that the spooky boulder, said to have the power to kill anyone who touched it, had stunningly broken into two prodigious chunks and the rope that once served as a sign of the spirit purportedly contained inside the stone was now sitting beside the shocking scene.
An astounded individual on social media shared the sad news with an image of the iconic stone's demise and marveled that "I feel like I've seen something that shouldn't be seen." Word of the wondrous turn of events quickly spread online and it was ultimately determined that the weird event occurred sometime Saturday afternoon. While one might fear that Sessho-seki was felled by foul play, it would appear that is not the case as authorities believe that the stone had simply succumbed to cracks that formed in it long ago. Of course, since no one saw the moment when the rock split, some imaginative individuals have suggested, largely in a joking fashion, that the broken stone is an indication that the spirit of the nine-tailed fox has managed to escape and is out roaming the world once again.