Great! A Japanese stone containing an ancient demon has mysteriously split in two and locals are freaked.
As if 2022 wasn’t cooked enough, on Monday an evil nine-tailed fox demon (not unlike the Pokemon) contained within a volcanic rock, might’ve just been unleashed upon the world.
Tamamo-no-Mae, a shape-shifting evil spirit known for taking the form of a beautiful woman, was hunted, and condemned to remain in a rock prison after taking part in a ploy to kill Emperor Toba, who ruled a thousand years ago in feudal Japan.
The aptly named ‘killing stone’ supposedly kills any living creatures that approach it.
People panicked across social media when on Monday travellers posted photos of the famous killing-stone fractured in two to social media.
One Twitter user posted, “I feel like I’ve seen something that shouldn’t be seen”.
“I came alone to Sessho-seki, where the legend of the nine-tailed fox remains. The big rock in the middle wrapped around with a rope is [how] it was supposed to be, but the rock was split in half and the rope was also detached,” another Twitter user posted.
九尾の狐の伝説が残る、殺生石にひとりでやってきました。
縄でぐるっと巻かれた真ん中の大きな岩がそれ…
のはずなのですが、なんと岩は真っ二つに割れて、縄も外れていました。
漫画だったらまさに封印が解かれて九尾の狐に取り憑かれるパターンで、見てはいけないものを見てしまった気がします。 pic.twitter.com/wwkb0lGOM9
— Lillian (@Lily0727K) March 5, 2022
Officials from a local information centre said that cracks appeared in the rock years ago, likely allowing natural elements to compromise the structural integrity of the rock – or, the almighty fox-demon was too powerful to contain *cue Power Rangers montage*.
A local tour guide, Masaharu Sugawara, told local news outlet Yomiuri Shimbun, “it’s natural, so it can’t be helped, but it’s a shame because it’s a symbol of the local area”.
The volcanic area produces poisonous gases like hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide, likely the cause of the deaths surrounding the stone.
Similar to the Salem witch trials, it’s likely that the feminine wiles of the seductive, shapeshifting fox-demon have contributed to the mythologised status of the stone.
Hopefully, Tamamo-no-Mae has her sights set on taking down the true evils of the 21st century, like misogyny and climate change.
