Case file · Folklore / legend
The Killing Stone splits
In March 2022 the Sesshō-seki at Nasu, a stone said to hold the spirit of the nine-tailed fox Tamamo-no-Mae, was found split in two, prompting worried posts and a purification rite.
2022 CE · 37.12, 139.97 · status: explained
The account
Legend says the fox, unmasked at court, was killed at Nasu and became a stone that poisoned anything near it, until the monk Gennō broke it in the 14th century. The volcanic area's gases really do kill small animals.
The sceptical view
A long crack had been visible for years; rain and freezing water split the rock.