Japan's Sesshoseki stone breaks into 2 parts, triggers speculations over nine-tailed fox

A volcanic rock in Japan believed to kill anyone who comes into contact with it, has split into two. Local and national government officials have decided to meet to discuss fate of stone, Guardian reported citing Shimotsuke Shimbun. According to mythology related to 'Sesshoseki' or 'killing stone,'  rock contains transformed remains of Tamamo-no-Mae, a beautiful woman who was involved in a plot to kill Japanese emperor Toba. 

Reportedly, real identity of woman was a nine-tailed fox, whose spirit was contained in hunk of lava which is located in Tochigi prefecture near Japanese capital, Tokyo. stone has reportedly split into two equal parts in past few days and incident has captured attention of netizens, reported  Guardian. locals who visited spot raised concern as some of m even shared pictures of stone on ir social media handles. One Twitter user who visited Sesshoseki revealed that rock was split in half and rope h also been detached. 

Stone split into two parts

Twitter user who goes by user name @Lily0727K tweeted, "I came alone to Sesshoseki, where legend of nine-tailed fox remains. big rock in middle wrapped around with a rope is that ...It was supposed to be, but rock was split in half and rope was also detached. If it's a manga, it's a pattern that seal is broken and it's possessed by nine-tailed fox, and I feel like I've seen something that shouldn't be seen." As per news report, or people have expressed that spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae h been resurrected after around 1000 years. Local media has reported that cracks in stone were visible several years back and it might have resulted in rainwater getting inside rock which led to weakening stone's structure. One of tourism officials mentioned that he wanted government to restore Sessho-seki back to its original form.

Image: Twitter/@Lily0727K