Sesshō-seki – The Killing Stone

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 Updated

A Landscape Where Myth and Geology Converge

Volcanic field and steam vents around the Sesshō-seki Killing Stone in Nasu

Sesshō-seki, Nasu — a volcanic field where steam, sulfur rock, and legend share the same air.

In the volcanic plains of Nasu lies a field of fumaroles and sulfur rock once feared as the “Sesshō-seki” — the Killing Stone. Steam still escapes from the earth, carrying a mineral scent that feels older than history. The setting is not theatrical, but elemental: pale stone, scorched soil, and wind moving through open silence. What draws travelers here is not spectacle, but the rare sensation of standing inside a legend that has not yet faded.

The Legend of Tamamo-no-Mae

According to medieval lore, the stone held the spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae, a shape-shifting fox who once disguised herself as a court lady of exceptional beauty. When revealed, she was slain, and her spirit sealed inside the rock — a presence said to kill anything that drew near.

For centuries, poets, monks, and pilgrims wrote of the stone as an emblem of danger and divine retribution — a reminder that in Japanese mythology, elegance and menace can share the same form.

Artistic depiction of Tamamo-no-Mae tied to the Sesshō-seki legend — Tamamo-no-Mae — the fox spirit whose beauty masked fatal intent.

From Cursed Rock to Cultural Relic

Today, the Killing Stone is protected as a historic site, its cracks now interpreted not as destruction, but as the gradual softening of myth under time. Visitors walk the boardwalk with distant views of Mount Chausu, observing sulfur vents, shrine markers, and the contrasts of life growing around what once symbolized death.

With a private guide, the site becomes more than a photo stop — it becomes an entry point into noh theatre, Heian court culture, and the deep Japanese instinct to ritualize fear into story.

Sesshō-seki before the stone split, surrounded by sulfur vents and rope markers — The Killing Stone before it fractured — once sealed and bound as a single boulder associated with the legend of Tamamo-no-Mae.

Split remains of the Sesshō-seki volcanic stone in Nasu — The Killing Stone before it fractured — once sealed and bound as a single boulder associated with the legend of Tamamo-no-Mae.