WEBVTT - Short Stuff: The Killing Stone

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short stuff, Josh heir Chuck here,

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<v Speaker 1>let's get it up all the way to Japan.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. We're going to Japan to talk about a

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<v Speaker 2>very famous rock in Japan that split in two in

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty two. And there was a tweet that kind

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<v Speaker 2>of got big that featured a picture of that broken

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<v Speaker 2>rock that said, and this is translated from Japanese, I

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<v Speaker 2>came alone to the Killing Stone where the legend of

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<v Speaker 2>the nine tailed Fox remains. If it's a manga, it's

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<v Speaker 2>a pattern that the seal is broken and it's possessed

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<v Speaker 2>by the nine tailed Fox. And I feel like I've

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<v Speaker 2>seen something that shouldn't be seen. Let's go, let's talk

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<v Speaker 2>about this famous rock.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay. So yeah, This person who tweeted that was a

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<v Speaker 1>tourist in Togichi Prefecture in Japan, and she was visiting

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<v Speaker 1>this very famous giant rock that supposedly was the dead

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<v Speaker 1>form of the fox spirit Tomamo no Mai, and supposedly

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<v Speaker 1>Tomamo no Maai had been trapped for centuries in this

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<v Speaker 1>rock that people like the tweeter would go visit. The

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<v Speaker 1>thing is, when the tweeter went to visit it this

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<v Speaker 1>rock had been split in two, and that meant possibly

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<v Speaker 1>that Tomamo no Mai had.

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<v Speaker 2>Escaped, right, And the idea was that Tomama no Mai

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<v Speaker 2>was trapped in this stone called the Shesho siki. Is

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<v Speaker 2>that right?

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<v Speaker 1>Uh? Sessho sessho seki, all right.

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<v Speaker 2>Which is killing stone. And here's the thing is the

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<v Speaker 2>Internet kind of got it wrong if you look at

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<v Speaker 2>the original lore of the story. Uh, Tomamo no Mai

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<v Speaker 2>was actually the stone and not trapped in the stone. Sure,

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<v Speaker 2>so let's talk about this, okay, further so doing setups right.

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<v Speaker 1>Tommo no Mai was a very famous spirit of nine

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<v Speaker 1>tailed fox spirit in Japanese folklore, and she showed up

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<v Speaker 1>in a number of different myths and tales in Japanese folklore.

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<v Speaker 1>But there's one in particular that concerns the story, and

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<v Speaker 1>it involved the Emperor Toba, the seventy fourth Japanese Emperor,

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<v Speaker 1>who was a very real person who lived from eleven

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<v Speaker 1>oh three to eleven fifty six CE, and during this reign, allegedly,

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<v Speaker 1>according to folklore, Tmomo Nomai, the fox spirit, showed up

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<v Speaker 1>disguised as a woman and said, I think you're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>like me, check me out.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. The idea was to just sort of preoccupy

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<v Speaker 2>and be which this emperor and then overthrow, overthrow the emperor.

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<v Speaker 2>What happened, as according to the lore once again, is

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<v Speaker 2>that the emperor was enthralled, sort of neglected his duties

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<v Speaker 2>and then fell very, very sick around the same time.

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<v Speaker 2>So a soothsayer came along and said, wait a minute,

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<v Speaker 2>I suspect that you Nomai are behind this whole thing.

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<v Speaker 2>And so she fled into you know, the land surrounding there,

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<v Speaker 2>basically it's Mountain Nasu, and the legend was that they

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<v Speaker 2>caught up to her, she was slain, and that her

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<v Speaker 2>body turned into the stone at that very spot, right.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's very significant that it was a group of

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<v Speaker 1>samurai who tracked her down and killed her, shot her

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<v Speaker 1>with an arrow because folklorists believe that this tale of

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<v Speaker 1>Tomamo Nomai enchanting the emperor and basically causing him to

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<v Speaker 1>stop paying attention to his duties is some sort of

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<v Speaker 1>allegory I guess for what's called the Hogan Rebellion, this

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<v Speaker 1>time when the emperor's rule gave way to rule by

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<v Speaker 1>the samurai, which lasted for centuries afterward. And so that

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<v Speaker 1>This was kind of a about that story. Maybe justified it,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure, but the essential ingredients are that the

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<v Speaker 1>emperor was bewitched and helpless and had to be saved

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<v Speaker 1>by the samurai.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it was you know, there were a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of This is just one of many, many stories in

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<v Speaker 2>Japanese folklore wherein monsters would appear, a hero would rise

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<v Speaker 2>up to save somebody. It was usually metaphor for you know,

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<v Speaker 2>something politically that was going on, right, and maybe I

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<v Speaker 2>say we take a break.

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<v Speaker 1>I think I agree with you. Sure, all right, We'll

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<v Speaker 1>be right back, okay, Chuck. So where we left off,

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<v Speaker 1>Tamamonamayi has turned into a giant stone. And this stone

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<v Speaker 1>that people would go visit was something like six feet

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<v Speaker 1>tall and twenty five feet in diameter. It was no

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<v Speaker 1>small stone. It sounds like it was shaped kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like Slimer from Ghostbusters.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and I think that was circumference, by the way,

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<v Speaker 2>what did I say, diameter circumference?

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks, So people would go visit this and one of

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<v Speaker 1>the reasons why that this stone in particular came to

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<v Speaker 1>be identified as the Sessho Seki the killing Stone, is

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<v Speaker 1>because it really kind of stood out from its it's

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<v Speaker 1>the other stones in the area. You could just pick

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<v Speaker 1>it out and be like that looks cool. And then

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<v Speaker 1>the actual area itself on the mountain what was the

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<v Speaker 1>mountain's name, uh Namatsu Nasu mount Yes, mountain Nasu is

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<v Speaker 1>it's like a volcanic plane. There's active volcanoes in the area.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's like poison gas like spewing up out of

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<v Speaker 1>the earth around the stone. It's quite menacing in that sense,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if you know what the legend is and you're

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the stone as if it were the Killing Stone.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so there are potentially some poisonous gases, sulfuric gases

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<v Speaker 2>that seep out of the ground in that area. While

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<v Speaker 2>it's nothing that would hurt a human, if you went

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<v Speaker 2>to this you know stone which really stands out and

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<v Speaker 2>looks weirdly out of place there and you found like

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<v Speaker 2>some dead squirrels laying around, it could lend itself to

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<v Speaker 2>the idea that either Josh was nearby no or that

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<v Speaker 2>an evil spirit could radiate death from that spot. And

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<v Speaker 2>this is a very very well known story. I don't

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<v Speaker 2>think we said that it was you know, it was

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<v Speaker 2>part of folklore and there are a lot of these stories,

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<v Speaker 2>but this seems to be one of the bigger ones,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's kind of like a universally known tale in Japan,

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<v Speaker 2>so it's a very very famous story. And so you know,

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<v Speaker 2>when this thing split, it was, you know, the Internet

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<v Speaker 2>goes a little hog wild for a short time talking

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<v Speaker 2>about whether or not the evil spirits will be unleashed

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<v Speaker 2>and whether or not this is all coming to fruition.

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<v Speaker 2>Apparently if you do like on the ground research and

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<v Speaker 2>talk to Japanese people, they're like, we don't really think that.

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<v Speaker 2>Of course we don't. This is the Internet being the Internet.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And in addition to that, over the years, initially

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<v Speaker 1>Tamamunamai was depicted as just nothing but evil, a corruptor

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<v Speaker 1>of men and usurper of male power. And then as

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<v Speaker 1>Japanese society kind of softened and progressed, progressed and it

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<v Speaker 1>stands on women, she actually evolved along with that, interestingly,

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<v Speaker 1>so that now today when she's used in like manga,

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<v Speaker 1>anime or something like that, she's usually kind of like

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<v Speaker 1>a proto feminist anti hero. Is how this article from

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works put it, I think perfectly.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, totally, And you know, of course nothing happened because

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<v Speaker 2>this folklore. But I imagine it's still and apparently this is

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<v Speaker 2>a big thing in Japan to like go visit this

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<v Speaker 2>thing in the woods, right, yeah, yeah, And that seems

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<v Speaker 2>like a dumb down way of saying it, because we

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<v Speaker 2>visit plenty of great things in the woods as well,

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<v Speaker 2>but you know, smaller things like you know, this rock

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<v Speaker 2>in the middle of this national forest becomes like a

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<v Speaker 2>pretty pretty standard tourist attraction.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And I didn't realize there was a term for

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of tourism, contents based tourism, where it's just

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<v Speaker 1>the one thing that you're going out of your way

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<v Speaker 1>to go see to a place you probably wouldn't have

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<v Speaker 1>otherwise gone, like the Giant Ball of yarn or something

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<v Speaker 1>like that.

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<v Speaker 2>You know. Yeah, well, except this is in a national park,

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<v Speaker 2>which I imagine is beautiful.

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<v Speaker 1>Sure, I think it is too. I have nothing else

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<v Speaker 1>except I want to go on the record as correcting you.

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<v Speaker 1>I love the squirrels now, and I don't have years

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<v Speaker 1>and years and years I know.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm just kidding.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, well, Chuck was kidding everybody. That means short stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is out.

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