Sesshōseki (The Killing Stone) : PhotoStory

It is autumn at Nasuno-no-hara field (present-day Nasu town, Tochigi Prefecture). Gennō, a high Buddhist priest, witnesses birds falling from the sky in the area around a giant stone.

He moves to approach the stone, but a woman stops him.

She starts to tell him that this is Sesshōseki, the Killing Stone, and all living creatures that go near it are killed.

“Lady Tamamo was a beautiful lady of the court, but she was discovered to be an apparition of a fox spirit and was killed in this area.”

“The soul possessed the stone, which became the Killing Stone,” the woman says. “And I am that soul.” She disappears in the twilight.

When Gennō prays for the soul to become a Buddha, the rock splits open and the ghost of the fox appears.

This fearful figure...

...appeared in the form of fascinating women such as Lady Tamamo.

It committed evil deeds in India, China and Japan. In Nasuno-no-hara field, it ended in obscurity.

Now, after receiving the teachings of Buddhism, it makes a rock-solid promise to the priest that it will never again do a bad thing.