Since Meoto Iwa was featured on “Nanikore Chin Hyakkei,” which aired on TV Asahi on Sunday, July 31, we asked everyone to share the urban legends they know about “Meoto Iwa” 😅
On the show, it was presented like this↓↓
※Quoted from the official Nanikore Chin Hyakkei｜tv asahi website
So, what kinds of urban legends about “Meoto Iwa” do Nishitsu readers know??
Let’s get right into them 😀
It’s almost exactly the same as the image presented on Nanikore Chin Hyakkei. Also, I often mix it up with the story from Hideyoshi’s time about people trying to quarry a rock from Koshikiiwa Shrine, smoke coming out of it, and the stonemason collapsing.
Age 50–59
Shukugawa / Kurakuen-guchi area
I heard from a friend that there was a “curse.”
Age 50–59
Koroen / Hamawaki / Yomihama area
One day, the trees growing around the rocks had been neatly cut down. I thought, “So there are people who dare to mess with this place,” but then the work was left unfinished. After that, several trees grew there, whether naturally or planted, and before long I noticed persimmons growing on one of them. As everyone knows, the saying goes “three years for peaches and chestnuts, eight years for persimmons,” so it should take at least eight years. If fruit was already growing, I can only think there must be something beyond human understanding there.
Age 60+
Koyoen / Kurakuen area
Diamond Kabutoyama [Nishinomiya Photo]
It’s the legend of the “cow woman.” I heard she dances on top of the rocks, or that if you touch the rocks she’ll chase you.
Age 50–59
Koroen / Hamawaki / Yomihama area
The story that people involved in construction work to remove the rocks died of illness one after another is famous.
Age 50–59
Imazu / Hanshin Kokudo area
Commonly known as the “cursed rocks.”
Age 50–59
Koshien / Koshienhama area
There haven’t been any accidents involving the rocks themselves. Accidents happen in the areas before and after them, but none where a car hits the rocks.
Age 50–59
Other areas outside the city/prefecture
I was told that if you look back toward Meoto Iwa while driving past, you’ll get into an accident, so never look back.
Age 30–39
Naruo / Takasu / Komatsu area
A Spot-billed Moorhen Family Scurrying Among the Water Fringe at Hinoke Park [Nishinomiya Photo]
I’ve heard that if you try to move or destroy them, you’ll be cursed…
Age 30–39
Mondo-Yakujin / Hinokuchi area
Several people who tried to remove them were crushed under the rocks or died in unexpected accidents. They even had a Buddhist priest perform a purification ritual, but the grudge was too strong and nothing could be done, so the rocks were left as they are.
Age 40–49
Naruo / Takasu / Komatsu area
The contractors who tried to remove them died one after another.
Age 20–29
Koroen / Hamawaki / Yomihama area
If you take the road by Meoto Iwa, you’ll be cursed, or ghosts will appear.
Age 20–29
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi area
I’m pretty sure there was an episode about Meoto Iwa on that show “Nihon Mukashibanashi”!
Age 40–49
Shukugawa / Kurakuen-guchi area
It’s just as described on the show’s website, so I don’t really have any particular urban legend to add.
Age 40–49
Other areas outside the city/prefecture
A Family of Spot-billed Ducks Swimming Downstream in Shukugawa 2022 [Nishinomiya Photo]
If you try to move them, you die within three days.
Age 40–49
Koroen / Hamawaki / Yomihama area
The classic one: if you try to get rid of them, a curse will happen.
Age 40–49
Other areas outside the city/prefecture
Misfortune befell the people who tried to move them.
Age 40–49
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi area
If you drive the wrong way, you’ll be possessed.
Age 30–39
Other areas outside the city/prefecture
When people tried to remove them, someone died.
Age 30–39
Koyoen / Kurakuen area
I once heard that long ago, when Osaka Castle was being built, the stones were quarried and taken near Osaka Castle, but they flew through the sky and returned to their current location.
Age 40–49
Naruo / Takasu / Komatsu area
This isn’t an urban legend or anything, but more than 30 years ago, four old friends of mine, back when we were younger, climbed on these rocks and took commemorative photos. A little while later, one nearly died in a motorcycle accident, another died in an accident three years later, and then a few years after that, another died mysteriously. Only the remaining one has had nothing happen so far, but it’s a scary story to chalk up to coincidence. This isn’t a rumor or hearsay; it’s something that actually happened around me, so I don’t think you should go near those rocks with a careless attitude.
Age 50–59
Koshien / Koshienhama area
As introduced on the show, there were a lot of legends saying that if you try to remove the rocks, something bad will happen! 😀
I pass along that road often too, but the more I think, “Don’t look, don’t look,” the more they catch my eye…
It’s human nature to want to look even more when someone says, “Don’t look.”
The more we’re told not to do something, the more we end up wanting to do it. What is that about? lol
Here are a few episodes too.
It seems some people have actually had frightening experiences there.
In any case, no matter what road you’re on, let’s all drive safely and be careful to avoid accidents 🚗
