Yonaki Ishi (夜泣き石)
Yonaki Ishi is one of the folk stories about stones. There are various stones called as Yonaki Ishi in various regions.
Such stories of stones can be roughly classified into two kinds of legends; one is about a stone having a tradition that a cry is heard from it, and the other is about a stone that stops a baby from crying at night.
Sayo no Nakayama-toge (Nakayama pass at Sayo), Sayoshika, Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture: Yonaki Ishi (Sayo no Nakayama)
- It is said that a stone, which was possessed by a mother who died during pregnancy, thinks of her baby, and cries.
Iida City, Nagano Prefecture
- Legend has it that a child was killed in a flood, and at night, a cry is heard from the stone.
Yasaka-jinja Shrine, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
Genji no Taki (Genji Falls), Katano City, Osaka Prefecture
Goryo-jinja Shrine, Sanda City, Hyogo Prefecture
It is said that a stone was picked up and placed in a garden in a castle, but the stone cried every night, eager to return to the shrine where it was before, and it ended up being returned to the shrine.
The stone that stops a baby's crying at night.
The site of the demolished Hokke-ji Temple, Kawachi City, Tochigi Prefecture
Arida City, Wakayama Prefecture