Frog Stone at Gango-ji Temple

In Japan, frogs are considered animals that bring good luck. This is in part due to their presence in rice fields, and in part due to wordplay: kaeru (“frog”) being homophonous with kaeru (“to return”).

At the UNESCO World Heritage-listed temple of Gango-ji, however, one can find a frog-shaped rock that was once feared as a cursed object and a symbol of evil.

This particular Frog Stone originally stood on the riverbank in Kawachi Province, already known as a Killing Stone not unlike the infamous one in Nasu. Feudal lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked it so much that he had it brought to his citadel, Osaka Castle.

When the castle fell in the Siege of Osaka, Lord Toyotomi’s wife Yodo was reportedly buried under this rock, and rumours soon spread that her vengeful ghost haunted it. It was said that the Frog Stone cursed those around it, causing people to drown themselves in the moat of Osaka Castle.

The rock went missing during World War II, and somehow resurfaced in 1956, ending up at Gango-ji. It has since been revered as a lucky object, but the temple continues to hold a memorial service for the spirits from its past every July.