The Eternally Waiting Mother and Child

After visiting a shrine to Sugawara no Michizane in the far northwest of Kagoshima Prefecture, I chose to return home by a road that runs along the western shore of the Satsuma peninsula. The view never fails to impress. The coastline is rugged, and the turquoise waves crash upon irregular, dark volcanic rocks.

One particular area struck me so otherworldly that I stopped the car and scampered down to the beach to get a closer look. On the way, I saw a sign with an interesting tale handed down from prehistory. The boat described in the story was a type used during the Jomon Era (14,000 BC-600 BC in southern Kyushu).

Here is the story.

The Ningyō-Iwa Story

Long, long ago, in a cave on Sanpachi Island, lived a young fisherman with his wife and cute baby.

Each day, the young father would get into his dugout boat and take to the sea in search of fish. On one perfectly ordinary day, after kissing his wife and baby goodbye, he was out fishing when the weather suddenly changed. A strong gust of wind capsized his small boat. The young man sank to the depths of the sea.

The mother, knowing nothing of her husband’s plight, hugged her sweet baby tight, sat in their cave, and prayed for his safe return. The days passed. The mother sat resolutely waiting, holding her baby, until by and by, they both died.

The god who protected the sea floor was moved with pity for this tragic family. To preserve their memories for perpetuity, he turned the mother with babe in arms into stone. Likewise, the young man and his boat were transformed into stone at the bottom of the sea.

As the ages passed, the cave in which the mother and baby had waited was gradually eaten away by the wind and waves, revealing their stone figures. No one knows when, but their images came to be called “the human-shaped boulders,” often mistaken to be “doll rocks,” as the characters are the same, 人形岩, ningyō-iwa.

If you are lucky enough to pass by at just the right time, you might be able to witness the stone form of a man on a boat emerge from the sea to have a tête-à-tête by the shore with the eternally waiting mother and child.

Ningyō-iwa is 13 km north of Satsumasendai Station.

The post Ningyo-Iwa—The Curious Stones of Nishikata Town, Kagoshima first appeared on More Than Tokyo and is written by Diane Tincher.