The Birth of a New Folklore from a Japanese Manga (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba): Legends of Split Rocks in Japan

In some Japanese localities, large rocks broken in half (split rocks) have legends such as a legendary person splitting them. The split rock also appeared in a Japanese manga (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba). The scene of the split rock was widely recognized in conjunction with the huge success of this manga and the animation based on it. This study examined news articles from newspapers and other media that associate the split rocks in each locality with Demon Slayer. As a result, 10 split rocks in 16 news articles were found. In some cases, new legends of the split rocks possessing the already-established legends were reported, seeming to “overwrite” the legends. This may be due to the emergence of a new folklore.