Word 078
In the village of Yagyu in Nara City, not far from Amanoiwatate Shrine, a single massive boulder lies split clean in two among the trees. Known as "Ittoseki" — the "One-Stroke Rock" — this monolith, standing over seven meters tall, appears cleaved apart as if by a single sword strike.
According to legend, the swordsman Yagyu Sekishusai was challenged night after night at this very spot by a figure claiming to be a tengu. One night, trembling, he summoned all his strength and brought his blade down in a single stroke. The next morning, there was no tengu before him — only this boulder, split cleanly in two.
No one now can know how great a threat that figure appeared to be, the moment Sekishusai raised his sword. But perhaps, seen through the darkness, it loomed far larger — far taller — than it truly was.
There was a wall you believed you could never cross, no matter what.
Even so, when circumstance forced you to attempt it, trembling —
it often turns out to have been lower than you thought.
And yet, it had seemed such a towering wall...
Yes — it was none other than yourself
who had made that wall look so high.
Today, seen beneath the bright sun, the rock looks like nothing more than an ordinary stone. Running a hand across its moss-covered face, no trace of a blade can be found. And yet, the single stroke swung down that night truly cut through something. Still now, quietly, it lies there — split in two.