Kaname-ishi stone, literally meaning a pivotal stone, was believed to have a mysterious power to pin earthquakes down.

In Japan, an earthquake-prone country, it was believed that earthquakes were caused when big catfish thrashed deep under the ground.  They thought if they could make them still, earthquakes might not occur.  They believed the weight of Kaname-ishi stone held the catfish still deep under the ground, as it looked a small stone though, the entire body mainly under the ground was enough heavy to do that.  The Kaname-ishi stones at Kashima-jingu Shrine in Ibaragi Prefecture and Katori-jingu Shrine in Chiba Prefecture are the most famous.  Edo, present Tokyo, was the de facto capital of Japan in the 17^th-19^th century.  As this big city was often struck by major earthquakes, the residents may have placed the Kaname-ishi stones at these historic shrines in the vicinity of Edo to quell the big earthquakes.  After the Great Ansei Earthquake of 1855, the paper charms with catfish print to ward off the earthquakes, which was issued by Kashima-jingu Shrine, gained popularity in Edo.  In those years, they believed that these two Kaname-ishi stones were connected each other deep under the ground to pin the catfish down in the Kanto region.  The two photos show the Kaname-ishi stones at each shrine.

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