Great Cherry Tree of Nakahara.

Steam card titled 'Great Cherry Tree of Nakahara'.

Stone Carvings in Kunitsu-Gami.

I don't know what the characters are.

I've looked at: えん己るろそ れ

Looks like...ろえ? Maybe...るが?え...

るえ?

At first I thought it was this:

But I don't think so?

The image appears to be two arrows going to meet each other. A merging.

Another one I can't figure out. Google says そ(So) but it doesn't even look the same? ろ...? え?

I visited every village to obtain photos of the stones at each individual village. The stones can sometimes look different! They were clearer in some places.

I will update once I have answers...

Possessed Yoshiro.(Hidarugami Possession)

From the guide menu. pic.twitter.com/QWLfB5t449

— Amaria💮 (@eternalnascency) July 25, 2025

I managed to get Yoshiro possessed.

Yoshiro possessed by Hidarugami. #Kunitsu_Gami#祇 #くにつがみ pic.twitter.com/Q9zrHOE6Tl

— Amaria💮 (@eternalnascency) July 24, 2025

It's quite difficult if you have any villagers with masks on. Seethe don't attack maskless villagers. Only indirectly if they manage to be in the vicinity of an attack.

You might not even know she can get possessed unless you read the Priest's abilities, which say he can cure possession from Yoshiro and villagers. (People try using him at Enri Village lol)

What's extremely eerie is that Hidarugami goes inside of her but at Enri Village, it remained on her head.

Enri Village

She's grabbing it to try and pull it off

Her dance only slightly changes(adds the pose she makes at the beginning of the night), and she makes a prayer-like gesture upon getting possessed.

If she's in the mikoshi and gets possessed, she will sit motionless like this:

No strength left to move her hand and barely any strength left to resist.

About Hidarugami:

The Hidarugami will possess humans, inflicting them with severe hunger and fatigue. Legend states that they are born from humans whose life force was completely drained by another Hidarugami. But some believe that they are actually the manifestation of unfortunate humans who wished for others to experience the same suffering.

A little theory: Yoshiro is possessed by the Goddess(Soh), which allows Soh to have a physical form(not body).

When Hidarugami takes over her, it possesses Yoshiro, breaking Soh's connection to Yoshiro.

Yatsurao(八面王). (A little shrine at the top of the Great Cherry Tree of Nakahara!)

At the top of the Great Cherry Tree...

is a little shrine! Created after we purify it!

The Cherry Tree is linked to the Maidens. The mikoshi is made from it.

Its lore says it took on the impurity from fallen trees only to become defiled in the process.

八面王

太古より生きる御神木。

山の伐採により木々が穢れるのを憐れむかのように、

自らに穢れを集め続けていると言われている。

その御神木の先端は「顔」と呼ばれ、時折表情を変えるという。

その情景を見た村人は八つの面を持つ蛇のような木として恐れた。

Does it remind you of anyone...?

Beautiful even while suffering. A dignified beauty...

Especially since the Maidens are lone 'blossoms' until they become cherry blossoms after walking the Path.

So now...I suspect cherry blossoms are not associated with the Mountain Goddess but with the Maidens and their sacrifice.

The lone plum blossom goes onto join the rest of them, and together they are a group of cherry blossoms.

But Yoshiro with Soh by her side isn't a lone flower. Is that why her symbol is a cherry blossom?

Or are they considered Cherry Blossoms because of the sacrifice of the Cherry Tree?

The ending picture here:

Is the Goddess definitely associated with the sun?

The power of purification is compared to the radiance of the sun, after all...and then there's the mirrors.

Oh, and Yatsurao has feet! I hate it.

And an ear? Or ears.

The big ears remind me of...

Look at what Yatsurao's 'face' is wearing...

Gold pattern

A change of coloring,

A kimono. Those gold patterns are on Yoshiro's kimono.

Is it not the same?

Her flaps remind me of:

It can also turn a different coloring, like Nanamagari, which is also related to the Maiden.

(Buuut, I haven't checked if other Festering Seethe change colors when they do special attacks.)

The mikoshi, carved from Yatsurao, bears similarities to the head of Nanamagari:

八面王 also means 'Eight Headed King' and Nanamagari has 8 hands.

Even stranger, many of her hands resemble the growth of hands on the Main Shrine where Soh's body/former spirit stone is held.

There's also this odd interaction:

Poor Yatsurao...

Kunitsu-Gami Fan-art by foo_kzgrm.

くにつがみ一周年おめでとうございます（遅刻）。ずっと世代様の隣には宗さんが居てほしいけど穢れ祓いが済んだら宗さんは山祇の元へ帰っちゃうしかといって穢れが残ったままだと世代様が大変だし二人で縁側でのんびり煎茶飲みながら桜餅食べててほしいのよ。だからこそ真エンドクリア後のタイトルが尊 pic.twitter.com/gpaiETAr5C

— 風車@ぽんこつ操虫棍 (@foo_kzgrm) July 20, 2025

I said this is almost canon since Soh likes to encourage Yoshiro to eat!

in Sekiro's voice: eat it

I also fed the Divine Child many many persimmons...

'Spirited Away'

When the villagers become cocooned, they've been spirited away, taken into the lands of the spirits or gods.

So during levels, we are in the lands of the spirits and gods but cannot be perceived by the villagers. Only by Yoshiro. We can be felt by them, certainly. I have a few videos running circles around them and spooking them.

When we return to base, I believe we return to the normal world. Soh's presence can no longer be felt by villagers at all. Yoshiro can still sense us but we're not as 'corporeal' as we were before.

At times, Yoshiro seems to not be able to see us but she can hear us. In the tent, she'll listen to Soh but not look at her, seeming to not be able to. Other times, she looks directly at us.

Just a theory though. It might be referring to all the missing villagers, the ones we don't meet or have control over in the game. Perhaps they were the ones spirited away.

(originally part of 'An oath beneath the lunar light.' but moved to its own post)

Maiden.

Steam card 'Maiden'.