ishikozume

() was a ritual method of execution performed in ancient Japan. The ritual is characterized by waist high burial in earth followed by lapidation (death by stoning). It has traditionally been associated with the yamabushi, hermetic practitioners of the Shugendō religion, because they often used it when rules of their religion were violated. However, it has been observed in instances not involving the yamabushi, and so its exact origins and nature has been debated by scholars. This execution method was used for crimes such as "adultery, rape, murder, theft, arson, blasphemy (killing a sacred deer), association with outcastes, [maintaining] unregistered rice fields, [and] treason."

== Sources == There exist a variety of sources and traditions which relate the practice. One from Asuka Shrine in Nara claims that a yamabushi stole a stone statue (koma-inu) and was subsequently executed through ''. A clan tradition connected to the Uesugi clan of Echigo Province also states that "rape, theft, and association with eta [outcastes], both men and women, are subject to ." These sources can be find in a variety of geographical districts, and can be found in shrine, clans, and temple traditions. In rare instances, there will be records of a local variation on the ritual which does not result in death, that is, they are used as corporal rather than capital punishment.