A town in Hokkaido is eager to identify a stone figure found inside a felled tree trunk with no apparent entry hole.
The carving has a cross on its base, which leads some to believe it is a devotional object placed there centuries ago by Japanese Christians fleeing persecution.
The palm-size figure was found on Aug. 1, 1976, when Hideo Okano cut down a 10-meter-high yew tree in his backyard in the town of Imakane. He planned to give the timber to a friend, who wanted to make a table.