Japanese
Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi
草薙剣 (Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi)
Cuts the grass by itself and turns back fire.
WeaponFirst recorded 712
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Photograph: A seventeenth-century Japanese hand spear (nage-yari) with its sheath. A black sheath lies beside the slender blade, and the shaft is wrapped with cord.
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1,688 × 3,000 PX1688×3000
ArchiveJapanese · Weapon
Ame-no-Nuboko
天沼矛
Churned the sea and made the first land.
- Owner
- The creator deities Izanagi and Izanami
- Maker
- Bestowed by the gods of heaven
- First record
- Kojiki712
- Gallery
- Japanese
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
According to the Kojiki, the gods of heaven gave the deities Izanagi and Izanami a jeweled spear, Ame-no-Nuboko, telling them to harden the land still drifting about.
Standing on the floating bridge of heaven, the two deities lowered the spear into the sea and stirred. When they lifted it, drops of brine falling from the tip piled up to form the first island, Onogoro.
The two descended to that island, married and gave birth to the islands of Japan and many gods. The spear is remembered in Japanese myth as the tool that first made the world.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Hand Spear (Nage-yari) or Javelin (Te-yari) with Sheath(Japanese, 17th century), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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