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 fifth-century Japanese double-edged sword blade (ken) of the Kofun period. The rusted iron blade stands vertically, and the tang for the hilt survives at the bottom.
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1,432 × 3,000 PX1432×3000
ArchiveJapanese · Weapon
Futsu-no-Mitama
布都御魂
A single stroke revived soldiers felled by poisonous vapors.
- Owner
- Takemikazuchi, later Emperor Jimmu
- Maker
- Unknown
- First record
- Kojiki712
- Gallery
- Japanese
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
According to the Kojiki, when Emperor Jimmu reached Kumano on his eastern expedition, a great bear appeared and the emperor and his soldiers all collapsed from poisonous vapors.
Then a man named Takakuraji, receiving a revelation in a dream, came carrying a sword. It had been sent down from heaven by the thunder god Takemikazuchi, who had used it to pacify the land. When the emperor received it he recovered, and at a single stroke the evil gods of Kumano fell of themselves.
This sword, Futsu-no-Mitama, is enshrined as the chief deity at Isonokami Shrine in Nara Prefecture. A sword unearthed in 1874 from forbidden ground at the shrine is said to be this one.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Blade for a Double-Edged Sword (Ken)(Japanese, 5th century), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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八尺瓊勾玉
One of the three sacred treasures, holding the spirit of the gods and the legitimacy of the imperial line.
JewelFirst recorded 712
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