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 Japanese necklace of about the seventh century. Curved chalcedony beads (magatama) are strung among green jasper tube beads and laid in a circle.
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3,000 × 2,251 PX3000×2251
ArchiveJapanese · Jewel
Yasakani no Magatama
八尺瓊勾玉
One of the three sacred treasures, holding the spirit of the gods and the legitimacy of the imperial line.
- Owner
- Amaterasu, the Japanese imperial house
- Maker
- Tamanooya, deity of jewels
- First record
- Kojiki712
- Gallery
- Japanese
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
When Amaterasu hid in the rock cave of heaven and the world grew dark, the gods hung a mirror and many curved beads on a sacred tree before the cave. The deity who made those beads was Tamanooya.
Yasakani no Magatama is said to be a necklace strung with those beads. Magatama are curved beads shaped like animal teeth or a fetus, found in great numbers in ancient tombs of Japan and the Korean peninsula.
It became one of the three imperial treasures, along with the mirror Yata no Kagami and the sword Kusanagi. While the mirror and sword are enshrined elsewhere with replicas kept in the palace, the jewel alone is said to remain in the palace in its original form.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Necklace with Claw-Shaped Beads (Magatama)(Japan, ca. 7th century), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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