Presenting the mysteries surrounding Japan's Excalibur

KUSANAGI NO TSURUGI... does it really exist? Well, yes and no. First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with Japanese history and culture, let me start off by making an analogy: Kusanagi No Tsurugi (Grasscutter) is to the Japanese as Excalibur is to England. It's Japan's version of King Arthur's famous sword, and is surrounded by just as much mystery, if not more. There is even one similarity between the two which I find quite striking: they're correlation with deities of underwater origins (Grasscutter's "Dragon-King of the Sea" and Excalibur's "Lady of the Lake"). In fact, both Grasscutter and Excalibur are thought to have been returned to their waterworlds, and currently remain there to this day. Another interesting similarity is their correlation with royalty. Only Japan's Emperor can possess Grasscutter, just as King Arthur's birthright granted him Excalibur. But there are so many other mysteries and legends which abound the history of Grasscutter, which even place it's present-day existence into question.

What's in Atsuta Shrine?

The naval battle at Dan-no-Ura is thought to be the last time Grasscutter was seen. Historically, the sword was supposedly lost at sea at the Battle of Dan-no-Ura in 1168 A.D. (final battle of the Heike Wars). Mythologically, the sword was returned to the Dragon-King of the Sea, who claims to be its rightful owner. So then, what's in Atsuta shrine, you may be wondering? Well, that seems to depend on whether you support the Taira or Minamoto in the late Heian period Genpei war. The Taira say the Grasscutter went down at at Dan-no-Ura and so all subsequent emperors haven't been enthroned properly. The Minamoto say it was a replica and the original was at Atsuta. All emperors after Antoku were Minamoto pawns so they follow the Minamoto line. So it is unknown whether or not the actual Grasscutter exists at Atsuta. Many believe it indeed went down at Dan-no-Ura, and that the replica exists at the shrine. It is a fact that "Emperor SUJIN had copies of The Mirror and The Sword made to enshrine their spirits while the originals might accompany the sovereign. The AME-no-MURAKUMO-no-TSURUGI or KUSANAGI Sword and its spirit is installed and revered at the great ATSUTA-DAIJINGU Shrine in OWARI. SUSANO-O "God of the Sea" reclaimed the original along with the spirit of little ANTOKU from the folly of DAN-no-URA. Luckily, an arrow tethered the robes of TAIRA SHIGEHIRA's wife, saving the Sacred Mirror."

Yes, well the sword went down at DAN-no-URA. It has been a dream to put together a group and go find it. Many things came back up from the KAMIKAZE and that was only 100 years later, so there may indeed be things down there. The real sword may have been recovered and may be somwhere with a different name on it. But maybe it is still down there.

As the legend goes, on August 5th, 668 A.D., Dogio, a Buddhist priest from Korea, stole the Grasscutter from Atsuta Shrine. boy-Emperor Antoku Tenno wore Grasscutter into battle at Dan-no-Ura. When all seemed lost, his grandmother took him in her arms and leapt into the sea where both perished. Years later, the Emperor Go Shirakawa faced war with barbarians and sought the sword. When told it was lost he ordered ceremonies to uncover its whereabouts. Soon after he dreamed of a centuries-dead royal lady who told him it was in the keeping of the Dragon-king at the bottom of the sea. Divers discovered that this was indeed the case, but the Dragon-king claimed that it was his, not the Japanese Emperor's, as it had originally been taken by a dragon-prince long ago. This prince (the 8-headed serpent) was slain by a hero, Susano-o-no-Mikoto. A dragon-princess was the grandmother of Antoku who now slept amongst the Dragon-king's coils. The Emperor was disappointed by this news, but a magician cast a spell to compel the Dragon-king, the divers retrieved the sword, and the Emperor defeated the barbarians. - Grasscutter was placed in a box in the Atsuta temple, and was stolen by a Korean priest. As he sought to return to his country, a storm blew up which the captain of the boat recognised as created by a deity. The priest then threw the sword into the sea to pacify the Dragon-king. The Dragon-king returned Grasscutter to Atsuta, where it remained for a century before being carried back to the Dragon-king's sea-floor palace.

In 1907 the City conducted a study to find a symbol for the city and asked various organizations for a design. Finally in October 1907 the "Maru-hachi" (Circle eight) symbol was adopted by a vote in the City Assembly. It is said that this "figure 8 in a circle" was used by the Owari Tokugawa clan as a seal. Since then it has been a symbol of Nagoya's unlimited progression into the future and it can be found on the carriages of the subway trains, the City flag, the city buses and so on. It is familiar to citizens all over Nagoya.

"OFUDA" talismans.Dedicated to the magical "Kusanagi Sword". That is one of the "Sanshu no jingi".Dedicated to the magical "Kusanagi Sword". That is one of the "Sanshu no jingi".Atsuta jingu. Aichi prefecture.

Anyone out there who can tell me what happened to the Taishi Emperor? Why was he suceeded by Hirohito so quickly after the death (?) of the Meiji Emperor?

Why was succeeded immediately? Merely a tradition. It's called, "Sen So." Nothing really unusual(if you believed it was). Immediately, 3 emblems of Imperial dignity; "Kenji(sacred Kusanagi sword and Magatama(supposedly a jade) and Yata no Kagami(mirror), were passed to the new Emperor. More formal crowning(Sokui no rei) took place about a year later on, Showa 3, 11.10(1927).

*Atsuta Shrine
Founded in the 3rd century, the compound is dotted with hundreds of aged camphor trees. Nest to the Ise Grand Shrine, it is one of most important shrines and dedicated to the Kusanagi Sword, one of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Imperial Family. Another name is "Atsuta-san".

Susanoo descends to the mountain Torikamiyama in Izumo, where he comes upon an old couple weeping beside their daughter. The man says that he's a god of the land (kunitsukami) and that each year the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent Yamata no Orochi has devoured one of his daughters, and that the time has come for him to claim the last. Susanoo transforms the girl, Kushinada Hime, into a comb, which he puts in his hair, and orders that a special wine be brewed and barrels of it placed along a fence with eight apertures. When the serpent drinks the potion and falls into a drunken sleep, Susanoo severs each of the heads with his sword. In one of the tails he discovers a sword, which he presents to Amaterasu. This is the sword that is later known as Kusanagi (Mower of Grass). It is given to Ninigi no Mikoto by Amaterasu as one of the three symbols of his authority over Ashihara no Nakatsukuni.

Last change: 29. Aug 2002