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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with "*''Japanese'': 草薙剣 ''(kusanagi no tsurugi)'' ''Kusanagi no tsurugi'', or the "Grasscutter Sword," is one of the three Japanese Imperial Regalia, along with the mirr..."
*''Japanese'': 草薙剣 ''(kusanagi no tsurugi)''
''Kusanagi no tsurugi'', or the "Grasscutter Sword," is one of the three Japanese [[Imperial Regalia]], along with the mirror ''[[Yata no kagami]]'' and the jewel ''[[Yasakani no magatama]]''.
The sword is said to have been held by the Imperial family ever since, according to the earliest Japanese creation myths, the storm god [[Susa no O no Mikoto]], brother of the sun goddess [[Amaterasu]], slayed the demon serpent [[Orochi]] and discovered the sword within the serpent's body.
The original ''Kusanagi'' sword is said to have been housed permanently at [[Atsuta Shrine]] since the reign of the legendary [[Emperor Keiko|Emperor Keikô]] (r. [[71]]-[[130]]). However, from the [[Meiji period]] onwards, a replica has always been kept close to the [[Emperor]], and in the Meiji period up through 1945, the emperor carried this replica on his person whenever he left the Imperial Palace for an overnight (or longer) trip.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 258n49.</ref>
The sword is said to have been lost or stolen on a number of occasions, most famously in the [[1185]] [[Battle of Dan-no-ura]], when it supposedly was lost into the sea along with the young [[Emperor Antoku]] and many prominent members of the [[Taira clan]]. While some accounts assert that it was only a replica that was lost, others say that that was the true sword, and that the ''Kusanagi'' housed at Atsuta since then is a replica made in [[1210]]. The sword is also said to have been stolen by a Korean monk in [[668]] and returned in [[686]].
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==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Arms and Armor]]
''Kusanagi no tsurugi'', or the "Grasscutter Sword," is one of the three Japanese [[Imperial Regalia]], along with the mirror ''[[Yata no kagami]]'' and the jewel ''[[Yasakani no magatama]]''.
The sword is said to have been held by the Imperial family ever since, according to the earliest Japanese creation myths, the storm god [[Susa no O no Mikoto]], brother of the sun goddess [[Amaterasu]], slayed the demon serpent [[Orochi]] and discovered the sword within the serpent's body.
The original ''Kusanagi'' sword is said to have been housed permanently at [[Atsuta Shrine]] since the reign of the legendary [[Emperor Keiko|Emperor Keikô]] (r. [[71]]-[[130]]). However, from the [[Meiji period]] onwards, a replica has always been kept close to the [[Emperor]], and in the Meiji period up through 1945, the emperor carried this replica on his person whenever he left the Imperial Palace for an overnight (or longer) trip.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 258n49.</ref>
The sword is said to have been lost or stolen on a number of occasions, most famously in the [[1185]] [[Battle of Dan-no-ura]], when it supposedly was lost into the sea along with the young [[Emperor Antoku]] and many prominent members of the [[Taira clan]]. While some accounts assert that it was only a replica that was lost, others say that that was the true sword, and that the ''Kusanagi'' housed at Atsuta since then is a replica made in [[1210]]. The sword is also said to have been stolen by a Korean monk in [[668]] and returned in [[686]].
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Arms and Armor]]
