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Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (草 薙 の 剣) is a legendary Japanese sword and one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi ( 天 叢 雲 剣 , "Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds") , but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grass-Cutting Sword").
A tsurugi (剣) or ken (剣) is a Japanese sword. The word is used in the West to refer to a specific type of Japanese straight, double-edged sword used in antiquity (as opposed to curved, single-edged swords such as the katana). [1] In Japanese the term tsurugi or ken is used as a term for all sorts of international long, double-edged swords.
Other types of Japanese swords include: tsurugi or ken, which is a straight double-edged sword; [19] ōdachi, tachi, which are older styles of a very long curved single-edged sword; uchigatana, a slightly shorter curved single-edged long sword; wakizashi, a medium-sized sword; and tantō, which is an even smaller knife-sized sword.
The Three Sacred Treasures (三種の神器, Sanshu no Jingi/Mikusa no Kamudakara) are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi (草薙劍), the mirror Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡), and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊勾玉).
Swordmaking centers developed in Yamato, San'in and Mutsu where various types of blades such as tsurugi, tōsu and tachi [nb 1] were produced. [11] [13] Flat double-edged (hira-zukuri) blades originated in the Kofun period, and around the mid-Kofun period swords evolved from thrusting to cutting weapons. [13]
Japanese swords that pre-date the rise of the samurai caste include the tsurugi (straight double-edged blade) and chokutō (straight one-edged blade). [59] Japanese swordmaking reached the height of its development in the 15th and 16th centuries, when samurai increasingly found a need for a sword to use in closer quarters, leading to the ...
The term is a compound of kata ("one side, one-sided") + na ("blade"), [6] [7] [8] in contrast to the double-sided tsurugi. The katana belongs to the nihontō family of swords, and is distinguished by a blade length ( nagasa ) of more than 2 shaku , approximately 60 cm (24 in).
ha (刃, edge) – the tempered cutting edge of a blade. The side opposite the mune. Also called hasaki or yaiba. (see image) [18] hajimi (刃染) – misty spots in the temper line (hamon) resulting from repeated grinding or faulty tempering. [19] hamachi (刃区) – notch in the cutting edge (ha), dividing the blade proper from the tang ...