Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi
The legendary grass-cutting sword drawn from the tail of the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi by the storm god Susanoo, who then offered it to his sister Amaterasu; it is the sword of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Japanese imperial regalia, with the mirror and the jewel. Its name, 'grass-cutter', recalls the later story of the hero Yamato Takeru, who escaped a burning field by using the blade to mow the grass and turn the fire back on his enemies. The sword is said to be kept at Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya, where it is guarded and almost never shown, and no one outside the shrine has veri