Shichishito
An iron sword with seven branch-like projections along its blade, dedicated at the Isonokami Shrine in Nara and recorded in the Nihon Shoki as a gift from the kingdom of Baekje to the Yamato court. Its long gold-inlaid inscription, which dates the sword to the mid-fourth century, describes offerings made to a sun deity and names the Baekje court that sent it, making it one of the oldest inscribed iron objects of Japan and a rare physical relic of early Korean-Japanese exchange. With its strange branched form it is not a practical weapon, and it is best understood as a ritual or ceremonial swor