* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Azamaru
あざ丸
Also known as: Azamaru, unnamed wakizashi
Description
Azamaru is an unsigned wakizashi (intermediate-length sword) attributed to the late Heian through Kamakura period, designated as a Tangible Cultural Property of Aichi Prefecture and enshrined at Atsuta Jingū in Nagoya.
The blade measures 54.7 cm in length (ha-chō) with a curvature of 1.5 cm and is attributed to the Bizen tradition. The jigane and hamon both show characteristics of Bizen workmanship, with a ko-chōji midare pattern as the predominant temper line. The authorship of the blade remains disputed; scholars have proposed Sukehira, Kanehira, Masatsune, Moritsune, and Monjū as possible makers, but no consensus has been reached.
The blade's provenance traditionally begins with the Heike warrior Fujiwara no Kagekiyo (Taira no Kagekiyo), who is said to have worn it at his side and eventually dedicated it to Atsuta Jingū. It subsequently passed to Senshū Suemitsu, the head priest (ōgūji) of Atsuta Jingū, who carried it into battle and was killed. The warrior Kageyama Kazukage then took possession of it, and it later came to Niwa Nagahide, a senior retainer of Oda Nobunaga. Nagahide rededicated the blade to Atsuta Jingū, where it has been preserved as a sacred treasure ever since.
Two competing etymologies explain the name "Azamaru" (meaning "birthmark" or "blemish"). The first holds that while Fujiwara no Kagekiyo was using the blade as a mirror to observe a birthmark on his face, the birthmark gradually disappeared. The second explains that there is a dark, birthmark-like spot near the habaki (blade collar) on the blade itself — a spot that could not be polished away no matter how much the blade was ground. Both accounts are recorded in early modern sword treatises, and there is no surviving evidence to settle the question definitively.
Atsuta Jingū, which enshrines the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (one of the Three Imperial Regalia), is one of Japan's most important shrines associated with swords and bladed weapons, and Azamaru continues to be revered today as a spiritually charged sacred blade.
Legends & Stories
The most celebrated legend surrounding Azamaru is the tale of "birthmark transfer" — the very story from which the blade takes its name. Taira no Kagekiyo, also known as Fujiwara no Kagekiyo, is said to have borne a large birthmark on his face. According to tradition, as Kagekiyo wore this wakizashi, the birthmark on his face transferred to the sword, and black jigane (ground steel) resembling a birthmark appeared at the habaki-moto (near the guard). This dark, birthmark-like ground steel is said to be the origin of the name "Azamaru." A second tradition recounts that when Niwa Nagahide was suffering from an eye ailment, he dedicated this wakizashi to Atsuta Jingū in supplication. The day after the dedication, the pain in his eyes began to ease, and within several days his condition was entirely healed. Nagahide interpreted this as a miracle wrought by the combined spiritual power of the shrine and the blade, and there is a record that this deepened his faith in Atsuta Jingū. Because Atsuta Jingū enshrines the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, there has long been a belief that swords dedicated to the shrine contain the spiritual essence of the Kusanagi itself. Azamaru has been positioned within this tradition and passed down among shrine pilgrims as a "sword that heals wounds."