* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Chokutō of Kashima Jingū
鹿島神宮直刀
Also known as: Chokutō, Black-Lacquer Hyōmon Tachi Koshirae (with sword chest); the largest surviving chokutō
- Smith
- Unsigned (maker unknown)
- Era
- Late Nara to early Heian period (late 8th–9th century; koshirae early Heian period)
- Type
- Chokutō (ancient-style straight sword)
- Designation
- National Treasure
- Location
- Owned by Kashima Jingū; kept at the Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of History (Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture)
Description
Overview
An unsigned chokutō (straight sword) handed down at Kashima Jingū Shrine (Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture). Its official designation name is "Chokutō, Black-Lacquer Hyōmon Tachi Koshirae (with sword storage chest)." It was designated a National Treasure (fine art) on June 22, 1955. The blade is thought to have been made from the late Nara period into the early Heian period, while the accompanying mounting (koshirae) is evaluated as an early Heian period work.
Dimensions and Craftsmanship
The blade measures 223.3–223.4 cm in length and is regarded as among the largest surviving chokutō. Its curvature is only 0.6–0.7 cm, preserving an almost straight profile, and its base width is about 5 cm. The quality of the steel (jigane) and the hamon is considered excellent, with workmanship judged close to that of the sword treasures of the Imperial collection preserved at the Shōsōin.
Koshirae (Mounting)
The tachi koshirae accompanying the blade has a black-lacquered hilt and scabbard. The gilt-bronze fittings bear auspicious cloud motifs engraved in hair-line technique (keibori) and hōsōge arabesque motifs in openwork (tōshibori), and the hilt and scabbard are decorated with lion motifs in hyōmon (flat metal inlay), which has since been lost. It is an early Heian period work. The overall length of the koshirae is 270.2 cm, and the scabbard length is 228.1 cm.
Transmission and Current Holding
As the sacred sword of Takemikazuchi-no-Ōkami, the enshrined deity of Kashima Jingū, it has been kept secretly within the shrine as a sacred treasure, and a connection with the iron sand of Kashima recorded in the Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki has been pointed out. The owner is Kashima Jingū. While the shrine's treasure hall has remained closed since 2018, the sword is currently kept at the Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of History (Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture).
Legends & Stories
The chokutō is traditionally venerated as the sacred sword of Takemikazuchi-no-Ōkami, the deity enshrined at Kashima Jingū. In the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki myth cycles, Takemikazuchi is the warrior deity dispatched to negotiate the "transfer of the land" (kuni-yuzuri), and this blade, regarded as his sacred sword, has been carefully preserved as a treasure of the shrine. The 8th-century Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki also records iron-sand production in the Kashima region, which has been suggested as connected to the sword's manufacture.