* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Okami (Capcom)
大神（カプコン）
An action-adventure released by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 on 20 April 2006. Known for its sumi-e ink-wash visuals and the Celestial Brush mechanic, it retells the Japanese myth of the slaying of Yamata-no-Orochi through the journey of the sun goddess Amaterasu in the form of a white wolf. Weapons are the "Three Sacred Treasures" — mirrors, magatama beads and swords — and one of the swords, Tsumugari no Tachi, is the archaic Kojiki name for the blade drawn from Orochi's tail, later known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
Description
Overview
*Okami* is an action-adventure game released by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 on 20 April 2006. Its defining features are a Japanese visual style evoking sumi-e ink painting and ukiyo-e, and the Celestial Brush system, which lets the player stroke a brush across the screen to invoke natural phenomena. The player controls Amaterasu, the sun goddess in the form of a white wolf, restoring plant life and light to a darkened Nippon. A high-resolution version, *Okami HD*, was later ported to numerous platforms and has kept the game in circulation for years.
The "Three Sacred Treasures"
Weapons in the game are the Three Sacred Treasures — mirrors, magatama beads and swords — and two can be equipped at once, as a main and a sub. The same treasure behaves differently depending on the slot: equipping a sword in the sub slot, for example, grants a charging slash. The first sword-class weapon, Tsumugari no Tachi, is obtained by defeating the boss of the Moon Cave shrine.
Tsumugari no Tachi and Kusanagi no Tsurugi
Tsumugari no Tachi is not an invention of the game. The name comes from the *Kojiki*, Japan's oldest chronicle: when Susanoo slew Yamata-no-Orochi, a blade emerged from the serpent's tail, recorded as Tsumugari no Tachi. It later became known as Ame-no-Murakumo no Tsurugi and, after Yamato Takeru used it to cut down burning grass, as Kusanagi no Tsurugi. As one of the Three Sacred Treasures bound up with imperial succession, it stands at the very origin of Japanese sword culture.
Relationship to Sword and Myth Culture
The game presents the sword not as an instrument for killing but as a divine implement by which a deity restores order to the world. This framing aligns with the historical reality that Japanese blades long carried a strong character as ritual objects and sacred treasures, surviving in the Shosoin repository and as shintai enshrined at Shinto shrines. By keeping the mythic skeleton of Yamata-no-Orochi, Susanoo and Amaterasu intact, the game also serves as an accessible entry into the origin legends attached to famous swords.
Cultural Impact
Widely praised at home and abroad for taking ink-painting aesthetics and Japanese mythology entirely seriously, *Okami* is repeatedly cited as a benchmark for Japanese-styled action games. For players outside Japan it is often a first encounter with concepts such as Kusanagi no Tsurugi and the Three Sacred Treasures, and it has opened a route to understanding the Japanese sword within a mythological and religious context rather than a purely martial one.
Real Swords Featured
Tsumugari no Tachi
The archaic name recorded in the Kojiki for the blade that emerged from Yamata-no-Orochi's tail when Susanoo slew the serpent; later identified with Ame-no-Murakumo and Kusanagi. Appears in the game as one of the sword-class divine instruments.
Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Ame-no-Murakumo no Tsurugi)
One of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, held to be the later form of Tsumugari no Tachi and the foundational sacred blade of Japanese sword legend.
See authentic Japanese swords
See authentic Japanese swordsThis page is intended to introduce Japanese sword culture and is not affiliated with any of the works mentioned.