* 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
Work Overview
Okami is an action-adventure game released by Capcom on April 20, 2006 for the PlayStation 2. Its most distinctive features are its Japanese-style visual rendering, which evokes ink wash painting and ukiyo-e, and the Celestial Brush system, in which the player paints across the screen to bring about natural phenomena. The player controls Amaterasu, the sun goddess in the form of a white wolf, and restores light and vegetation to Nippon, which has been covered in darkness. The later high-resolution version, Okami HD, was ported to various platforms and has continued to be played over a long period.
The Three Sacred Treasures Equipped
The weapons in this game are the Three Sacred Treasures, made up of the mirror, magatama beads and sword lineages, and the player can equip two at once, a main and a sub. Even within the same treasure, whether it is placed as main or sub changes the nature of the attack; for example, equipping the sword as the sub enables a charging slash. The first sword in the sword line is the Tsumugari no Tachi, obtained by defeating the boss of the Moon Cave.
Tsumugari no Tachi and Kusanagi no Tsurugi
Tsumugari no Tachi is not a name invented for the game; it derives from the name of a sword recorded in the Kojiki, the oldest extant history of Japan. When Susanoo slew Yamata-no-Orochi, the sword that appeared from its tail was the Tsumugari no Tachi (Tsumuha no Tachi). The annotation in the Nihon Shoki gives the sword's original name as Ame-no-Murakumo no Tsurugi, and tells that it was renamed Kusanagi no Tsurugi after the episode in which Yamato Takeru swept the grass with it. It is one of the Three Sacred Treasures, bound up with imperial succession, and a sword at the origin of Japan's sword culture.
Relation to Japanese Swords and Mythological Culture
This work depicts the sword not as a tool for cutting but as a sacred treasure with which a god restores the order of the world. This depiction overlaps with the historical reality that Japanese swords have, since ancient times, taken on the character of ritual implements and sacred treasures, and have been transmitted as Shōsōin treasures and as the shintai of shrines. The work also keeps the mythological framework of Yamata-no-Orochi, Susanoo and Amaterasu intact while building its story around it, which makes it an accessible entry point for those interested in the origin tales of swords.
Cultural Influence
Recognized highly in Japan and abroad as a work that directly takes on ink-painting-style expression and Japanese mythological subject matter, it has been repeatedly cited as a representative example of Japanese-style action games. For overseas players, it has been an occasion to encounter Japanese concepts of sacred treasures, such as Kusanagi no Tsurugi and the Three Sacred Treasures, and it can be said to have created a path for understanding Japanese swords within the context of myth and faith.
Real Swords Featured
Tsumugari no Tachi
The ancient name of the sword that appeared from the tail of Yamata-no-Orochi when Susanoo slew it, as recorded in the Kojiki. It refers to the same sword as Ame-no-Murakumo no Tsurugi and Kusanagi no Tsurugi. In the work it appears as one of the sword-line Sacred Treasures.
Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Ame-no-Murakumo no Tsurugi)
One of the Three Sacred Treasures. A divine sword considered to be the same as the Tsumugari no Tachi, positioned as the origin point of the tales about the origins of Japanese swords.
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.