* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Yamato Takeru
日本武尊（ヤマトタケル）
Prince of Emperor Keikō — The Legendary Hero Who Bore the Kusanagi Sword
Description
About Yamato Takeru
Yamato Takeru is a legendary hero of ancient Japan handed down in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. He is said to have been a son of the twelfth Emperor Keikō, and the chronicles depict him as the father of the fourteenth Emperor Chūai.
The Western and Eastern Campaigns
According to the traditions of the chronicles, at his father Emperor Keikō's command he first set out to subdue the Kumaso of Kyushu, and he is said to have disguised himself as a woman, approached the enemy commander, and slain him. Soon after returning to the capital from the western campaign, he was ordered to pacify the eastern lands, and he is reported to have set out on campaigns from the Kantō region to Tōhoku. A tradition also survives that during the eastern campaign, grief over the loss of his wife Ototachibana-hime led him to lament “Azuma haya,” and that this lament became the origin of the eastern lands being called “Azuma.”
Relation to the Kusanagi Sword
Before setting out on the eastern campaign, he was given a sword by his aunt Yamatohime-no-mikoto at Ise Shrine. In the chronicles this sword is recorded as “Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi” (written with a different character spelling in the Kojiki), and a note in the Nihon Shoki also transmits its earlier name as “Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi.” According to a legend that, when enemies set fire to the fields in Suruga Province, he used this sword to cut down the surrounding grass and escape, the name “Kusanagi” is said to have originated. As one of the Three Sacred Treasures, it is still enshrined today at Atsuta Shrine in Owari.
Death
On his return after completing the eastern campaign, Yamato Takeru fell ill following a battle with the deity of Mount Ibuki in Ōmi Province, and the chronicles relate that he died at Nobono in Ise Province, just short of reaching Yamato. The White Swan Legend, which holds that after his death he transformed into a white swan and flew away, is also widely known.
Later Evaluation
The prevailing view holds that Yamato Takeru's deeds are less historical fact than a narrative formed when the chronicles were compiled, integrating heroic traditions from various regions. Nevertheless, the Kusanagi sword legend, as an origin tale of the Three Sacred Treasures and as a depiction of a prince embodying martial prowess, exerted a major influence on later warrior society and sword faith.
Notable Swords
- Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi)