Other Famous SwordsŌdachi (great sword)Important Cultural Property

祢々切丸

Nenekirimaru

Aussi connu sous le nom de: Nue Slayer

Forgeron

Unknown (ancient provenance)

Époque

Heian to Kamakura period (estimated)

Type

Ōdachi (great sword)

Classement

Important Cultural Property

Lieu de conservation

Nikkō Futarasan Shrine, Nikkō City, Tochigi Prefecture

Description

Nenekirimaru is a great sword (ōdachi) enshrined at Nikkō Futarasan Shrine in Tochigi Prefecture, designated an Important Cultural Property. Its name means 'Nue (Chimera) Slayer' — the 'nene' (or nue) being a legendary composite creature, part monkey, part tanuki, part snake, whose nightly cries brought terror and illness to the Heian imperial court. The sword's legend connects it to this most famous of Japan's monster-slaying traditions. As an ōdachi of extraordinary size — far beyond what a warrior would carry in normal battle — it was clearly intended as a ritual and sacred object: a weapon of divine scale, fit for slaying supernatural foes. Enshrined at one of Japan's most sacred mountain sites, it has been revered as a guardian talisman for centuries.

Légendes et récits

The nue of Japanese mythology is one of the most terrifying composite creatures in any tradition: part monkey (head), part tanuki or tiger (body), part snake (tail), with legs like a tiger. According to the Tale of the Heike, this beast appeared nightly over the Heian imperial palace as a dark cloud, causing the emperor to fall inexplicably ill. The warrior-poet Minamoto no Yorimasa prayed to Hachiman, fired an arrow into the darkness, and struck the monster down. His retainer Inohayata finished it off with a short blade. The scream of the fallen nue echoed across the silent city, and for the first time in months, the emperor recovered. Nenekirimaru takes its name from this ancient legend of the 'nue-cutter,' and as a great sword housed in the sacred mountains of Nikkō — one of Japan's most powerful religious sites — it represents the highest possible convergence of martial, sacred, and supernatural power. No normal human warrior could wield a blade of this size in battle; it is a weapon for gods and heroes, its scale alone a declaration that it belongs to a world beyond ordinary human combat.