Other Famous SwordsChokutō (straight sword, warabite-tō lineage)Important Cultural Property

ソハヤノツルキ

Sohayanotsurugi

Aussi connu sous le nom de: Swift Sword — Blade of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro

Forgeron

Attributed to Kanatsuna (ancient Yamato-den blade)

Époque

Early Heian period (8th–9th century)

Type

Chokutō (straight sword, warabite-tō lineage)

Classement

Important Cultural Property

Lieu de conservation

Kunōzan Tōshōgū Shrine, Shizuoka

Description

Sohayanotsurugi is one of the most historically resonant swords in Japan — an ancient straight blade (chokutō) said to have been wielded by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (758–811), the greatest warrior of the early Heian period, during his campaigns to subdue the Emishi people of northern Honshu. Tamuramaro was revered as a manifestation of the war-god Bishamonten, and the sword associated with his conquests acquired legendary status as a blade of divine power and swift effect. Centuries later, this sword came into the possession of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Edo shogunate, who kept it at his side until the very moment of his death in 1616. In his final instructions, Ieyasu commanded that Sohayanotsurugi be enshrined at Kunōzan Tōshōgū — the hilltop mausoleum on Suruga Bay where his spirit would rest. The sword has remained there ever since, a sacred relic at the innermost sanctuary of the great unifier's tomb. As an ancient blade linking the conquest of the northeast (the very land later ruled by Date Masamune from Sendai) with the foundation of the Edo peace, Sohayanotsurugi occupies a unique position in the spiritual geography of Japanese history.

Légendes et récits

The legend of Sohayanotsurugi bridges Japan's distant past and the dawn of the Edo period in a single blade. Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, revered as a manifestation of the war-god Bishamonten, led two great campaigns into the northeast of Honshu at the end of the 8th century. His conquest of the Emishi — accomplished with this sword at his side, according to tradition — established the northern frontier of the Japanese state and opened the way for what would become the cultural heartland of the north, including the land later ruled from Sendai by Date Masamune. When Tokugawa Ieyasu, dying in Sunpu Castle in 1616, chose to have this ancient sword enshrined at his tomb rather than his famous Masamune blades, he was making a profound statement. Just as Tamuramaro had unified the northeast, Ieyasu had unified all of Japan. By keeping Tamuramaro's sword close in death, Ieyasu perhaps identified himself with the ancient hero-general who had tamed chaos and imposed order on a resistant land. The sword still rests at Kunōzan Tōshōgū today, where Ieyasu's spirit is enshrined — a guardian blade for the spirit of the man who ended Japan's age of war.