Futsu-no-Mitama

Futsu-no-Mitama is recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) as the name of a sacred sword and the deity within it. In the Jimmu eastern campaign of Kojiki Middle Volume, when the imperial army at Kumano is laid low by a noxious vapor from the local deity, Takakuraji is shown a dream in which he is to present the sword that Takemikazuchi has cast down. He brings it forth and the army revives. The text records, "The name of this sword is Saji-Futsu-no-Kami, also called Mika-Futsu-no-Kami, also called Futsu-no-Mitama. This sword resides at Isonokami Jingu." Nihon Shoki (720 CE) Jindai lower places it as the sword that Takemikazuchi bore in the pacification of the land. As a deified sword the name has no human father or mother; it functions as the embodiment of the martial power of Takemikazuchi and serves both the pacification and the eastern campaign narratives. From the connection of the Mononobe to Isonokami the sword is bound up with the clan's ritual sphere. Isonokami Jingu in Tenri, Nara, a great shrine of the Engishiki (927 CE) shrine register, enshrines Futsu-no-Mitama-Okami. A direct sword was unearthed from the forbidden precinct in 1874 and is preserved as a relic. At Kashima Jingu in Ibaraki the sword Futsu-no-Mitama-no-Tsurugi is also kept.