Isonokami Jingu

Isonokami Jingu (石上神宮) is a Shinto shrine in Furucho, Tenri, Nara Prefecture, recorded in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki and listed in the Engishiki Jinmyocho (927 CE) as a Myojin-Taisha. The principal kami is Futsu-no-Mitama-no-Okami, the deified sacred sword that, according to the Kojiki, the deity Takemikazuchi sent down from Takamagahara to aid Emperor Jimmu's pacification of Kumano. Shrine tradition records that the sword was relocated to Furu during the reign of Emperor Sujin by Ikagashikoo-no-Mikoto, ancestor of the Mononobe clan, who served as custodians of the imperial arsenal. Excavations of the forbidden ground in 1874 uncovered swords and beads confirming the ancient ritual stratum, and the famous Seven-Branched Sword preserved here is a National Treasure of East Asian historical importance.