The Seven Branched Sword

In a shrine in Nara prefecture there is an odd sword with seven "branches" whose existence would seem to confirm some of the stories out of the Nihon Shoki, and at the very least demonstrates a link between Yamato and one of the peninsular states. For more go to: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-42-the-seven-branched-swordepisode-42-the-seven-branched-sword Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 42: The Seven-Branched Sword. Less than 10 kilometers north of the ancient capital at the foot of Mt. Miwa lies the ancient shrine of the Mononobe Family. It is said to have been established during the time of Mimaki Iribiko, and it is said to house important artifacts such as the ten treasures said to have been brought over by the Silla prince-turned-kami Ame no Hiboko, whom we talked about back in Episode 30. Since its founding, this shrine has been known for the swords that were donated to it—unsurprising given the Mononobe Family’s traditional role in the Yamato court overseeing military affairs. Even the kami worshipped at the main shrine is Futsu no Mitama—literally the spirit of tachikaze, the spirit of the sound of a sword cutting through the air. Not only were a ton of swords made by princes early in its history, but it is said to have even contained the sword that Susanowo had used to subdue the famous Yamata no Orochi, the giant 8-headed serpent of Izumo. That was the same serpent who had another sword in its tail, the sword known as Murakumo, aka Kusanagi no Tsurugi. But none of these swords are what holds our interest this episode. Instead, it is an old iron sword—though sword only in the barest form, and definitely not function, as it has six protrusions, like mini-swords, three on each side, alternating left and right, all pointed forward, making the end the seventh sword, or branch. It is known as Shichi-shi-tou, or possibly Nanatsusaya no Tachi—the seven branched sword—and it is an important, if controversial and somewhat enigmatic—witness to history. Most important to our purposes is an inscription on the sword that says it was made by the Sovereign of Baekje for the Sovereign of Wa in the year 369. Which leaves us with a question: What was going on between Baekje and Yamato in 369? As far as our narrative goes, we are probably around the early 360s. As you may recall, in the last few episodes, we saw Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jingu, take control after the death of her husband, the 14th sovereign, Tarashi Naka tsu Hiko. She completed the subjugation of the Kumaso and then took her forces and invaded Silla—and all while she was pregnant. Returning to the archipelago, she gave birth to a son: Homuda Wake. The kami who had sent her to Silla had said this son would inherit everything, but not everyone felt that way. And so, after the fighting in Kyushu and the peninsula Tarashi Hime and her troops had to fight their way back to Yamato. Through it all, Tarashi Hime was accompanied by her Oho-omi, or Prime Minister, the long-lived Takechi no Sukune. Of course, up to this point, it is difficult to tell fact from fiction. The dates are all messed up, and the archaeological evidence doesn’t give us enough to build a full picture. We do know that in the 4th century there seems to have been a decline in the Miwa polity until a new power center emerged to the West, in Kawachi. In fact, while the traditional location of Tarashi Hime’s palace is in the Nara basin, along with her supposed mausoleum, the palace and mausoleum attributed to her son, Homuda Wake, as well as her husband, the previous sovereign, Tarashi Naka tsu Hiko, are both in the area of modern Ohosaka, in the area that used to be known as the country of Kawachi, rather than the area of Yamato proper. Regardless of where the court may have been physically located, precisely, with the issue of succession finally behind them, the court was ready to reengage with the rest of the world—and in this case with the peninsula. This is where there is definitely some potential disagreement between the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, since the Nihon Shoki, which seems to be more directly drawing from dated accounts in Baekje records, puts this next piece in the reign of Tarashi Hime, while the Kojiki would seem to claim that it was happening during her son Homuda Wake’s reign. This is further confused by the fact that one could technically claim all of this as Homuda Wake’s reign anyway, if Tarashi Hime is simply the regent until he reaches his age of majority, meaning that it is entirely possible that both records are correct, just in different ways. That said, I’m sticking largely with the account in the Nihon Shoki, but really it is more about what is happening between Yamato and the Peninsula, so let’s not get too wrapped up in the players, per se. Whatever the exact circumstances, it seems that Yamato ...