The Imperial Regalia

The Imperial Regalia consist of three objects: the sword Kusanagi, the mirror Yata no Kagami, and either a string of magatama jewels or a single magatama jewel known as Yasakani no Matagama. The Regalia are introduced in the Kojiki, a chronicle documenting the supernatural origins of the Imperial line. The Imperial Regalia are gifts from the sun goddess Amaterasu to her grandson and the progenitor of the Imperial line, Ninigi-no-Mikoto. The Imperial family also claims lineage from the Dragon God through his daughter Toyo-Tama-Hime. Most importantly, the presence of the Regalia is what gives the Japanese Imperial family their claim to divine lineage an authority.

The sword Kusanagi, originally referred to as Ama-no-murakamo-no-Tsurugi, is referred to in the Kojiki only as Kusanagi. The sword originally came from one of the tails of the creature Orochi, an eight-headed and eight-tailed serpent consuming the denizens of Izumo. As mentioned in Tale of the Heike, it officially is renamed Kusanagi or “grass mower” when the prince Yamatodake-no-Mikoto, referred to in the Kojiki as Yamatotakeru-no-Mikoto, defeats the rebels of Suruga province in his quest to subdue all of Japan. A copy is made by emperor Sujin when he moves the original out of fear of the sword’s divine power. Interestingly, the Atsuta shrine claims to have the original sword, despite its loss at the battle of Dan-no-Ura.

When the storm god Susanoo skins a pony alive and throws it through the roof of his sister Amaterasu's weaving hall, Amaterasu flees and locks herself inside of the divine cave. As a result, the Central Land of Reed Plains goes dark. The other gods, as part of their plan to lure Amaterasu out of the cave with a reflection of herself, have the divine mirror Yata no Kagami made. This mirror is the same one that is held by the Imperial family. The Tale of the Heike mentions two sister mirrors in existence, though this is not recorded in the Kojiki.

Regarding the jewel, not much is known about it. It is unknown whether or not it is a single jewel or a string of jewels, and widely believed to be a magatama style jewel based on its presence in the Kojiki, where jewels mentioned are almost always magatama bead strings.

Philippi, Donald L. Kojiki. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969. Print.

Atsuta Shrine official website. https://www.atsutajingu.or.jp/en/intro/

More information on Shinto beliefs can be found here: http://k-amc.kokugakuin.ac.jp/DM/dbTop.do?class_name=col_eos

The Imperial Regalia, Photo from Wikipedia Commons

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