is a Japanese sword. It is one of the important sacred treasures of the Inner Shrine, of , the Grand Head of

Shinto shrines A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. describes as "須賀流". "須賀流" is an archaic word for

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

, which is thought to have been named for its beautiful decoration like a bee or wasp. Since the reign of

Empress Jitō was the 41st emperor of Japan, monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Jitō's reign spanned the years from Jitō period, 68 ...

at the end of the 7th century, Ise Grand Shrine has continued the tradition of , in which the shrine buildings are rebuilt every 20 years on an adjacent site with the same specifications. This tradition is based on the idea of in

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

, that new objects have stronger divine power. There are 1576 sacred treasures that are renewed every 20 years, and ''Sugari no Ontachi'' is the most important sacred treasure along with in the sword category.美を継ぐ神宝―伊勢の神宮御装束神宝調製
家庭画報
Ise Grand Shrine official site The Sugari no Ontachi was first described in the compiled in 804, and it is believed that new decorations were added to the scabbard and sword fittings at each subsequent Shikinen Sengu to complete the design as we know it today. The scabbards and hanging belts of Sugari no Ontachi and Tamamaki no Ontachi were made in a characteristic style in the Heian period after the end of the 8th century. A part of the name of Sugari no Ontachi", is characterized by a curved blade, but the shape of the Sugari no Ontachi is similar to a straight . As Sugari no Ontachi is used for religious services, it is much more gorgeous than swords for actual fighting. The exterior is decorated with fine gold sculptures, multiple bells,

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

agate Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in a large number of d ...

and

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

, and two

crested ibis The crested ibis (''Nipponia nippon''), also known as the Japanese crested ibis, or Asian crested ibis, is a species of ibis, native to eastern Asia. It is the only member of the genus ''Nipponia''. In Japan, where it has special cultural signi ...

feathers.

Modern age

At the 61st Shikinen Sengu in 1993, the Japanese crested ibis was on the verge of extinction and it was thought that it would be impossible to obtain feathers, but the feathers kept by donors were taken over and they were secured until the 62nd Shikinen Sengu in 2013. Until the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, the sacred treasures were made as an offering to

Kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

in the main hall for 20 years, and then kept in the treasure house for another 20 years to serve as a model for the manufacturing of sacred treasures in later years, and then burned or buried in the shrine grounds. After the opening of the , the old sacred treasures removed from the treasure house exhibited at special exhibitions in the Jingu Chokokan Museum and other museums. Recently, from October 2015 to October 2016, the old Sugari no Ontachi, which had been replaced, was displayed together with 9 swords including Tamamaki no Ontachi at Jingu Chokokan Museum.伊勢神宮の神宝御太刀 ―宝刀の魅力―
神宮の博物館 Jingu Museum official site.
Note:The photo on the site shows Tamamaki no Ontachi. Also, old sacred treasures removed from the treasure house may be granted as an Imperial gift to other shrines.
Sankei Shimbun January 9, 2016

References

*『伊勢神宮の衣食住』（矢野憲一著、東京書籍）、 Ancient swords of Japan Individual Japanese swords Mythological swords Ise Shrine {{Japan-culture-stub