is the name given to the spear in

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

used to raise the primordial land-mass, ''

Onogoro-shima Onogoroshima (''Kojiki'': ''Onogoro-shima''; '' Nihon Shoki'': ''Onogoro-jima'') is an important island in Shinto. ''Onogoro'' literally means "''muddy sea has the ability to bind rocks and stones accumulated to form a bridge''". Shinto account ...

'', from the sea. It is often represented as a

naginata The ''naginata'' (, ) is a pole weapon and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades (''nihontō''). ''Naginata'' were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei ...

. According to the

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

, Shinto's genesis gods

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally known as , is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the last of the seven generations ...

and

Izanami , formally known as , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested ...

were responsible for creating the first land. To help them do this, they were given a spear decorated with

jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

, named ''Ame-no'' (heavenly) ''nu-hoko'' (jewelled spear), by older heavenly gods. The two deities then went to the bridge between heaven and earth, ''

Ame-no-ukihashi Ame-no-ukihashi (天浮橋, 天の浮橋; English: ''Floating Bridge of Heaven'') is the bridge that connects the heaven and the earth in Japanese mythology. In the story of the creation of the Japanese archipelago, narrated in the ''Kojiki'' and ...

'' ("floating bridge of heaven"), and churned the sea below with the naginata. When drops of salty water fell from the tip, they formed into the first island, ''

''. Izanagi and Izanami then descended from the bridge of heaven and made their home on the island.

References

Japanese mythology Mythological weapons {{Jmyth navbox long