Black Lacquer Sword

Kuro-urushi Tachi: A Sacred Sword of the Ōhafuri Priesthood at Ōyamazumi Shrine

Tucked away in the treasure halls of Ōyamazumi Shrine on the small island of Ōmishima in the Seto Inland Sea is a sword that, despite being unsigned and outwardly austere, has been treated as one of the most sacred objects in the entire shrine. The Kuro-urushi Tachi—literally "black-lacquered long sword"—is a slim tachi-style mounting from the Kamakura period (1185–1333) that was used for centuries as the symbolic sword presented to each new head of the Ōhafuri family, the hereditary chief priests of one of Japan's most ancient shrines.

Designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government in March 1901, this sword stands among the very earliest national designations of its kind. It is preserved together with the shrine's astonishing collection of arms and armor offered by emperors, shoguns, samurai warlords, and pirate captains across more than a millennium of history.

What the Sword Looks Like

At first glance, the Kuro-urushi Tachi is strikingly understated. The mounting (koshirae) measures 99.8 centimeters in overall length and follows the classical "slim tachi" (hosotachi) style—a refined, slender form favored by aristocrats and high-ranking ritual officiants of the Heian and Kamakura eras.

The grip (tsuka) and scabbard (saya) are wrapped in fine hemp cloth and coated entirely in deep, lustrous black lacquer (kuro-urushi), giving the sword its name. The metal fittings—including the pommel, scabbard mounts, and hangers—are made of gilt bronze (kondō), a copper alloy plated with gold that gives a soft golden glow against the dark lacquer surface.

The hand guard (tsuba) is shaped in the unusual "balance-weight" (fundō) form, a curved trapezoidal silhouette resembling the counterweight of an old apothecary scale. Two thin metal plates of identical shape have been pressed together to form the guard, a construction technique characteristic of refined Kamakura-period swordsmithing.

The blade itself bears no signature (mumei). In Japanese sword culture, an unsigned blade does not necessarily mean an unknown one—many of the oldest and most prestigious tachi blades, often shortened over centuries to suit changing fashion, have lost their original tang inscriptions while losing none of their importance.

Why This Sword Was Designated an Important Cultural Property

The Kuro-urushi Tachi was recognized for its national importance on March 27, 1901, under the cultural property protection laws then in force. Three intertwined values support the designation.

The first is its artistic quality. Although the design is restrained, the workmanship is of the highest order. The lacquer surface, the proportions of the slim mounting, and the gilt-bronze fittings all point to a craftsmanship that was both technically demanding and aesthetically uncompromising. Slim tachi mountings of this antiquity are extremely rare to survive in such complete form.

The second is its ritual significance. Within the long history of Ōyamazumi Shrine, this sword was treated as the formal regalia of priestly succession. Whenever a new head of the Ōhafuri family assumed office, the Kuro-urushi Tachi was bestowed as the visible symbol of that authority. Few cultural objects in Japan retain such a direct, unbroken connection to a living institutional tradition.

The third is its context. Ōyamazumi Shrine holds approximately forty percent of all arms and armor designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties in Japan. Within that overwhelming collection, the Kuro-urushi Tachi occupies a unique place—not as a battlefield weapon offered after victory, but as a sacred instrument of the shrine's own internal life.

The Ōhafuri Family and the Sword's Sacred Role

To understand the Kuro-urushi Tachi, one must understand the Ōhafuri (大祝). This is the title given to the hereditary chief priest of Ōyamazumi Shrine, a lineage believed to descend from Ochi-no-Mikoto, a divine ancestor said to have first enshrined the deity on Ōmishima island.

For the Ōhafuri, the act of taking office was not simply an administrative succession but a ceremonial passage in which the new priest assumed the protective authority of the deity Ōyamazumi-no-Kami. The sword carried at that ceremony was therefore both an emblem of office and a sanctified object in its own right.

Traditions surrounding the Ōhafuri are deeply rooted in Ōmishima. Even today, the shrine preserves a remarkable folk performance called Hitori-zumō ("solitary sumō"), in which a wrestler grapples with an invisible spirit of the rice harvest—a ritual whose rhythms still echo the priestly culture in which the Kuro-urushi Tachi played its quiet, indispensable part.

Highlights for Visitors

The Kuro-urushi Tachi is housed in the shrine's treasure halls—Shiyō-den and Kokuhō-kan—on the grounds of Ōyamazumi Shrine. While items rotate between display and preservation storage, even a brief visit reveals why this place is sometimes called "the Island of National Treasures."

Around the Kuro-urushi Tachi, visitors will encounter masterpieces ranging from Japan's oldest surviving great armor (ō-yoroi) of the early Heian period to the magnificent ō-tachi inscribed by the smith Senjuin Nagayoshi in 1366, said to have been offered by Emperor Go-Murakami. There are armors traditionally associated with Minamoto no Yoritomo, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and Kōno warriors of the Iyo region.

For visitors with an interest in samurai culture, the contrast between the gleaming, ornate dedication swords of victorious warriors and the dignified plainness of the Kuro-urushi Tachi is one of the quiet revelations of the visit—an elegant reminder that the most sacred objects are not always the most decorated.

The Setting: Ōyamazumi Shrine and Ōmishima Island

Ōyamazumi Shrine sits at the foot of Mount Washigatō on Ōmishima, an island floating in the central Seto Inland Sea. It is the head shrine of all Mishima and Ōyamazumi shrines throughout Japan, and is honored with the title Nihon Sōchinju—"Guardian of All Japan."

The deity Ōyamazumi-no-Kami is venerated as god of mountains, of the sea, and of warriors. It was this last role that drew so many emperors, shoguns, and warriors to offer their finest arms here over the centuries, transforming a forested island shrine into one of the world's great repositories of medieval Japanese craftsmanship.

The shrine grounds are themselves a national treasure of nature: a vast grove of camphor trees designated as a Natural Monument, including a sacred camphor said to be more than 2,600 years old at the heart of the precinct.

Things to See and Do Nearby

Ōmishima lies along the Shimanami Kaidō, the famed expressway and cycling route linking Hiroshima and Ehime across a chain of Inland Sea islands. The island makes a wonderful day trip or overnight stay.

Just steps from the shrine, the Tokoro Museum Ōmishima and the Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, both designed by leading contemporary architects, offer striking modern art and design experiences. Nature lovers can climb to viewpoints overlooking the inland sea or follow coastal paths past mandarin orange groves.

Local cuisine includes fresh sea bream, octopus dishes, and the island's famous citrus. Cycling enthusiasts often make the shrine a key pilgrimage point along the Shimanami Kaidō route, parking their bicycles to step into a quieter, older world.