Higekiri- Japanese ArtifactArtifact · Weapon"The Demon-Cutting Blade"
Also known as: 髭切, Onikiri, Shishi-no-Ko, and 鬼切
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
Tested on a condemned man's neck, the blade cut so cleanly it shaved his beard on the way through — earning the name Beard Cutter. Generations later, it took the head of Shuten-dōji and was reborn as Onikiri, the Demon Cutter.
Mythology & Lore
The Test
Minamoto no Mitsunaka ordered two swords forged. The Tsurugi no Maki, the sword chapter of the Heike Monogatari, records what happened when they were tested. A condemned man was brought out. The first blade went through his neck so cleanly it shaved through his beard on the way down. That sword became Higekiri, Beard Cutter. The second cut through the neck and kept going to the knees. That one was called Hizamaru, Knee Cutter. Both swords passed to Mitsunaka's descendants in the Minamoto clan.
The Demon's Arm
Generations later, Higekiri belonged to Minamoto no Yorimitsu. His retainer Watanabe no Tsuna carried it to Rashōmon gate, where he met a demon in the dark. Tsuna drew the blade and cut the demon's arm off at the shoulder. After that night the sword was renamed Onikiri, Demon Cutter.
The sword's second demon was larger. When Yorimitsu led his expedition to Mount Ōe to kill Shuten-dōji, the great oni lord, it was Higekiri that took the head. Shuten-dōji lay paralyzed by divine sake, and Yorimitsu swung the blade through his neck. The severed head flew up and snapped at Yorimitsu's helmet before it dropped.
The sword is preserved at Kitano Tenmangu shrine in Kyoto. Its companion Hizamaru rests at Hakusan Shrine.