Katori Shrine

Katori Shrine is traditionally dated to 643 BCE and enshrines Futsunushi, the deity of swords who subdued the land for Japan's divine lineage. In the 15th century, it became the birthplace of one of Japan's oldest martial arts.

When Amaterasu needed the earthly realm subdued so her grandson Ninigi could descend and establish the heavenly lineage, her first envoys failed. She then sent Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi. They descended to negotiate with Ōkuninushi, the ruler of the land. The negotiations succeeded: the land was transferred to heaven's representatives. Futsunushi's victory—achieved through martial power but concluded through negotiation—established the model for samurai ideals: strength with wisdom, victory with dignity. Centuries later, around 1447-1480, Iizasa Chōisai Ienao came to Katori Shrine after a career as a successful warrior. He practiced austerely for a thousand days. According to tradition, at the end of this period Futsunushi appeared to him in the form of a boy standing atop a plum tree, declaring him 'master of all swordsmen under the sun' and transmitting martial secrets. The art that emerged—Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū—became one of the three source schools of Japanese martial arts.