Gold-inlaid Iron Sword (Inariyama Iron Sword)

The Inariyama Sword was excavated from the inside of the main portion (grave) of the Inariyama Kofun. It is also called the kinsakumei tekken (roughly, “gold-inscription iron-sword”) in Japanese. The sword has 115 characters written in gold inlay on its sides. This inscription includes the name of the sword’s creator, Wowake; the date of the sword’s forging, the xinhai (Japanese reading: shingai) year,” believed to be 471 C.E.; 8 generations of Wowake’s genealogy; and the name “King Wakatakeru,” which is believed to refer to Emperor Yūryaku. The Inariyama Sword and other excavated funerary goods were designated as Japanese national treasures in 1983.