And this is the story of that sword:
Amaterasu, the sun goddess, had a superb sword, whose flashing blade was like a gleam of light. This sword she greatly prized, but a malicious dragon stole it away and carried it to his den. The goddess cried for aid to Susanoo, her brother, and he pursued the dragon. It was a horrible beast with eight heads and terrible claws, and it roared at the god with each of its eight mouths.
Susanoo was a crafty and clever warrior and he knew that he could conquer the dragon only by guile. So he gave him soft words and smiles.
“What a wonderful warrior you would make, Sir Dragon,” he said. “Had you but a sword you could conquer the world.”
“I am not without a weapon and that a magic one,” haughtily replied the great beast as he flapped his mighty tail. “Behold!” and as he spoke Susanoo saw that the magic sword was concealed beneath the dragon’s tail.
“I drink to your health, O Wonderful One!” he cried. “May you live as long as there is no one mightier.” And he offered him a huge draught of saké.[4]
“That is wishing that I may live forever,” said the dragon, and he drank off the saké at a single gulp.
“You have said it,” said Susanoo with a deep reverence, and he offered him a second cup for his second head. By the time the dragon had taken eight cups, one for each of his great yawning mouths, his heads were so dizzy that he did not know at all what he was doing, and so he lay down to rest under the cliff.
Then Susanoo crept up and quickly struck off one of his heads and then another, and another until only one was left. By that time the dragon was quite wide-awake and very much enraged. He rushed at Susanoo and would have devoured him had not Amaterasu seen her brother’s danger. She sent a gleam of dazzling sunlight into the dragon’s eyes so that he could not see where he was going. Then Susanoo cut off the last head, and seizing the magic sword, bore it in triumph to his sister. She placed it in a shrine for safe-keeping and there it remained for many a day.
It was not to rest there always, however, for another hero was to wield it, and this was Yamato-Daké, son of the Emperor Koan.