Talk:Higekiri/@comment-26362344-20151231175916

One of the most prominent figures who earned Higekiri was Minamoto no Yoritomo, and yet he's not listed under "history"? Come on, he was one of the Japan's most important generals AND the first shogun. I'm pretty sure he's the one who kept Higekiri the longest, too (19 years at most).

Also, fun fact, and some history info about Higekiri: t here's two different versions of Higekiri's (and ultimately Hizamaru's) birth, either being born from a Chinese spear (i think it was even Sanjou Munechika who forged one of them), or the god of war, Hachiman, blessing a smither with iron and thus forging those two, which thereafter went to Minamoto no Mitsunaka's hands. That's when he tested the swords on criminals (punishing them with death, that is), and that's how they both earned their names.

Mitsunaka then passed the swords to his son, Minamoto no Yorimitsu (or Raiko, as it's listed), but Yorimitsu retained only Hizamaru and passed Higekiri to his retainer, Watanabe no Tsuna. The both of them attempted to test the swords on a demon, but Watanabe no Tsuna ended up only slaying an arm -- earning Higekiri the name "Onikiri" (and that's likely where the "That arm of yours, I'll take it" line comes from).

After Yorimitsu and Watanabe no Tsuna, the two swords were passed down from father to son until the emperor ordered that they be passed to Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, son of Yorinobu and Yorimitsu’s nephew. Yoriyoshi passes them to Minamoto no Yoshiie, his son, who then passes them to Minamoto no Tameyoshi.

(at this point in time, Higekiri has been renamed Shishi-no-kou, because apparently it roared like a lion when you held it. What's up with these Genji swords and their lion attributes... *looks at Shishiou*)

Tameyoshi keeps Higekiri, and gives Hizamaru to the Kumano bettou, who enshrines it. Tameyoshi has a replica of Hizamaru, named Kogarasu, made to keep Higekiri company, except one day when the two are left alone, Higekiri cuts a length off of the Hizamaru-replica, which then earns him the name Tomokiri.

Hougen Rebellion happens; Minamoto no Yameyoshi sides with Emperor Sutoku, while his son, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, along with Taira no Kiyomori, sides with Emperor Go-Shirakawa. The Go-Shirakawa forces win; Minamoto no Tameyoshi is beheaded by his son, Minamoto no Yoshitomo and he inherits Higekiri, while Hizamaru is still enshrined. Yoshitomo apparently sees Hachiman in a dream, who asks him to rename his sword from Tomokiri back to Higekiri, in an attempt to stop the clan from falling apart.

But then the Heiji Rebellion happened; Yoshitomo tried to seize power from Emperor Nijou and Emperor Go-Shirakawa, but was stopped by Taira no Kiyomori. Kiyomori killed Yoshitomo and his two eldest sons. The third eldest, Yoritomo, is now the one to inherent Higekiri, but he was spared and exiled by Kiyomori and thus had to leave Higekiri behind at Atsuta until twenty years later.

Two decades after the Heiji Rebellion, Yorimoto calls Yoshitsune (Hizamaru's AND Imanotsurugi's owner!) to arms to defeat the Taira. Yoshitsune sets to meet his brother, meets Musashibou Benkei (Iwatooshi's owner) along the way, meets up with niisama and they fuck shit up. Hooooowever, Yoshitsune joins with Emperor Go-Shirakawa against Yoritomo, is betrayed and ends up being forced to kill himself (using Imanotsurugi) at the Siege of Koromogawa. Yoritomo takes Hizamaru after Yoshitsune’s death, renames it from Usumidori back to Hizamaru.

Not much happened after that, and Yoritomo died in 1189, if I'm not wrong. So in the end, Higekiri and Hizamaru found each other again at the hands of Yoritomo. Yoshitsune also looked up A LOT to his brother, Yoritomo, which might be why Hizamaru wants his brother to notice him so bad. They're exactly like to both of them, which is amazing.