Japanese legends in F. Hadland Davis’s English retellings (1912)
The Spirit of the Woman’s Sword
At Fudo’s Cape, a ship’s captain named Tarada wakes to an underwater rumbling and sees a luminous woman on the vessel. She says she wishes to return to the world and disappears into the sea. Villagers connect the disturbances with the absence of fish and suppose that a drowned body may be responsible. A diver, Sankichi, finds a flawless sword wrapped in silk rather than human remains. An official recommends treating it as a sacred treasure; it is placed in a shrine dedicated to Fudo, with Sankichi as its guardian. The place becomes known as the Cape of the Woman’s Sword. Davis concludes that the weapon’s spirit is satisfied and the fish return.
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In the sources
An unexpected object
DocumentedA search prompted by a luminous woman and underwater sounds produces a sword rather than a body.
Recovery becomes guardianship
DocumentedThe weapon is installed in a shrine and Sankichi is assigned to guard it.
Context & interpretation
The apparition’s connection with the sword is the narrative’s explanation. The account does not establish an actual historical sword’s identity or prove that supernatural activity caused a change in fishing. This entry follows Davis’s historical English retelling, rather than establishing a universal Japanese belief or an independently verified event.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths and Legends of Japan
The Spirit of the SwordOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 336
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0365
- Original scan leaf
- 398
- Recorded leaf number
- 398
- Current Reader position
- 364
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths and Legends of Japan
the Cape of the Woman’s SwordOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 337
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0366
- Original scan leaf
- 399
- Recorded leaf number
- 399
- Current Reader position
- 365
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed