Asia Folklore Tales of Prince Yamato Take

The insignia of the great Japanese Empire is composed of
three treasures which have been considered sacred, and guarded with
jealous care from time immemorial. These are the Yatano-no-Kagami or
the Mirror of Yata, the Yasakami-no-Magatama or the Jewel of Yasakami,
and the Murakumo-no-Tsurugi or the Sword of Murakumo.

Of these three treasures of the Empire, the sword of Murakumo,
afterwards known as Kusanagi-no-Tsrugugi, or the grass-cleaving sword,
is considered the most precious and most highly to be honored, for it
is the symbol of strength to this nation of warriors and the talisman
of invincibility for the Emperor, while he holds it sacred in the
shrine of his ancestors.

Nearly two thousand years ago this sword was kept at the shrines of
Ite, the temples dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu, the great and
beautiful Sun Goddess from whom the Japanese Emperors are said to be
descended.
There is a story of knightly adventure and daring which explains why
the name of the sword was changed from that of Murakumo to Kasanagi,
which means grass clearing.

Once, many, many years ago, there was born a son to the Emperor Keiko,
the twelfth in descent from the great Jimmu, the founder of the
Japanese dynasty. This Prince was the second son of the Emperor Keiko,
and he was named Yamato. From his childhood he proved himself to be of
remarkable strength, wisdom and courage, and his father noticed with
pride that he gave promise of great things, and he loved him even more
than he did his elder son.

Now when Prince Yamato had grown to manhood (in the olden days of
Japanese history, a boy was considered to have reached man's estate at
the early age of sixteen) the realm was much troubled by a band of
outlaws whose chiefs were two brothers, Kumaso and Takeru. These
rebels seemed to delight in rebelling against the King, in breaking
the laws and defying all authority.

At last King Keiko ordered his younger son Prince Yamato to subdue the
brigands and, if possible, to rid the land of their evil lives. Prince
Yamato was only sixteen years of age, he had but reached his manhood
according to the law, yet though he was such a youth in years he
possessed the dauntless spirit of a warrior of fuller age and knew not
what fear was. Even then there was no man who could rival him for
courage and bold deeds, and he received his father's command with
great joy.