account therefore comes from the only survivor, Matsuoka. In The Tale of the Heike, a collection of oral stories transcribed in 1371, the sword is lost at sea after the defeat of the Heike in the Battle of Dan-no-ura, a naval battle that ended in the defeat of the Heike clan forces and the child Emperor Antoku at the hands of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. In the tale, upon hearing of the Navy's defeat, the Emperor's grandmother, Taira no Tokiko, led the Emperor and his entourage to commit suicide by drowning in the waters of the strait, taking with her two of the three Imperial Regalia: the sacred jewel and the sword Kusanagi. The sacred mirror was recovered in extremis when one of the ladies-in-waiting was about to jump with it into the sea. Although the sacred jewel is said to have been found in its casket floating on the waves, was lost forever. Although written about historical events, The Tale of the Heike is a collection of epic poetry passed down orally and written down nearly 200 years after the actual events, so it has questionable reliability as a historical document. Another story holds that the sword was reportedly stolen again in the sixth century by a monk from Silla. However, his ship allegedly sank at sea, allowing the sword to wash ashore at Ise, where it was recovered by Shinto priests. Current status Because no one is allowed to see the sword due to its divinity and Shinto tradition, the exact shape and condition of the sword has not been confirmed. The most recent appearance of the sword was in 2019 when Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne; the sword (as well as the jewel Yasakani no Magatama, the Emperor's privy seal and the State Seal) were shrouded in packages. Shinsuke Takenaka at the Institute of Moralogy said the 12th century version of the sword may itself have been a copy and that a duplicate of the 12th century copy is kept at the palace and used for coronations. Other emperors' swords The sword is always hidden because of its divinity, and it is put in a box and put up by the chamberlain at the time of the enthronement ceremony. However, the Japanese sword held up by the emperor's chamberlain, which can be seen at various imperial ceremonies, is always close to the emperor as an amulet, and is