Menuki with a dragon enrobed around a straight double-edged sword - Kenmakiryū 剣巻龍.

Menuki Omote: Length 67mm, Width 9mm, Height 2mm

Menuki Ura: 67mm long, 9mm wide, 2mm high

The dragon waving the sword or the enlaced dragon Kenmakiryū 剣巻龍. This image connects warriors (and martial artists) to Fudō Myō-Ō 不動明王 and the goal of reaching Fudōshin 不心, the unchanging spirit.

Fudō Myō-Ō 不動明王, the king of unchanging wisdom – protector of martial artists and yamabushi. Fudō is the personification of Dainichi Nyorai 大日如来 revered as the central deity of Shingon Mikkyō 真言密教 (true word, secret teachings). Fudō is the most important of the five kings of wisdom, godai myō-ō 五大明王, warlike and rabid beings who scare people into accepting the true path of the Buddha and represent the power of humans to overcome their passions.

The sword – a type of hōken 宝剣 treasure sword – has the dual purpose of being the demonic sword that submits to defeat evil spirits and the sword of wisdom that cuts through human illusions and ignorance. The sword itself is of an ancient style, that of the ken or tsurugi 剣 right, brought to Japan in conjunction with Buddhism and Buddhist imagery and maintain this visual form to the present day. The shape of this sword is an extension of the main symbol of the Shingon Mikkyō, the Vajra, known as Kongōsho 金剛杵 in Japan. The vajra represents lightning, symbolizing irresistible force, and the diamond, symbolizing indestructible truth. Vajra is used as a weapon to crush resentment and destroy evil. It comes in various forms, including the dokko 独鈷 at one end and the sanko 三鈷 at three ends, which are incorporated into the hōken image. This straight sword is also seen in association with the yamabushi, the ascetic of the mountains.

There is a legend that Fudō was challenged to duel with a representative of another faith. They both transformed their bodies into various forms to take advantage of them, taking the form of flaming swords that they also found identical. Fudō then transforms into a dragon, embracing the opponent’s sword and begins to devour it from the point and reaches victory. This image was transmitted to modern times as the sword-wrapped dragon Kurikara Ryū-Ō Fudō 倶梨伽羅龍王不動 or shortened to Kurikara Fudō 倶梨伽羅不動. The dragon is both a servant of fudō and a representation of deity. The sword carried by Fudō is called Kurikara-ken 倶梨伽羅剣.