Japanese Sword Name Generator

A real Japanese sword is usually known by more than one name, and this generator covers all of them. The oldest layer is mythic: Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, Totsuka-no-Tsurugi and Ame-no-Ohabari are blades of the gods in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, built from Old Japanese words joined with no or -no-. Next come the meibutsu, named treasures of the samurai age, which pair a nickname with the smith who made the blade: Dojigiri Yasutsuna (the ogre-cutter by Yasutsuna), Mikazuki Munechika (the crescent-moon blade by Munechika), Honjo Masamune (Masamune's blade once owned by Honjo Shigenaga).

Below the famous names sits the way collectors and appraisers actually record swords: province, school and smith, often with the blade type. Bizen Osafune Kagemitsu, Sue-Seki Kanesada, Hizen Tadayoshi and Yamashiro no Kuni Ju Kunimitsu Tachi all follow that grammar, and a fictional blade given a plausible provenance like this instantly feels catalogued rather than invented. The -maru suffix marks a treasured object (Kogarasu-maru, Hotarumaru, Onimaru) and works well for heirloom swords in a story.

The final group is poetic: nature images, colors and weather rendered in romaji with a translation, such as Shirasagi (White Heron), Kogarashi (Withering Wind) or Tsuru no Ongaeshi (Crane's Return). Mix the layers to suit the blade: a court tachi wants a smith name, a ronin's wakizashi wants something quieter.