Inuyasha items and places
Hiraikotsu
Hiraikotsu is Sango's gigantic boomerang and her primary weapon. Like the rest of the arms and armor of the people in her village, it was made from parts of vanquished demons. In Hiraikotsu's case, it was made from demon bone. Because of its supernatural material, it's nearly unbreakable and is a very powerful weapon.
Hiraikotsu's name can be broken down into three components; Hi meaning 'flying', rai meaning 'come', and kotsu meaning 'bone'. The name itself has been interpreted many different way, but my personal favorite as well as the one sounding the best is 'The bone that flies back'
Sango uses Hiraikotsu in many different ways. The leather bands towards either end allow her to grasp and handle easily. At six feet in length and what must be a hundred pounds or so, she handles Hiraikotsu very nimbly. Other than using it as a boomerang, she can swing it and wield it as a melee weapon. In fact she's killed countless demons like that as well as hitting Miroku over the head when he's needed it. Hiraikotsu is also big enough for Sango to use it as a shield when the need arises, and the nature of its materials make excellent for that purpose.
Tetsusaiga
Special note : The sword's name is in all actuality Tessaiga. A translation error confusing the the kana character っ for つ erroneously added the "tsu" into the name instead of the doubling of the consonant "s" which is what the lower case っ would have done. By the time the error was discovered, Viz decided it was too late to correct and decided to stick with Tetsusaiga. That having been said, I will go back to calling it by the name most people reading this will know the sword as - Tetsusaiga.
Tetsusaiga is one of the three swords wielded by Inuyasha's father and was actually forged from one of his own fangs by the smith Totosai.
Tetsusaiga has two distinct forms. The first form is it's "rest" or "inactive" form. This is the form it's in when Inuyasha and Sesshomaru first discover it. In this state if looks like a badly abused katana. Its blade is nicked and rusty and its tsukaito (wrapping on the grip) is frayed and disintegrating. The blade itself is so dull that it can't even cut anything.
It's second, "active" form is a whole different story. When wielded in defense of humans it transforms into a gigantic crescent-shaped sword with a furry hilt. As the story progresses and Inuyasha gains experience using Tetsusaiga he's able to switch its form and activate it in a larger and larger set of circumstances as well as use more of its special abilities. It is a truly impressive and powerful weapon in this form and can even act on its own if Inuyasha loses consciousness
An object of desire for Sesshomaru, it's been the cause of conflict between the two brothers several times. The very first time they clashed over the sword was before its location was even known and their father's tomb was still concealed within the black pearl in Inuyasha's eye. Despite the fact that Tetsusaiga has an enchantment on it that prevents demons from using it, Sesshomaru seems to be intent on possessing it and resents that Inuyasha inherited the powerful sword while he inherited the non-destructive yet incredibly powerful Tensaiga.
Some of the many fabulous special powers and attacks of Tetsusaiga are :
Wind Scar (Kaze no Kizu 風の傷) : A Special sweeping attack that's able to kill 100 demons in one strike
Backlash Wave (Bakuryuha 爆流破) : Tetsusaiga's ultimate technique. Uses the feedback between the enemy's aura and the Wind Scar to create a feedback that magnifies the attacks power a hundred-fold.
Diamond Spear (Kongosoha 金剛槍破) : A special attack Tetsusaiga gained from Hosenki that causes Tetsusaiga to glow and then fire a bunch of diamond shards when Inuyasha swings it. I imagine they aren't real diamonds or everyone who knows Inuyasha would be a billionaire after he uses it. They'd probably just sit in town and make a giant pile of diamonds. W00t for l00t !
Tensaiga
The polar opposite of Tetsusaiga is the sword Sesshoumaru inherited, Tensaiga. Forged from their father's right fang by Toutousai, Tensaiga is sword of life. Where Tetsusaiga can kill a hundred demons with one stroke, Tensaiga can save a hundred lives. If used by someone who's mastered it by learning to cherish others it can heal or even restore life.
To all outward appearances would make Tensaiga completely useless to Sesshoumaru. He seems so annoyed with it that he just carries it with him and doesn't even think to use it. The first time see him really use it is on Jaken, and all it does is knock Jaken to the ground unharmed. It doesn't cut, he can't even use it as a club, so what is it good for ?
Defense, healing, and most incredibly, resurrection. When Inuyasha manages to fully execute a Kaze no Kizu on Sesshoumaru, Tensaiga put up a shield of light around Sesshoumaru that kept him from being killed. Tensaiga's truly remarkable power is resurrection, or more accurately, prevent death. When wielding Tensaiga, Sesshoumaru is able to see the pallbearers that have come to take a soul away and he is able to kill them with Tensaiga. Since the pallbearers are dead, the person's spirit returns and they're restored. I guess that makes as much sense as anything else going on.
Much later in the series Tensaiga demonstrates an ability to communicate with Sesshoumaru in a primitive manner. When Sesshoumaru is fighting the undead Jaguar demon, Tensaiga signaled that it wanted to be used by pulsing. Since Tensaiga is a healing sword and the Jaguar demon was undead, healing did damage to it, killing it in one stroke. Yeah, I know. It makes more sense if you've played RPG's where healing spells have the opposite effect on undead.
Bone Eater's Well
The Bone Eater's Well is one of the more pivotal locations in Inuyasha's storyline and the means for Inuyasha and Kagome to travel back and forth in time. Existing in both modern day and the Sengoku Period where most of storyline takes place, we are introduced to it in the first episode when Lady Centipede pops out and drags Kagome back in time.
It's original use in the Sengoku period was to dispose of the remains of slain demons, hence the name Bone Eater's Well. Sitting in an open clearing, it's a simple, square well with wooden boards around it to keep people from falling in accidentally.
In the modern day it's got pretty much the same wooden rails around it, but it sits inside a fairly creepy wellhouse on the Higurashi Temple grounds with wooden boards placed across the top. Oddly enough, despite being having a building built around it and 500 years having passed, there are big piles of humanoid bones laying all around it. More than there are than back in the Sengoku Period when they were supposed to be dumping bones in it. Hmmmm.
Over the course of the storyline it's been blocked on both sides with varying degrees of success. Boulders, trees, vines/roots, and even grandpa's seals have been used to block travel. None of the method's seem to last very long though. Granpda's seals didn't seem to have any effect on Inuyasha (big surprise), and Kagome's managed to find a way around blockages on the Sengoku side. I'm kind of confused on the "rules" of what blocks actual travel though. In episode 20 Inuyasha plugs up the well with an uprooted tree. In the modern era that renders the Bone Eater's Well inactive and it becomes a simple well - one with a very solid bottom. Yet in the first movie when both the modern and Sengoku Era side becomes plugged with roots and vines, Kagome is able to clear it out by shooting a blessed arrow down it. Oh well, it's probably not worth obsessing over.
Miroku's Father's Grave
We first see Miroku's father's grave in episode 28 when he leaves the group to have the lingering problems with his wind tunnel fixed. In that same episode we see a flashback to the death of Miroku's father and a glimpse into Miroku's own death if he fails to kill Naraku.
Located near Mushin's shrine, Miroku's father's grave is a typical gorintou (五輪塔), or five-tier grave. Each piece in the five-story grave corresponds to one of the five elements. The square bottom story corresponds to the earth ring. Next is the spherical water ring with the triangular ring of fire on top of that. Above that is a reclining half-moon representing the wind, and on top is the gem-shaped ring of space.
The bowl-shaped depression it sits in is anything but typical. The crater is the bottom half of the spherical void that happened when Miroku's father's Wind Tunnel grew large enough to engulf him. As shown in the flashback sequence Miroku would have died as well if Mushin hadn't stopped him from rushing to his father.
You can see pretty much the same process happen in the first Inuyasha movie when that stupid moth demon what's-her-name opens up her copycat wind tunnel and gets herself sucked in. Complete with a similar crater left in the tree limb she was standing on.
Since Miroku's father left no remains when he died, the grave is purely a memorial at the center of the crater and doesn't mark or contain any part of him.
The Sacred Tree/The Go-Shin-Boku
The Sacred Tree is located in both Kagome's modern era and the Sengoku era where most of the Inuyasha adventures take place. On the Sengoku side it's short distance from the Bone Eaters Well outside of Kaede's village. In the Modern Era it's a central feature on the grounds of the Higurashi Shrine. As far as I know, it's never been revealed exactly what kind of tree it is, just that it's really big and obviously old. The Japanese names is made up of three parts - "go" is a honorific, "shin" means sacred, and "boku" means (old) tree
No matter how far away they get from the tree, it always seems to make an appearance in the story. It's first appearance is in the very first episode/act when Inuyasha is sealed to it with a sacred arrow by Kikyo. Over the course of the storyline of Inuyasha it's been used as a backdrop and plot device countless times. In the first Inuyasha movie, The Sacred Tree played a very important role. Kagome needed something to clear out the blockage in the Bone Eater's well so she could go back to the Sengoku era, but she didn't have anything that would do the job. Luckily, she cut her finger on an old Sacred Arrow head that had lodged in the Sacred Tree's trunk. She grabbed a ceremonial arrow shaft from Grandpa, shot it down the well, and jumped in. That did the trick and she was able to travel back to the Sengoku period.
Hiraikotsu is Sango's gigantic boomerang and her primary weapon. Like the rest of the arms and armor of the people in her village, it was made from parts of vanquished demons. In Hiraikotsu's case, it was made from demon bone. Because of its supernatural material, it's nearly unbreakable and is a very powerful weapon.
Hiraikotsu's name can be broken down into three components; Hi meaning 'flying', rai meaning 'come', and kotsu meaning 'bone'. The name itself has been interpreted many different way, but my personal favorite as well as the one sounding the best is 'The bone that flies back'
Sango uses Hiraikotsu in many different ways. The leather bands towards either end allow her to grasp and handle easily. At six feet in length and what must be a hundred pounds or so, she handles Hiraikotsu very nimbly. Other than using it as a boomerang, she can swing it and wield it as a melee weapon. In fact she's killed countless demons like that as well as hitting Miroku over the head when he's needed it. Hiraikotsu is also big enough for Sango to use it as a shield when the need arises, and the nature of its materials make excellent for that purpose.
Tetsusaiga
Special note : The sword's name is in all actuality Tessaiga. A translation error confusing the the kana character っ for つ erroneously added the "tsu" into the name instead of the doubling of the consonant "s" which is what the lower case っ would have done. By the time the error was discovered, Viz decided it was too late to correct and decided to stick with Tetsusaiga. That having been said, I will go back to calling it by the name most people reading this will know the sword as - Tetsusaiga.
Tetsusaiga is one of the three swords wielded by Inuyasha's father and was actually forged from one of his own fangs by the smith Totosai.
Tetsusaiga has two distinct forms. The first form is it's "rest" or "inactive" form. This is the form it's in when Inuyasha and Sesshomaru first discover it. In this state if looks like a badly abused katana. Its blade is nicked and rusty and its tsukaito (wrapping on the grip) is frayed and disintegrating. The blade itself is so dull that it can't even cut anything.
It's second, "active" form is a whole different story. When wielded in defense of humans it transforms into a gigantic crescent-shaped sword with a furry hilt. As the story progresses and Inuyasha gains experience using Tetsusaiga he's able to switch its form and activate it in a larger and larger set of circumstances as well as use more of its special abilities. It is a truly impressive and powerful weapon in this form and can even act on its own if Inuyasha loses consciousness
An object of desire for Sesshomaru, it's been the cause of conflict between the two brothers several times. The very first time they clashed over the sword was before its location was even known and their father's tomb was still concealed within the black pearl in Inuyasha's eye. Despite the fact that Tetsusaiga has an enchantment on it that prevents demons from using it, Sesshomaru seems to be intent on possessing it and resents that Inuyasha inherited the powerful sword while he inherited the non-destructive yet incredibly powerful Tensaiga.
Some of the many fabulous special powers and attacks of Tetsusaiga are :
Wind Scar (Kaze no Kizu 風の傷) : A Special sweeping attack that's able to kill 100 demons in one strike
Backlash Wave (Bakuryuha 爆流破) : Tetsusaiga's ultimate technique. Uses the feedback between the enemy's aura and the Wind Scar to create a feedback that magnifies the attacks power a hundred-fold.
Diamond Spear (Kongosoha 金剛槍破) : A special attack Tetsusaiga gained from Hosenki that causes Tetsusaiga to glow and then fire a bunch of diamond shards when Inuyasha swings it. I imagine they aren't real diamonds or everyone who knows Inuyasha would be a billionaire after he uses it. They'd probably just sit in town and make a giant pile of diamonds. W00t for l00t !
Tensaiga
The polar opposite of Tetsusaiga is the sword Sesshoumaru inherited, Tensaiga. Forged from their father's right fang by Toutousai, Tensaiga is sword of life. Where Tetsusaiga can kill a hundred demons with one stroke, Tensaiga can save a hundred lives. If used by someone who's mastered it by learning to cherish others it can heal or even restore life.
To all outward appearances would make Tensaiga completely useless to Sesshoumaru. He seems so annoyed with it that he just carries it with him and doesn't even think to use it. The first time see him really use it is on Jaken, and all it does is knock Jaken to the ground unharmed. It doesn't cut, he can't even use it as a club, so what is it good for ?
Defense, healing, and most incredibly, resurrection. When Inuyasha manages to fully execute a Kaze no Kizu on Sesshoumaru, Tensaiga put up a shield of light around Sesshoumaru that kept him from being killed. Tensaiga's truly remarkable power is resurrection, or more accurately, prevent death. When wielding Tensaiga, Sesshoumaru is able to see the pallbearers that have come to take a soul away and he is able to kill them with Tensaiga. Since the pallbearers are dead, the person's spirit returns and they're restored. I guess that makes as much sense as anything else going on.
Much later in the series Tensaiga demonstrates an ability to communicate with Sesshoumaru in a primitive manner. When Sesshoumaru is fighting the undead Jaguar demon, Tensaiga signaled that it wanted to be used by pulsing. Since Tensaiga is a healing sword and the Jaguar demon was undead, healing did damage to it, killing it in one stroke. Yeah, I know. It makes more sense if you've played RPG's where healing spells have the opposite effect on undead.
Bone Eater's Well
The Bone Eater's Well is one of the more pivotal locations in Inuyasha's storyline and the means for Inuyasha and Kagome to travel back and forth in time. Existing in both modern day and the Sengoku Period where most of storyline takes place, we are introduced to it in the first episode when Lady Centipede pops out and drags Kagome back in time.
It's original use in the Sengoku period was to dispose of the remains of slain demons, hence the name Bone Eater's Well. Sitting in an open clearing, it's a simple, square well with wooden boards around it to keep people from falling in accidentally.
In the modern day it's got pretty much the same wooden rails around it, but it sits inside a fairly creepy wellhouse on the Higurashi Temple grounds with wooden boards placed across the top. Oddly enough, despite being having a building built around it and 500 years having passed, there are big piles of humanoid bones laying all around it. More than there are than back in the Sengoku Period when they were supposed to be dumping bones in it. Hmmmm.
Over the course of the storyline it's been blocked on both sides with varying degrees of success. Boulders, trees, vines/roots, and even grandpa's seals have been used to block travel. None of the method's seem to last very long though. Granpda's seals didn't seem to have any effect on Inuyasha (big surprise), and Kagome's managed to find a way around blockages on the Sengoku side. I'm kind of confused on the "rules" of what blocks actual travel though. In episode 20 Inuyasha plugs up the well with an uprooted tree. In the modern era that renders the Bone Eater's Well inactive and it becomes a simple well - one with a very solid bottom. Yet in the first movie when both the modern and Sengoku Era side becomes plugged with roots and vines, Kagome is able to clear it out by shooting a blessed arrow down it. Oh well, it's probably not worth obsessing over.
Miroku's Father's Grave
We first see Miroku's father's grave in episode 28 when he leaves the group to have the lingering problems with his wind tunnel fixed. In that same episode we see a flashback to the death of Miroku's father and a glimpse into Miroku's own death if he fails to kill Naraku.
Located near Mushin's shrine, Miroku's father's grave is a typical gorintou (五輪塔), or five-tier grave. Each piece in the five-story grave corresponds to one of the five elements. The square bottom story corresponds to the earth ring. Next is the spherical water ring with the triangular ring of fire on top of that. Above that is a reclining half-moon representing the wind, and on top is the gem-shaped ring of space.
The bowl-shaped depression it sits in is anything but typical. The crater is the bottom half of the spherical void that happened when Miroku's father's Wind Tunnel grew large enough to engulf him. As shown in the flashback sequence Miroku would have died as well if Mushin hadn't stopped him from rushing to his father.
You can see pretty much the same process happen in the first Inuyasha movie when that stupid moth demon what's-her-name opens up her copycat wind tunnel and gets herself sucked in. Complete with a similar crater left in the tree limb she was standing on.
Since Miroku's father left no remains when he died, the grave is purely a memorial at the center of the crater and doesn't mark or contain any part of him.
The Sacred Tree/The Go-Shin-Boku
The Sacred Tree is located in both Kagome's modern era and the Sengoku era where most of the Inuyasha adventures take place. On the Sengoku side it's short distance from the Bone Eaters Well outside of Kaede's village. In the Modern Era it's a central feature on the grounds of the Higurashi Shrine. As far as I know, it's never been revealed exactly what kind of tree it is, just that it's really big and obviously old. The Japanese names is made up of three parts - "go" is a honorific, "shin" means sacred, and "boku" means (old) tree
No matter how far away they get from the tree, it always seems to make an appearance in the story. It's first appearance is in the very first episode/act when Inuyasha is sealed to it with a sacred arrow by Kikyo. Over the course of the storyline of Inuyasha it's been used as a backdrop and plot device countless times. In the first Inuyasha movie, The Sacred Tree played a very important role. Kagome needed something to clear out the blockage in the Bone Eater's well so she could go back to the Sengoku era, but she didn't have anything that would do the job. Luckily, she cut her finger on an old Sacred Arrow head that had lodged in the Sacred Tree's trunk. She grabbed a ceremonial arrow shaft from Grandpa, shot it down the well, and jumped in. That did the trick and she was able to travel back to the Sengoku period.