The Willow Branch (Yanagi No Eda 柳の枝) is a katana and part of a pair of swords known as the Daisho, and the signature weapon of Usagi Miyamoto. The Willow Branch's sister sword, the wakizashi (short sword) is called "Young Willow" (Aoyagi 青柳). These swords were presented to Usagi by his future master, Lord Mifune, when he won a kenjutsu tournament after his apprenticeship under Sensei Katsuichi.
As expected of a samurai and an adherent of Bushido, Usagi prizes his swords above anything else. Not simply because they are his weapons, but because they are the symbol of the Warrior Class, and therefore represent everything that a samurai must live up to. Under Katsuichi's tutelage, the most important lesson Usagi learned was when not to draw his sword, and that to use it for wanton violence is a disgrace to the Daisho, and therefore a disgrace to the entire Samurai Class. So, on many occasions when Usagi was faced with violence, Usagi often strikes down his aggressors without even drawing his sword from its scabbard and only draws his sword when the need is dire.
A samurai's swords are his soul, so for a warrior to be parted from his swords is considered a monumental disgrace. There have been occasions where Usagi has been captured or detained and had his swords taken from him, but he always got them back. However, Usagi's swords have actually been stolen from him twice. Once when they were stolen by a bandit leader, which forced Usagi on a lengthy chase to track him down to retrieve them, and a second time when they were taken by the Mifune loyalist Kato. Both times, Usagi was bound by his honor as a warrior to get his swords back and felt completion upon their return.
Willow Branch and Young Willow were forged by a renown swordsmith named Koetsu, and both have yellow Tsuba (guards) and light green Tsuka-ito (handle wrapping). Despite the extensive use of his swords, Usagi has taken great care of them and performs the proper maintenance of his blades so that they never fail him. Many times, Usagi has used both swords simultaneously while fighting off multiple opponents as well as in some of his individual duels.
Willow Branch is unique amongst swords because it was the only weapon that was able to cut the Ki-Stone, which no mortal blade should have been able to harm. At some point, the sword became lost when Usagi gave it to a messenger to return it to his family, but the messenger was attacked on a certain battlefield and the sword was lost. Eventually, Willow Branch was re-discovered by Usagi's descendant, Yuichi.
Trivia[]
The word "Daisho" literally translates as "Big-Little", and comes from the combination of Daito (Longsword) and Shoto (Shortsword).