In the Japanese medieval society, an offering of sword to Buddha was generally accepted as an expression of belief such that when regent Yasutoki HOJO prohibited the Buddhist monks in the city of Kamakura from wearing swords in the Kamakura period, he declared that he would contribute the confiscated swords to Kotoku-in Temple.
中世社会では、信仰の形として刀を仏にささげる行為が一般化しており、鎌倉時代には執権北条泰時が鎌倉市中の僧侶の帯刀を禁じた際に、没収した刀を高徳院に寄進すると述べている。