Since ancient times in Japan, the heart symbol has been called Inome (猪目), meaning the eye of a wild boar, and it has the meaning of warding off evil spirits. The decorations are used to decorate Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, castles, and weapons.[6][7] The oldest examples of this pattern are seen in some of the Japanese original tsuba (sword guard) of the style called toran gata tsuba (lit., inverted egg shaped tsuba) that were attached to swords from the sixth to seventh centuries, and part of the tsuba was hollowed out in the shape of a heart symbol.[8][9]
Hell, I’m not even a girl, and I want that
Probably used by a magical girl to decapitate samurais or demons or something.
Were hearts a symbol even back in ancient japan? Didn’t know they were around for so long
Apparently so, although it seems to have a separate history and meaning from other historical uses. From Wikipedia:
Since ancient times in Japan, the heart symbol has been called Inome (猪目), meaning the eye of a wild boar, and it has the meaning of warding off evil spirits. The decorations are used to decorate Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, castles, and weapons.
Picking up some heavy JoJo vibes here…
