Kiichi Hōgen

鬼一法眼[1][2]) is a legendary Japanese monk and warrior from the 1100s who appeared in "Gikeiki", a military epic about the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, written in the early Muromachi period.

[4] He was an onmyoji who resided at Ichijo-dori [ja] Horikawa-dori in Heian-kyō (Kyoto), and was an authority on the magical art of warfare called Rikuto-heiho.

He is revered as the founder of Kyōhachi-ryū [ja] (eight styles considered the inspiration to all swordsmanship in West Japan, and the combat techniques Kiichi taught his eight best disciples, including Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune) school of swordplay and as the deity of swordplay.

[3] He is a main character of a jidaimono Kiichi Hōgen sanryaku no maki, written in 1731 by Hasegawa Senshi(長谷川千四) and Matsuda Bunkōdō (和田文耕堂) for the Takemoto-za.

[7] In addition, there is a shrine Kiichi hōgen sha, in the precincts of Kurama-dera, visited often by people wishing for improvement in the martial arts.