Kiichi Hōgen

[file:Kiichi hōgen to oumaya kisanta LCCN2009615065.jpg|thumb|Kiichi Hōgen and fellow poet Oumaya Kisanta]
Kiichi Hōgen 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. Hōgen is a honorific title for a monk, not a name, with Kiichi Hōgen literally meaning "First Demon Priest".
He was an onmyoji who resided at Horikawa-dori in Heian-kyō, and was an authority on the magical art of warfare called Rikuto-heiho. It is believed that he excelled both in academics and military arts. A well-known legend has it that Yoshitsune stole Kiichi's family heirloom military book Rikuto in collaboration with Kiichi's daughter, Minazuru-hime. Due to his legendary status, he is sometimes identified with Kurama Tengu, also a sage of Mount Kurama credited in some versions with teaching the young Minamoto no Yoshitsune swordsmanship, tactics, and magic.
He is revered as the founder of school of swordplay and as the deity of swordplay. His teachings, often taken from Rikuto continued to influence further martial arts, eg. with Hōgen being credited by Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido.
He is a main character of a jidaimono Kiichi Hōgen sanryaku no maki, written in 1731 by Hasegawa Senshi and Matsuda Bunkōdō for the Takemoto-za. The play originally had five acts, but only two main parts have survived: "Kikubatake", the main scene of the 3rd act, and "Ichijō Ōkura Monogatari", the core of the 4th act. The final act, "Gojō no Hashi" is rarely performed.
In Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, next to Kurama Elementary School in Kuramahonmachi, there is a stone monument 'Kiichi Hōgen historic site' which is said to be the site of Kiichi Hōgen's mansion and tomb. It was erected on November 10, 1918 by Kurama school staff.
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.