Hōsenki I

“

I am the demon who controls jewels. And I have the power to hear their desires.

”

—Hōsenki

Hōsenki I
Hōsenki
Nihongo	宝仙鬼一世
Name meaning	Treasure Hermit
Viz Manga	Hosenki
English TV	Hosenki
Biographical information
Status	Deceased
Death	Limited life-span
Occupation	Jewel maker
Physical information
Species	Oyster daiyōkai
Gender	Male
Eye color	White (formerly) Red
Hair color	White (formerly)
Skin color	Light blue (formerly) White
Family
Hōsenki II (son)
Affiliation
Team	Myōga Tōtōsai
Loyalty	Jewels Tōga †
Debut
Manga Debut	Chapter 298
InuYasha Anime	Episode 155
Game Debut	Secret of the Divine Jewel
Voice Actors
Japanese Seiyū	Ryūzaburō Ōtomo
English VA	Dave Pettitt

Hōsenki I (宝仙鬼一世, Hōsenki-issei, "Treasure Hermit") was an oyster daiyōkai who cultivated a variety of magical jewels.

History

Hōsenki corrupted.

Hōsenki created the Black Pearl in Inuyasha's right eye that enabled Sesshōmaru to travel to his father's grave by using Jaken's Nintōjō to open the portal, and try to steal Tessaiga, the sword his father willed to Inuyasha. When the Shikon no Tama was split into many shards, one came into Hōsenki's possession as his life was coming to an end.

During the story

Inuyasha's group needs to travel to the border between the living world and the netherworld and seek out Hōsenki, but learned he passed away and his son, who shares his name, can not make the gems yet. They found another path to the world where they find the departed Hōsenki sitting among the bones of Inuyasha's father's body with the last shard of the jewel. Hōsenki did see his old friend Myōga. Hōsenki refused to give Inuyasha the shard. He said that the shard could speak to him, and that it did not want to merge with the rest of the jewel or else it would become corrupt. Hōsenki soon became corrupt and by the evil of the Sacred jewel and attacked Inuyasha. After Naraku reclaimed his shard, Hōsenki returned to normal and allowed Inuyasha's Tessaiga to learn his Kongōsōha attack.

Inuyasha was able to obtain the shard from Naraku after Kagome damaged Naraku's body. Hōsenki allowed Inuyasha and his friends to keep the shard and warned them to leave before they would get trapped in the netherworld border forever (as they followed Sesshōmaru the exit to the Gate of the Afterlife in the Realm of Fire). Afterwards, with no more reason to remain at the border, Hōsenki likely continued on to the true afterlife.

Powers & Abilities

• Crystallokinesis: Being an oyster daiyōkai, Hōsenki possessed the ability to generate and manipulate gemstones and jewels to his liking with the most prominent being diamond, the hardest substance there is.
  • Adamant Barrage (金剛槍破（こんごうそうは）, Kongōsōha, "Diamond Spear Blast"): Hōsenki was the original wielder of this powerful technique. He was able to send a shower of adamant shards (diamonds) to injure his enemies. It is powerful enough to penetrate Naraku's stronger barrier and it is the only technique that is able to do so. It is also powerful enough to destroy large parts of the cliffs that surround the border between the living world and the afterlife.
  • Adamant Armor: Hōsenki was covered in adamant and because of that he had an incredible defense due to adamant being considered the strongest substance in the world. His defenses were able to withstand Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu and repeated blows from Inuyasha's Tessaiga without much trouble. His defenses could still be breached, as they were by Naraku, because the corruption caused by his darkened shard had weakened him (Hōsenki) greatly.
• Master Jewel Craftsman: Hōsenki possessed masterful skills in crafting jewels with special powers as he created the Black Pearl that was sealed into Inuyasha's right eye and possessed the power to open portals to the border of the Netherworld where the remains of Tōga rests. Apparently crafting jewels of such power is an extraordinary skill all together even for a demon associated with gems as after his death, none of the Great Dog Demon's allies were able to obtain more Black Pearls with his son admitting that it would take him another 100 years to be able to create them as well thus showing great skills in this regard.
• Immense Demonic Power: Being a daiyōkai and a former ally of the Great Dog Demon himself, Hōsenki's power can be theorized to be comparable to Naraku's, as Naraku himself stated that, as long Hōsenki's shard was protected by both his adamant armor and demonic power, it was "even beyond my reach". It was only by corrupting the shard and manipulating Hōsenki into attacking Inuyasha that Naraku was able to weaken Hōsenki enough to allow his jewel shard to be stolen.
• Immense Strength: He was strong enough to hit Inuyasha and send him flying. After the hit, Inuyasha lost consciousness for a short amount of time. Even after being weakened by both the corrupted shard and his internecine battle with Inuyasha, Hōsenki is still capable of ramming an adamant arm straight through both Naraku's previously unbreakable barrier and his body, though his defiance was in vain.

Relationships

Allies

Tōga

Hōsenki and Tōga were evidently great friends in life as Hōsenki agreed to arrange to make a black pearl to allow Inuyasha to obtain Tessaiga while keeping it out of Sesshōmaru's hands. After Hōsenki died, his corpse took residence in the bones of Tōga, a testament to how strong their friendship was even though the latter had been dead for over 200 years.

Trivia

• After his death, Hōsenki's craft was taken up and continued by his son, Hōsenki II, who also assumed his father's name, a custom among Japanese craftsmen and artists known as yagō.

Media appearances

Manga

• Chapter 298 (First appearance) (Appears in thoughts)
• Chapter 318
• Chapter 319
• Chapter 320
• Chapter 321
• Chapter 322
• Chapter 323
• Chapter 324
• Chapter 325
• Chapter 326

Anime

• Episode 155 (First appearance)
• Episode 156
• Episode 157