One of the candidate sites associated with the legendary swordsmith Yasutsuna, who forged the Dōjigiri blade; a stone monument stands in Yagō Ōhara.
The Heian-period swordsmith Ōhara Yasutsuna created the national treasure 'Dōjigiri Yasutsuna' — one of the five greatest swords in Japan, said to be the blade with which Minamoto no Yorimitsu slew the demon Shuten-dōji — and is also regarded as the originator of the curved Japanese sword (tachi). His school of swordsmanship is known as 'Ko-Hōki-mono' (Old Hōki Works), the oldest surviving group from the formative period of the Japanese sword.
The birthplace and forging site of Yasutsuna remain disputed, with several theories. Ōhara in the Yagō district of Hōki-chō is one such traditional site, and a stone monument inscribed 'Hōki Yasutsuna Sword-Forging Tradition Site' has been erected here. The Hino River basin is a rich source of high-quality iron sand (masago satetsu), and it is said that the fine swords emerged precisely because this was tatara ironworking country.
The land that produced the sword said to have slain a demon is also the land of demon legends — that coincidence is one of the great fascinations of Hōki. For more detail, see the Dōjigiri Yasutsuna and tatara ironworking articles in 'Stories from History.'