Since Onimusha: Way of the Sword gets progressively harder as you keep fighting Genma enemies, you will require all the healing and combat enhancing items the game has to offer. As you work on the main story quests, you can pick up a certain quest from Okuni back at Enma’s Hall. This will introduce you to the concept of the Hozuki Pouch, and there are a few more scattered across Kyoto.
Besides getting your hands on the Hozuki Pouch, you also need to get the upgrade materials to increase the pouch’s effectiveness. That’s when you need to find Skeleton Hozukis that are part of the upgrade materials, along with other items.
There are 4 Hozuki Pouches to find, and 5 Skeleton Hozukis scattered across Kyoto. Here is a guide that explains how to get them quickly, upgrade the Hozuki Pouch and unlock an achievement / trophy.
How to Get Hozuki Pouch: Default
Progress through the main story quests until you have a chance to speak to Okuni at Enma’s Hall. She will mention that the existing Hozuki Pouch you own is all tattered up and will send you out on a quest called Patching Up the Pouch.
This will take you through the process of finding upgrade materials for your starter pouch, then handing them over to Okuni to fix all subsequent pouches. You will find most of the upgrade materials via exploration, so I recommend using your Oni Vision frequently to find them. There are several more pouches to find, and each of them offers different boosts. Okuni will mark them on the map after completing her quest, which makes things easier.
How to Get Hozuki Pouch: Regeneration
Make your way to the Pouch marker located in the southeastern section of Kyoto, then head north towards the courtyard. The courtyard itself is blocked, and you need to use the ladder against the nearby house and get on the bridge on the roof of the house to reach the courtyard.
Use Oni Vision in front of the shrine on your right. You will find two chests here: one that contains the Oni Cloth Regeneration, and the other that contains a Skeleton Hozuki.
How to Get Hozuki Pouch: Aggressor
For this one, head southwest towards the Pouch icon. From there, go further south and find an alleyway on the west. Follow the symbol of the ladder on the map and enter the house that has one. Make your way up the ladder, go forward, then jump down.
Turn around and go through the crawlspace; you will find a spider that you need to kill here. Head back out and exit the house, then go right. You will find a wooden tower. As you keep going right, go up the tower and kill the second spider.
Backtrack to the main area and interact with the gate. Clear the enemies in the new area and find a crawlspace. Over here, use Oni Vision in front of the shrine to uncover the Oni Cloth Aggressor. If you exit the crawlspace, immediately go left, and make your way to the dead end; you will find another chest on your right that has the Skeleton Hozuki.
How to Get Hozuki Pouch: Resistance
The Resistance pouch can be found near the Shijo Street Spirit Mirror. From the mirror, head south to find the Pouch. From there, go west, then north towards the pier. You will find a house with a ladder; climb up and use Oni Agility to get across the stone bridge.
This will take you to the courtyard. Enter the house on your right and exit out the left doorway. Continue up the ladder ahead and jump down.
Enter the house ahead and go right until you find an exit on your left. Right after you exit, unlock the chest in front of you to pick up the Skeleton Hozuki. Then, go around and interact with the shrine at the end of the path to get the chest that contains the Oni Cloth Resistance.
How to Get Hozuki Pouch: Awakening
The final pouch is located southwest of the northeastern Kyoto Pouch Maker. You can get here if you go northeast from the Yasaka Pagoda Spirit Mirror or the Oni-Kui Mushi Barrier. But you don’t need to start at the Pouch marker for this; just visit the Oni-Kui Mushi Barrier. As you face the barrier, look to your left to find a crawlspace.
Go through it and get up the ladder, then jump down and turn around. Kill the spider here, then go through the doorway ahead and go left. You will find another ladder that you can take to go up. Jump down, go left, then follow the path to the right. You will encounter Byakue nearby; defeat it and enter the archway. Go right and up the ladder again, and jump down.
On your left is a chest that holds the Skeleton Hozuki. Head further left and go through the crawlspace on your right. Exit the building and continue to go forward towards the gate. On your right is the shrine that you need to activate and collect the Oni Cloth Awakening.
How to Get the Final Skeleton Hozuki
You would have obtained 4 Skeleton Hozuki by now, and the fifth one is obtained after finding a hidden treasure chest. First, complete the In the Light of an Icy Moon story quest, then make your way to the northernmost section of Kyoto. Head west towards the river, where you will find a chance encounter called Hidden Treasure No. 5.
As per the treasure map, you need to make your way to the Spirit Mirror: Yasaka Pagoda, then go south. Enter the house and continue to climb up all the ladders until you reach the roof. Step on the roof and use Oni Vision to find the spot where the chest is hidden. Unlock the chest to get the final Skeleton Hozuki and a few other rewards.
Upgrading the Hozuki Pouches
After obtaining all pouches, you can check the Hozuki Pouches menu to scroll through each one and find all their upgrade materials. Similar to Charms, Hozuki Pouches also have two upgrade tiers. The lower tier requires just basic materials that you can find easily during exploration or purchasing from merchants. But higher-tier upgrades will require Skeleton Hozuki and a few other materials.
| Pouch | Tier 2 materials | Tier 3 materials |
| Default | 2x Hampen Cloth 2x Cotton Cloth 2x Leather 1x Fine Silk Cloth | 3x Cotton Cloth 2x Leather 1x Fine Silk Cloth 1x Skeleton Hozuki |
| Regeneration | 2x Hempen Cloth 2x Cotton Cloth 2x Leather | 2x Hempen Cloth 3x Cotton Cloth 3x Leather 1x Skeleton Hozuki |
| Aggressor | 2x Whetstone 2x Iron 2x Tempered Iron | 2x Whetstone 3x Iron 3x Tempered Iron 1x Skeleton Hozuki |
| Resistance | 2x Whetstone 2x Iron 2x Tempered Iron 1x Tamahagane | 3x Iron 2x Tempered Iron 1x Tamahagane 1x Skeleton Hozuki |
| Awakening | Available after beating Shuten Doji 4x Malicite 3x Byakue’s Talisman 1x Malicite Mass | 4x Malicite 2x Dohatsu-ten’s Horn 2x Malicite Mass 1x Skeleton Hozuki |
Upgrading all pouches to level 3 is a requirement if you wish to obtain the Medical Marvel trophy/achievement.
