Both he and Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada are personifications of swords that belonged to Hijikata Toshizou. He as a character is named after his swordsmith, as the sword he was based on went unnamed. After the Japanese surrendered in WWII, he was one of the 200,000 swords confiscated and dumped at sea. Only about 5600 were recovered, but his whereabouts were unknown and it is unlikely he's still around to this day.