Hattori Hanzō

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"Hanzo Hattori" redirects here. For other uses, see Hanzo Hattori (disambiguation).

A portrait of Hattori Hanzō

Hattori Hanzō (服部半蔵, Hattori Hanzō^?) (1541 – 1596), also formerly known as Masanari or Masashige (服部正成, Hattori Masanari^?), the son of a certain Hattori Yasunaga, was a head of clan from Iga region of Japan, famous for its Ninja, including Hattori; he served Tokugawa Ieyasu loyally and well. He is commonly depicted as such in manga and novel fiction. Hanzo was born a samurai vassal of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan; he would later earn the nickname Oni no Hanzō (Devil Hanzo) because of the ferocity he displayed in battle. His nickname distinguishes him from another Tokugawa samurai, Watanabe Hanzō, called Hanzō of Spear.

Though Hanzo was born and raised in Mikawa, he often returned to Iga, home of the Hattori ninja family. He was an extremely skilled swordsman, tactician, spearman, and a master of all ninja techniques. This is because the Iga and Koga regions were the birthplace of ninjutsu, and there were over 70 clandestine organizations carrying out the art in the region. In the surrounding mountains there were large institutes for training in martial skills. Onmyodo, a Chinese system of divination propagated in Kyoto by Abe no Seimei, had been brought from the capital. The village of Yagyu, along the Kyoto-Nara border, was home to a venerable school of sword technique. And the Hozo-in temple in Nara supported a unique school of spear fighting, the Hozoin-ryu. All the arts necessary for ninjutsu could be acquired within a radius of 45 miles from Iga. Hattori, who fought his first battle at the age of 16, went on to serve at the battles of Anegawa (1570) and Mikatagahara (1572), but his most valuable contribution came in 1582, following Oda Nobunaga's death.

Hanzo's grave located at the Sainen-ji temple cemetery in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

At that time, Ieyasu and his retainers had been staying near Osaka and learned of the assassination only just in time to avoid being detained by Akechi Mitsuhide's troops. But they were not safe yet. Mikawa was still a long way away, and Akechi's men searching for them. Hanzō suggested that they take a route through Iga, as he had ties with the samurai there. In addition, Ieyasu had previously sheltered survivors from Nobunaga's bloody invasion of that province in 1580 and so had built up a stock of goodwill there. Honda Tadakatsu sent Hanzō on ahead, and, as hoped, the Iga men agreed not only to guide them along back roads, but also to provide them with an escort. At length, Ieyasu and his band returned to Mikawa safely. The same could not be said for Anayama Beisetsu, a recent Tokugawa addition who had insisted on taking a different route.

Hanzo Masanari died in 1596 at the age of fifty-five, it is believed that another ninja, Fuuma Kotaro, was the one responible for Hanzo's death. He was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son, whose name was also Masanari, though written with different Japanese characters. His son was given the title "Iwami-no-Kami" and his men would act as guards of Edo Castle. Hanzo’s son had not mastered ninjutsu, and he mistreated the members of the Band of Iga. The ninja did not consider him worthy of the name Hanzo, and the band revolted. Armed with guns and bows, they holed up in a nearby temple and demanded his dismissal. If their demand was not met, they vowed to kill Masanari and to take their own lives. Their number was large enough that historians consider their action to be the first strike in Japan. The year was 1605. After his dismissal, the Band of Iga was divided into four factions, each led by a low-ranking samurai.

To this day, artifacts of Hanzo's legacy remain; the Imperial Palace (formerly the shogun's palace) still has a gate called Hanzo's Gate, and the Hanzo-mon subway line which runs from central Tokyo to the southwestern suburbs is named after the gate. Hanzo’s remains now rest in the Sainen-ji temple cemetery in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The temple also holds his favorite spears.

A ninja who served under two generations: Ieyasu Tokugawa and his father Hirotada Matsudaira. When he was just 16 years old, he led dozens of soldiers and set fire to the Mikawa Uto Castle. His illustrious career included an attack on the Enshu Kakegawa Castle, the Battles of Anegawa and Mikatagahara, and the fight against Katsuyori Takeda. During the Honnouji Incident, Hattori rescued the marooned Tokugawa and escorted him all the way from Sakai to Okazaki. That escape, known as the Iga Crossing (because it spanned the province of Iga), was one of the most perilous moments of Tokugawa’s life. Hattori consequently became head of Tokugawa’s echelon of ninja. When Tokugawa moved the capital from Kyoto to Kanto (the plain surrounding modern day Tokyo), Hattori was given a mansion at the western gate of Edo Castle

[edit] Hanzō in fiction

• Hanzō frequently appears in jidaigeki. Actor Sonny Chiba played the role in the television series Kage no Gundan. Many films, specials and series on the life and times of Tokugawa Ieyasu depict the events detailed above.
• In Kill Bill, his name is shared by a master, said to be a descendant of the Hattori Hanzo in Kage no Gundan, also played by Sonny Chiba.
• Hanzō is also selectable in Samurai Warriors video games.
• Hanzō is a supporting character in the manga turned anime Samurai Deeper Kyo.
• He is also featured prominently in SNK Playmore's fighting game series: Samurai Shodown (Masaki Usui did Hanzo's voice in Samurai Shodown 1, but since Samurai Shodown 2, Hanzo has been voiced by Toshimitsu Arai, who also did Rugal's voice) as well as the World Heroes series from ADK, his World Heroes incarnation is also featured in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum.
• There is also a secret character in various games in Sega's Shining Force series based on him.
• Hanzo also appears as minor character in Nobunaga's Ambition II. In his depictions, Hanzo is often portrayed as a man who often spoke about shadows.
• In the backstory for the website Ninja Burger, Hattori Hanzo is the ancestor of the modern clan of ninja that went on to found the fictional fast food chain.
• Hattori Hanzo and his successor appears as Tokugawa Ieyasu's chief of espionage in the anime Basilisk.
• During the 2003 "Salem Stalker" storyline of daytime drama Days of our Lives, swordsman and mafia boss Tony DiMera trains with his Zen master named Hattori Hanzo. We learn later that his training was in preparation for a final duel with Tony's rival and ex-assassin, John Black.
• Hanzo appears as the leader of the Rokkaku ninja clan in the video game series Suikoden.
• In the novel of Battle Royale, Shuya Nanahara owns a Hattori Hanzō wristwatch
• In the manga Princess Ninja Scroll Tenka Musou, the main female character is named Hattori Hanzō.
• In the anime/manga Ultimate Muscle (Kinnikuman Nisei), a ninja of the No Respect Trio is named Hanzo.
• In the manga Hunter × Hunter, one of the entrants in the Hunter exam is a Japanese ninja named Hanzo.
• The manga Hanzo no mori by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima dramatizes the adventures of the young Hattori Hanzo and his master Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is available in English as Path of the Assassin from Dark Horse Comics.
• Hanzo also appears in the 1999 jidaigeki movie named Fukurō no Shiro (Owl's Castle). He was played by actor Jinpachi Nezu.
• In the videogame World of Warcraft, there is a sword called the "Hanzo Sword". It is a somewhat powerful weapon that is also pretty rare.
• He appears on the manga Tails of the Moon as a young shinbi for Iga, met by Usagi. His character is young and handsome.
• In the online game Monsters Game, there is a weapon called the Hattori Hanzo Sword.
• In the video game series Mortal Kombat, the ninja character Scorpion's real name is Hanzo Hasashi.
• In the anime/manga Detective Conan, Heiji Hattori, strongly implied to be a descendant of Hanzo, tends to prove himself to have ninja skills in kendo & other forms of swordplay, such as when he jumps on the back of a katana wielded by a murderer and balances himself with ease.
• He also appears in the film Shinobi

[edit] External links

• Detailed biography of Hattori Hanzo