Hattori Hanzō

nihongo|Hattori Hanzō|服部 半蔵|extra=1542 – December 23, 1596, also known as nihongo|Hattori Masanari|服部 正成, the son of Hattori Yasunaga, was a famous Samurai.

Hanzō served Tokugawa Ieyasu loyally and well. He is commonly depicted as Ninja in manga and novel fiction. Hanzō was born a vassal of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan; he would later earn the nickname nihongo|"Oni-Hanzō"|鬼半蔵|Devil Hanzō because of the fearless tactics he displayed in his operations. His nickname distinguishes him from another Tokugawa samurai, Watanabe Hanzō, called nihongo|"Yari-Hanzō"|槍半蔵|Spear Hanzō.

Biography

Though Hanzō was born and raised in Mikawa Province, he often returned to Iga, home of the Hattori family. He was an extremely skilled swordsman, tactician and spearman. Fact|date=July 2007 In the surrounding mountains, there were large institutes for training in martial skills. Fact|date=July 2007 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. The Hozo-in temple in Nara supported a unique school of spear fighting, the Hozoin-ryu. 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.

Hattori Hanzō died in 1596 at the age of fifty-five of natural causes. However, there is a popular legend that a ninja, Fūma Kotarō, killed Hanzō in battle.Fact|date=July 2007 He was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son, whose name was also Masanari, though written with different kanji. His son was given the title "Iwami-no-Kami" and his men would act as guards of Edo Castle. Hanzō’s son mistreated the members of the Band of Iga.

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

See also

* People of the Sengoku period in popular culture

External links

* [http://www.skhquest.com/articles/HanzoHattori.php Detailed biography of Hattori Hanzo]

Persondata
NAME=Hanzō, Hattori
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Hanzo, Hattori
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Samurai
DATE OF BIRTH=1542
PLACE OF BIRTH=Iga
DATE OF DEATH=1596
PLACE OF DEATH=