Hattori Hanzō
Hattori Hanzō or Second Hanzō, nicknamed, was a famous samurai of the Sengoku era. He served the Tokugawa clan as a general and is credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu, later helping him to become the ruler of united Japan.
Hanzō was known as an expert tactician and a master of sword fighting, and was included in cultural sobriquet as one of Tokugawa's 16 divine generals.
He became known as the Second Hanzō. He would later earn the nickname to distinguish him from another Tokugawa general named Watanabe Hanzō, who is nicknamed Yari no Hanzō.
Biography
Hattori Hanzō was born the son of Hattori Yasunaga, the First Hanzō, a minor samurai in the service of the Matsudaira clan. His real name was Hattori Masanari. Despite being born in Mikawa Province, he often paid visits to Iga Province, home of the Hattori clan. At the age of 15, his first battle was a nighttime attack during the siege of Uto castle in 1557.In 1561, Hanzō served Tokugawa Ieyasu and has great contribution with Ieyasu's rise to power, helping the future shogun bring down the Imagawa clan. After Imagawa Ujizane had held Tokugawa's wife and son as hostages, Hanzō made a successful hostage rescue of Tokugawa's family at Kaminogo castle in 1562.
In 1563, a major incident occurred which involved Hanzō. The Ikkō-ikki followers had rebelled in Mikawa and fought against Ieyasu. Moreover, the majority of the Tokugawa clan's vassals were followers of the Ikko sect. Honda Masanobu and most of the vassals joined the Ikko Ikki and began to take hostile action against Ieyasu. During that time, Hanzō, who was also a follower of the Ikkō-ikki, instead kept his loyalty to the Tokugawa clan and supported Ieyasu to fight the rebels.
In 1569, Hanzō went on to lay siege to Kakegawa castle against the Imagawa clan.
From 1570 to 1573, Hanzō served with distinction at the battles of Anegawa and Mikatagahara respectively; it was during this conflict that Hanzō received the nickname Oni no Hanzō. According to the Kansei Chōshū Shokafu, Hattori Hanzō rendered meritorious service during the Battle of Mikatagahara and became commander of an Iga unit consisting of one hundred fifty men. He captured a Takeda spy named Chikuan, and when Takeda's troops invaded Totomi, Hanzō counterattacked with only thirty warriors at the Tenryū River. He and Watanabe Moritsuna performed with exceptional skill with their spears. This prompting Moritsuna to gain a nickname of Yari no Hanzō while Hanzō being nicknamed as Oni no Hanzō,.
In 1575, he married the daughter of fellow military commander Nagasaka Nobumasa. His son would be born around a year later.
In 1579, After Matsudaira Nobuyasu was accused of treason and conspiracy by Oda Nobunaga and was ordered to commit seppuku by his father, Ieyasu, Hanzō was called in to act as an official to assist the seppuku procession, but he refused to take the sword on the blood of his own lord. Ieyasu valued his loyalty after hearing of Hanzō's ordeal and was noted to have said "Even a demon can shed tears".
In 1580, another incident involving Hanzō and the Hattori clan occurred. During that time, a military commander of the Oda clan was staying in Hamamatsu Castle in preparation to assist the Oda-Tokugawa alliance to attack Takatenjin Castle, which belonged to the Takeda clan's forces. However, a friction happened between the commander of the castle with a Tokugawa retainer over a trivial matter. Hanzō was trying to resolve the matter. However, the Ōgaki clan's retainers who were on the side of the castle commander attacked Hanzo, which caused the members of Hattori clan to fight them back, resulting in casualties on both sides. As a result of this incident, the Ōgaki clan demanded Hanzō to be held responsible executed. Ieyasu then managed to trick the Oda clan by pretending to arrest Hanzō at first. Then as Ieyasu allowed Hanzō to escape from his prison in Hamamatsu castle along with his wife and children. After that, Ieyasu deceived the Ōgaki clan by presenting them with a head of someone else, while claiming it was Hanzō's head.
Journey through Iga province
In the middle of June 1582, after the Honnō-ji incident, Tokugawa Ieyasu escaped from Sakai to return into Mikawa, in order to prevent capture from Akechi Mitsuhide and his troops. Ieyasu had only 34 companions with him, including Hanzō. The journey they took was particularly dangerous due to the existence of Ochimusha-gari, or "samurai hunting" gangs. Ieyasu and his party, therefore, chose the shortest route back to the Mikawa Province by crossing through the Iga Province, which differed in many versions according to primary sources such as the records of Tokugawa Nikki or Mikawa Todai-Hon:- The Tokugawa Nikki theory stated that Ieyasu took the roads to Shijonawate and Son'enji, then followed the Kizu stream until they spent a night in Yamaguchi castle. The next day, they reached a stronghold of the Kōka ikki clan of Tarao who allowed them to take refuge for the night. Then in the last day, Ieyasu's group used a ship from Shiroko to reach Okazaki Castle. However, The Tokugawa Nikki theory is doubted by modern historians, since it was not actually the shortest route for Ieyasu to reach Mikawa from his starting position at Sakai, while on the other hand, it was also considered a very risky path due to the existence of Iga ikki clans which were hostile to the Oda and Tokugawa clans.
- The Mikawa Toda-Hon stated that Ieyasu went north from Ogawadate, crossed Koka, and entered Seishu Seki from Shigaraki, passed through Aburahi and entered Tsuge in Iga. This theory was championed by modern Japanese historians such as Tatsuo Fujita from Mie University, who had expressed doubts about the credibility of the story regarding Hattori Hanzō's ninja helping Ieyasu, given that the story does not appear until the 18th century during the rule of Tokugawa Yoshimune. Some people claiming to be descendants of Kōka ikki clans also supported this route theory, and before they reached Kada pass where they could be escorted by the Kōka clan Jizamurai, Ieyasu mostly depended on his high-rank vassals for his protection, particularly the four Shitennō generals, rather than the popular theory about the help of "Iga ninja" clans.
Portuguese missionary Luís Fróis had recorded in his work History of Japan, that during this journey, Tokugawa retainers such as Sakai Tadatsugu, Ii Naomasa, Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and many others fought their way out against the raids and harassments of ochimusha-gari outlaws during their march escorting Ieyasu, while sometimes also paying bribes of gold and silver to those which they could negotiate with. Matsudaira Ietada recorded in his journal, Ietada nikki, that the escorts of Ieyasu had suffered around 200 casualties during their journey due to the raids from bandits and outlaws.
Further service under Tokugawa clan
According to Iga's history book compiled during the Edo period, the Iga clan ninja which Hanzō hailed from never missed a single battle which involved the Tokugawa clan, from the Battle of Izu Nirayama in 1582, to the Summer Siege of Osaka in 1615.In late June 1582, a triangle conflict which was dubbed as the Tenshō-Jingo war broke out between the Tokugawa clan, Uesugi clan, and Hōjō clan. Hanzō participated in this conflict on the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu as he deployed his forces in various forts in the Kōfu basin against Ujinao, who camped his army in the area of present-day Hokuto city. Hanzō led the Iga clan warriors to Katsuyama castle, Misakuchi castle, and Kotohirayama castle, where he monitored the Nakamichi road connecting Kai and Suruga. At the same time, a Tokugawa army detachment from the Iga Province commanded by Hanzō invaded Saku District, where they were also aided by Shinano local samurai warriors from the Tsugane clan led by Ōbi Sukemitsu. In early September, Hanzō and Sukemitsu launched a night attack on Egusuku castle and successfully captured it, under the cover of heavy rain. Later, he also took the Sanogoya castle in Izu Province under cover of heavy rain. Hanzō was praised by Ieyasu for this achievement.
In 1584, Hattori Hanzō continued to serve Ieyasu at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. During this battle, Hanzo marched to Ise commanding 100 warriors of Iga and Kōka ninja as reinforcements from Matsugashima Castle. His troops used rifles in defending the castle from the attacking Toyotomi forces. However, within a month, Takigawa Katsutoshi, the lord of Matsugashima Castle, was cornered to the Ninomaru. In the ends, the castle fallen to the Toyotomi's force.
In 1590, Hattori Hanzō participated in the Odawara campaign, where he led a troop of 50 members of Negoro-shū, a group of mercenaries using firearms that originated in Kii Province. After this conflict, for his service in helping Ieyasu crossing of Iga, Hanzō was awarded with 8,000 koku of domain in Totomi Province. By the time Ieyasu relocated to Kantō region, Hanzō was given the command of yoriki officers and 200 civil officials.
In 1597, Hanzō died on 2 January, succumbing to an unspecified illness.
Weapons and armaments
Hanzō's remains now rest in the Sainen-ji temple cemetery in Yotsuya, Tokyo. The temple also holds his favourite spear and ceremonial battle helmet.The yari which preserved in
The spear's blade is ryō-shinogi zukuri, now completely rusted reddish-brown, with the steel no longer visible. The tip broke off in the 1855 Ansei Earthquake. The wooden handle is black-lacquered, fitted with a copper tube at the base, wrapped in sandalwood, lacquered, and secured with two copper bands. It was originally 14 shaku long, 7.5 kg in weight, and given to him by Ieyasu, was donated to the temple by Hanzō as a votive offering, but was damaged during the bombing of Tokyo in 1945. This spear is traditionally said to have been awarded by Ieyasu to Hanzō for his valor at the Battle of Mikatagahara. It was later donated to Saenen-ji temple by Hanzō’s descendants in the late Edo period.
Another Hanzo's spear was recorded being passed down to Ōtani Masazumi, a vassal of Sakai Tadanao Shuri-no-daibu. The blade length is 3 shaku and 7 sun, while the groove depth is medium, approximately 3 bu''.