Hanzo Hattori, big name.

Hattori Hanzo may have gained fame from the movie Kill Bill, but he was a true samurai and a skilled ninja. He became a famous general and earned the nickname "Devil Hanzo". It is believed that in his youth he led a group of ninjas and gained strength under the wing of the future ruler of Japan. There is a legend that he wrote or inherited one of the oldest ninja scrolls.

Let's find out real story this man…

So, Hattori Hanzo (correctly “Hanzo”, not “Hanso”: 服部半蔵, Hattori Hanzō), also known as Masanari or Masashige (服部正成), is the son of Hattori Yasunaga, the head of the Hattori dynasty of Iga Province. Knowledgeable people They will remember that the provinces of Iga and Koga were famous throughout feudal Japan primarily due to their numerous ninja clans. So by the “dynasty” of Hattori we mean precisely the ninja clan (“ryu”), which Hanzo headed, i.e. was her jounin. He had the nickname "Devil" (Oni no Hanzō), which he earned for his military achievements and also to distinguish himself from his namesake from another clan, the Tokugawa, named Watanabe Nanzo. And the Hattori clan itself kept the traditions of a unique system of spear fencing.

Hattori’s youth came at the end of the legendary era, which in Japanese historiography bears the eloquent name “Sengoku Jidai” - “The Age of the Warring States.” This period ended when the first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), came to power. Being an excellent diplomat and military leader, he managed to do what his predecessor Oda Nobunaga dreamed of - he united Japan into a single feudal state. And it is this period that is considered the end of ninja history.

Immediately after the rapid heyday caused by the official recognition of the ninja by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and Takeda Shingen's attempt to unify Japan with the help of a detachment of ninja mercenaries from the Koga clan community, their rapid and sad decline followed. After the death of shogun Yoshimitsu, the new shogun Oda Nobunaga, whose life had been repeatedly attempted by mercenary ninjas of many clans, decided to put an end to ninja traditions once and for all. As part of the “cleansing” of the Iga province, his detachment defeated the combined combat detachment of several clans. Many of the ninja were captured and executed, and the few survivors scattered throughout the country. Among the few survivors was Hattori Hanzo. Together with a small group of his students who remained after the defeat of the clan, he left the burnt-out and defeated province of Iga and went to Osaka.

I’ll sarcastically note that such harsh measures did not save Nobunaga. He was killed after all, in 1590, only not by ninjas, but by conspirators from among his own warriors. After this, the country fell into turmoil, and the life of Tokugawa, then not yet a shogun, was under threat.

And this is where the surviving ninjas came in handy. Hatori Hanzo foresightedly assessed the situation and saved Tokugawa from the conspirators, thereby providing support to the future shogun and securing the patronage of the first of the Tokugawa dynasty, which would rule Japan for another 200 years. Having ascended the throne, Ieyasu Tokugawa made Hattori Hanzo the head of his secret service (as they would say now, the presidential security service) - a position as suitable as it was unexpected for a former outcast. For the first time in history, an independent ninja entered the official service of the emperor, thereby, de facto, destroying the border separating ninjas and samurai.

However, the crafty shogun turned out to be not as magnanimous as he seems. Having seen early what internal strife leads to, and how dangerous even the most devoted people can be, he continued Nobunaga’s work, completely prohibiting the practice of ninjutsu. And so it turned out that the centuries-old traditions of numerous clans were preserved only thanks to the Hattori Hanzo detachment and unknown masters who, at their own peril and risk, taught ninjutsu to their children and grandchildren. Hattori Hanzo formed his secret service only from former ninjas, and placed them in all possible positions at court, so that although the clans disappeared, their traditions lived on, although they were not accessible to any outsiders. This continued for almost a century, when in 1676 what little was preserved was eventually written down by Fujibayashi Yasutake, a samurai (!) of one of the Iga dynasties, in the form of a fundamental treatise on the techniques of the Koga and Iga clans called “Bansenshukai”.

Hanzo Mazanari died in 1596, when he was only 55 years old. The age is not too old, so it is believed that he died in a battle with the Fuuma ninja clan, but there is no historical evidence for such an assumption. His post was taken by his son Masanari, who now commanded the entire guard of the Edo palace and a combat detachment of 200 people, who were subordinate only to the emperor. To avoid confusion with his father's name, he was nicknamed Iwami-no-Kami (石見守), but he did not live up to his father's fame. Respectful of the shogun's prohibition, Hattori Hanzō did not teach his son ninjutsu, which led to the sad result - his son treated his subordinate squad of Iga warriors without due respect.

They, in turn, considered him unworthy to represent the great name of his father, and in 1605 the ninja rebelled against him. Armed with bows and cannons, they captured a nearby castle and demanded his removal from his post as head of the guard. If their demands were not met, they promised to kill Masanari and then commit suicide. Essentially, they acted like modern terrorists, which, in fact, in the ideas of that time, they were. However, their demands were satisfied, and this incident went down in history as the first armed uprising in a united Japan. The ninja themselves were not punished, but the squad was disbanded and divided into 4 divisions under the command of experienced samurai. The merging of the martial arts of ninja and samurai could be considered complete.

Hanzo's remains now rest in the cemetery of the Shinen-ji Temple in Shinjuku (Tokyo), which is a 5-minute walk west of JR Yotsuya Station. The inscription on the grave reads: "Hattori Hanzō, servant of the Tokugawa and respected ninja leader."

There, in the temple, the famous spears of his clan are kept, the secret of which he never passed on to anyone.

His name was also preserved by the Hanzo Gate, which is one of the entrances to the emperor's palace, and also by the Hanzo-mon subway line (which received its name from the gate), which connects the central part of Tokyo and the southwestern suburbs. And this is not to mention the numerous comics, cartoons and films made about this legendary man.

True, we must not forget about the memory that is transmitted and reinforced by legends and films about the “Devil Hanzo”, who was not only skilled in battle, but also made katana swords. The first mention of such swords dates back to 710 AD, when the swordsman Amakuni used a sword with a curved blade, forged from dissimilar iron plates, in battle. The sword was good because it looked like a typical saber. Without changes, it went through 7 centuries.

What about the film “Kill Bill”? The fact is that the role of Hattori Hanzo in “Kill Bill” is played by the famous Japanese actor Shinichi Shiba (better known as Sonny Shiba), who is considered the best performer of the role of the real Hattori Hanzo in numerous TV series of the early 80s -X. And this convinces us that Tarantino knew perfectly well who Hattori Hanzo really was.

True story Hattori Hanzo January 8th, 17:00

We have already found out who he was, and now I invite you to travel to Japan.

Hattori Hanzo may have gained fame from the movie Kill Bill, but he was a true samurai and a skilled ninja. He became a famous general and earned the nickname "Devil Hanzo". It is believed that in his youth he led a group of ninjas and gained strength under the wing of the future ruler of Japan. There is a legend that he wrote or inherited one of the oldest ninja scrolls.

Let's find out the real story of this man...

The only surviving image of Hattori Hanzo

So, Hattori Hanzo (correctly “Hanzo”, not “Hanso”: 服部半蔵, Hattori Hanzō), also known as Masanari or Masashige (服部正成), is the son of Hattori Yasunaga, the head of the Hattori dynasty of Iga Province. Knowledgeable people will remember that the provinces of Iga and Koga were famous throughout feudal Japan primarily due to their large ninja clans. So by the “dynasty” of Hattori we mean precisely the clan of ninjas (“ryu”), which Hanzo headed, i.e. was her jounin. He had the nickname "Devil" (Oni no Hanzō), which he earned for his military merits and also to distinguish himself from his namesake from another clan, the Tokugawa, named Watanabe Nanzo. And the Hattori clan itself kept the traditions of a unique system of spear fencing.

Hattori's youth came at the end of the legendary era, which in Japanese historiography bears the eloquent name "Sengoku Jidai" - "The Age of the Warring States." This period ended when the first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616), came to power. Being an excellent diplomat and military leader, he managed to do what his predecessor Oda Nobunaga dreamed of - he united Japan into a single feudal state. And it is this period that is considered the end of ninja history.

Immediately after the rapid heyday caused by the official recognition of the ninja by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and Takeda Shingen's attempt to unify Japan with the help of a detachment of ninja mercenaries from the Koga clan community, their rapid and sad decline followed. After the death of shogun Yoshimitsu, the new shogun Oda Nobunaga, whose life had been repeatedly attempted by mercenary ninjas of many clans, decided to put an end to ninja traditions once and for all. As part of the “cleansing” of the Iga province, his detachment defeated the combined combat detachment of several clans. Many of the ninja were captured and executed, and the few survivors scattered throughout the country. Among the few survivors was Hattori Hanzo. Together with a small group of his students who remained after the defeat of the clan, he left the burnt-out and defeated province of Iga and went to Osaka.

I’ll sarcastically note that such harsh measures did not save Nobunaga. He was killed after all, in 1590, only not by ninjas, but by conspirators from among his own warriors. After this, the country fell into turmoil, and the life of Tokugawa, then not yet a shogun, was under threat.

And this is where the surviving ninjas came in handy. Hatori Hanzo foresightedly assessed the situation and saved Tokugawa from the conspirators, thereby providing support to the future shogun and securing the patronage of the first of the Tokugawa dynasty, which would rule Japan for another 200 years. Having ascended the throne, Ieyasu Tokugawa made Hattori Hanzo the head of his secret service (as they would say now, the presidential security service) - a position that was both suitable and unexpected for a former outcast. For the first time in history, an independent ninja entered the official service of the emperor, thereby, de facto, destroying the border separating ninjas and samurai.

However, the crafty shogun turned out to be not as magnanimous as he seems. Having seen early what internal strife leads to, and how dangerous even the most devoted people can be, he continued Nobunaga’s work, completely prohibiting the practice of ninjutsu. And so it turned out that the centuries-old traditions of numerous clans were preserved only thanks to the Hattori Hanzo detachment and unknown masters who, at their own peril and risk, taught ninjutsu to their children and grandchildren. Hattori Hanzo formed his secret service only from former ninjas, and placed them in all possible positions at court, so that although the clans disappeared, their traditions lived on, although they were not accessible to any outsiders. This went on for almost a century, when in 1676 what little was preserved was eventually written down by Fujibayashi Yasutake, a samurai (!) of one of the Iga dynasties, in the form of a fundamental treatise on the techniques of the Koga and Iga clans called "Bansenshukai".

Grave of Hattori Hanzo (Master Ninja)

Hanzo Mazanari died in 1596, when he was only 55 years old. The age is not too old, so it is believed that he died in a battle with the Fuuma ninja clan, but there is no historical evidence for such an assumption. His post was taken by his son Masanari, who now commanded the entire guard of the Edo palace and a combat detachment of 200 people, who were subordinate only to the emperor. To avoid confusion with his father's name, he was nicknamed Iwami-no-Kami (石見守?), but he did not live up to his father's fame. Respectful of the shogun's prohibition, Hattori Hanzō did not teach his son ninjutsu, which led to the unfortunate result that his son treated his subordinate squad of Iga warriors without due respect.

They, in turn, considered him unworthy to represent the great name of his father, and in 1605 the ninja rebelled against him. Armed with bows and cannons, they captured a nearby castle and demanded his removal from his post as head of the guard. If their demands were not met, they promised to kill Masanari and then commit suicide. Essentially, they acted like modern terrorists, which, in fact, in the ideas of that time, they were. However, their demands were satisfied, and this incident went down in history as the first armed uprising in a united Japan. The ninja themselves were not punished, but the squad was disbanded and divided into 4 divisions under the command of experienced samurai. The merging of the martial arts of ninja and samurai could be considered complete.

Hanzo's remains now rest in the cemetery of the Shinen-ji Temple in Shinjuku (Tokyo), which is a 5-minute walk west of JR Yotsuya Station. The inscription on the grave reads: "Hattori Hanzō, servant of the Tokugawa and respected ninja leader."

There, in the temple, the famous spears of his clan are kept, the secret of which he never passed on to anyone.

His name was also preserved by the Hanzo Gate, which is one of the entrances to the emperor's palace, and also by the Hanzo-mon subway line (which received its name from the gate), which connects the central part of Tokyo and the southwestern suburbs. And this is not to mention the numerous comics, cartoons and films made about this legendary man.

True, we must not forget about the memory that is transmitted and reinforced by legends and films about the “Devil Hanzo”, who was not only skilled in battle, but also made katana swords. The first mention of such swords dates back to 710 AD, when the swordsman Amakuni used a sword with a curved blade, forged from dissimilar iron plates, in battle. The sword was good because it looked like a typical saber. Without changes, it went through 7 centuries.

What about the movie "Kill Bill"? The fact is that the role of Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill is played by the famous Japanese actor Shinichi Shiba (better known as Sonny Shiba), who is considered the best performer of the role of the real Hattori Hanzo in numerous TV series of the early 80s. And this convinces us that Tarantino knew perfectly well who Hattori Hanzo really was.

sources

The True Story of Hattori Hanzo March 23rd, 2016

We have already found out who he was, and now I invite you to travel to Japan.

Hattori Hanzo may have gained fame from the movie Kill Bill, but he was a true samurai and a skilled ninja. He became a famous general and earned the nickname "Devil Hanzo". It is believed that in his youth he led a group of ninjas and gained strength under the wing of the future ruler of Japan. There is a legend that he wrote or inherited one of the oldest ninja scrolls.

Let's find out the real story of this man...

The only surviving image of Hattori Hanzo

So, Hattori Hanzo (correctly “Hanzo”, not “Hanso”: 服部半蔵, Hattori Hanzō), also known as Masanari or Masashige (服部正成), is the son of Hattori Yasunaga, the head of the Hattori dynasty of Iga Province. Knowledgeable people will remember that the provinces of Iga and Koga were famous throughout feudal Japan primarily due to their large ninja clans. So by the “dynasty” of Hattori we mean precisely the clan of ninjas (“ryu”), which Hanzo headed, i.e. was her jounin. He had the nickname "Devil" (Oni no Hanzō), which he earned for his military merits and also to distinguish himself from his namesake from another clan, the Tokugawa, named Watanabe Nanzo. And the Hattori clan itself kept the traditions of a unique system of spear fencing.

Hattori’s youth came at the end of the legendary era, which in Japanese historiography bears the eloquent name “Sengoku Jidai” - “The Age of the Warring States.” This period ended when the first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), came to power. Being an excellent diplomat and military leader, he managed to do what his predecessor Oda Nobunaga dreamed of - he united Japan into a single feudal state. And it is this period that is considered the end of ninja history.

Immediately after the rapid heyday caused by the official recognition of the ninja by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and Takeda Shingen's attempt to unify Japan with the help of a detachment of ninja mercenaries from the Koga clan community, their rapid and sad decline followed. After the death of shogun Yoshimitsu, the new shogun Oda Nobunaga, whose life had been repeatedly attempted by mercenary ninjas of many clans, decided to put an end to ninja traditions once and for all. As part of the “cleansing” of the Iga province, his detachment defeated the combined combat detachment of several clans. Many of the ninja were captured and executed, and the few survivors scattered throughout the country. Among the few survivors was Hattori Hanzo. Together with a small group of his students who remained after the defeat of the clan, he left the burnt-out and defeated province of Iga and went to Osaka.

I’ll sarcastically note that such harsh measures did not save Nobunaga. He was killed after all, in 1590, only not by ninjas, but by conspirators from among his own warriors. After this, the country fell into turmoil, and the life of Tokugawa, then not yet a shogun, was under threat.

And this is where the surviving ninjas came in handy. Hatori Hanzo foresightedly assessed the situation and saved Tokugawa from the conspirators, thereby providing support to the future shogun and securing the patronage of the first of the Tokugawa dynasty, which would rule Japan for another 200 years. Having ascended the throne, Ieyasu Tokugawa made Hattori Hanzo the head of his secret service (as they would say now, the presidential security service) - a position as suitable as it was unexpected for a former outcast. For the first time in history, an independent ninja entered the official service of the emperor, thereby, de facto, destroying the border separating ninjas and samurai.

However, the crafty shogun turned out to be not as magnanimous as he seems. Having seen early what internal strife leads to, and how dangerous even the most devoted people can be, he continued Nobunaga’s work, completely prohibiting the practice of ninjutsu. And so it turned out that the centuries-old traditions of numerous clans were preserved only thanks to the Hattori Hanzo detachment and unknown masters who, at their own peril and risk, taught ninjutsu to their children and grandchildren. Hattori Hanzo formed his secret service only from former ninjas, and placed them in all possible positions at court, so that although the clans disappeared, their traditions lived on, although they were not accessible to any outsiders. This went on for almost a century, when in 1676 what little was preserved was eventually written down by Fujibayashi Yasutake, a samurai (!) of one of the Iga dynasties, in the form of a fundamental treatise on the techniques of the Koga and Iga clans called "Bansenshukai".

Grave of Hattori Hanzo (Master Ninja)

Hanzo Mazanari died in 1596, when he was only 55 years old. The age is not too old, so it is believed that he died in a battle with the Fuuma ninja clan, but there is no historical evidence for such an assumption. His post was taken by his son Masanari, who now commanded the entire guard of the Edo palace and a combat detachment of 200 people, who were subordinate only to the emperor. To avoid confusion with his father's name, he was nicknamed Iwami-no-Kami (石見守?), but he did not live up to his father's fame. Respectful of the shogun's prohibition, Hattori Hanzō did not teach his son ninjutsu, which led to the sad result - his son treated his subordinate squad of Iga warriors without due respect.

They, in turn, considered him unworthy to represent the great name of his father, and in 1605 the ninja rebelled against him. Armed with bows and cannons, they captured a nearby castle and demanded his removal from his post as head of the guard. If their demands were not met, they promised to kill Masanari and then commit suicide. Essentially, they acted like modern terrorists, which, in fact, in the ideas of that time, they were. However, their demands were satisfied, and this incident went down in history as the first armed uprising in a united Japan. The ninja themselves were not punished, but the squad was disbanded and divided into 4 divisions under the command of experienced samurai. The merging of the martial arts of ninja and samurai could be considered complete.

Hanzo's remains now rest in the cemetery of the Shinen-ji Temple in Shinjuku (Tokyo), which is a 5-minute walk west of JR Yotsuya Station. The inscription on the grave reads: "Hattori Hanzō, servant of the Tokugawa and respected ninja leader."

There, in the temple, the famous spears of his clan are kept, the secret of which he never passed on to anyone.

His name was also preserved by the Hanzo Gate, which is one of the entrances to the emperor's palace, and also by the Hanzo-mon subway line (which received its name from the gate), which connects the central part of Tokyo and the southwestern suburbs. And this is not to mention the numerous comics, cartoons and films made about this legendary man.

True, we must not forget about the memory that is transmitted and reinforced by legends and films about the “Devil Hanzo”, who was not only skilled in battle, but also made katana swords. The first mention of such swords dates back to 710 AD, when the swordsman Amakuni used a sword with a curved blade, forged from dissimilar iron plates, in battle. The sword was good because it looked like a typical saber. Without changes, it went through 7 centuries.

What about the movie "Kill Bill"? The fact is that the role of Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill is played by the famous Japanese actor Shinichi Shiba (better known as Sonny Shiba), who is considered the best performer of the role of the real Hattori Hanzo in numerous TV series of the early 80s. And this convinces us that Tarantino knew perfectly well who Hattori Hanzo really was.

sources

Hattori Hanzo may have gained fame from the movie Kill Bill, but he was a true samurai and a skilled ninja. He became a famous general and earned the nickname "Devil Hanzo". It is believed that in his youth he led a group of ninjas and gained strength under the wing of the future ruler of Japan. There is a legend that he wrote or inherited one of the oldest ninja scrolls.

Let's find out the real story of this man...

The only surviving image of Hattori Hanzo

So, Hattori Hanzo (correctly “Hanzo”, not “Hanso”: 服部半蔵, Hattori Hanzō), also known as Masanari or Masashige (服部正成), is the son of Hattori Yasunaga, the head of the Hattori dynasty of Iga Province. Knowledgeable people will remember that the provinces of Iga and Koga were famous throughout feudal Japan primarily due to their large ninja clans. So by the “dynasty” of Hattori we mean precisely the clan of ninjas (“ryu”), which Hanzo headed, i.e. was her jounin. He had the nickname "Devil" (Oni no Hanzō), which he earned for his military merits and also to distinguish himself from his namesake from another clan, the Tokugawa, named Watanabe Nanzo. And the Hattori clan itself kept the traditions of a unique system of spear fencing.

Hattori’s youth came at the end of the legendary era, which in Japanese historiography bears the eloquent name “Sengoku Jidai” - “The Age of the Warring States.” This period ended when the first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616), came to power. Being an excellent diplomat and military leader, he managed to do what his predecessor Oda Nobunaga dreamed of - he united Japan into a single feudal state. And it is this period that is considered the end of ninja history.

Immediately after the rapid heyday caused by the official recognition of the ninja by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and Takeda Shingen's attempt to unify Japan with the help of a detachment of ninja mercenaries from the Koga clan community, their rapid and sad decline followed. After the death of shogun Yoshimitsu, the new shogun Oda Nobunaga, whose life had been repeatedly attempted by mercenary ninjas of many clans, decided to put an end to ninja traditions once and for all. As part of the “cleansing” of the Iga province, his detachment defeated the combined combat detachment of several clans. Many of the ninja were captured and executed, and the few survivors scattered throughout the country. Among the few survivors was Hattori Hanzo. Together with a small group of his students who remained after the defeat of the clan, he left the burnt-out and defeated province of Iga and went to Osaka.

I’ll sarcastically note that such harsh measures did not save Nobunaga. He was killed after all, in 1590, only not by ninjas, but by conspirators from among his own warriors. After this, the country fell into turmoil, and the life of Tokugawa, then not yet a shogun, was under threat.

And this is where the surviving ninjas came in handy. Hatori Hanzo foresightedly assessed the situation and saved Tokugawa from the conspirators, thereby providing support to the future shogun and securing the patronage of the first of the Tokugawa dynasty, which would rule Japan for another 200 years. Having ascended the throne, Ieyasu Tokugawa made Hattori Hanzo the head of his secret service (as they would say now, the presidential security service) - a position that was both suitable and unexpected for a former outcast. For the first time in history, an independent ninja entered the official service of the emperor, thereby, de facto, destroying the border separating ninjas and samurai.

However, the crafty shogun turned out to be not as magnanimous as he seems. Having seen early what internal strife leads to, and how dangerous even the most devoted people can be, he continued Nobunaga’s work, completely prohibiting the practice of ninjutsu. And so it turned out that the centuries-old traditions of numerous clans were preserved only thanks to the Hattori Hanzo detachment and unknown masters who, at their own peril and risk, taught ninjutsu to their children and grandchildren. Hattori Hanzo formed his secret service only from former ninjas, and placed them in all possible positions at court, so that although the clans disappeared, their traditions lived on, although they were not accessible to any outsiders. This went on for almost a century, when in 1676 what little was preserved was eventually written down by Fujibayashi Yasutake, a samurai (!) of one of the Iga dynasties, in the form of a fundamental treatise on the techniques of the Koga and Iga clans called "Bansenshukai".

Grave of Hattori Hanzo (Master Ninja)

Hanzo Mazanari died in 1596, when he was only 55 years old. The age is not too old, so it is believed that he died in a battle with the Fuuma ninja clan, but there is no historical evidence for such an assumption. His post was taken by his son Masanari, who now commanded the entire guard of the Edo palace and a combat detachment of 200 people, who were subordinate only to the emperor. To avoid confusion with his father's name, he was nicknamed Iwami-no-Kami (石見守?), but he did not live up to his father's fame. Respectful of the shogun's prohibition, Hattori Hanzō did not teach his son ninjutsu, which led to the unfortunate result that his son treated his subordinate squad of Iga warriors without due respect.

They, in turn, considered him unworthy to represent the great name of his father, and in 1605 the ninja rebelled against him. Armed with bows and cannons, they captured a nearby castle and demanded his removal from his post as head of the guard. If their demands were not met, they promised to kill Masanari and then commit suicide. Essentially, they acted like modern terrorists, which, in fact, in the ideas of that time, they were. However, their demands were satisfied, and this incident went down in history as the first armed uprising in a united Japan. The ninja themselves were not punished, but the squad was disbanded and divided into 4 divisions under the command of experienced samurai. The merging of the martial arts of ninja and samurai could be considered complete.

Hanzo's remains now rest in the cemetery of the Shinen-ji Temple in Shinjuku (Tokyo), which is a 5-minute walk west of JR Yotsuya Station. The inscription on the grave reads: "Hattori Hanzō, servant of the Tokugawa and respected ninja leader."

And now I invite you to travel to Japan.

Hattori Hanzo may have gained fame from the movie Kill Bill, but he was a true samurai and a skilled ninja. He became a famous general and earned the nickname "Devil Hanzo". It is believed that in his youth he led a group of ninjas and gained strength under the wing of the future ruler of Japan. There is a legend that he wrote or inherited one of the oldest ninja scrolls.

Let's find out the real story of this man...

The only surviving image of Hattori Hanzo

So, Hattori Hanzo (correctly “Hanzo”, not “Hanso”: 服部半蔵, Hattori Hanzō), also known as Masanari or Masashige (服部正成), is the son of Hattori Yasunaga, the head of the Hattori dynasty of Iga Province. Knowledgeable people will remember that the provinces of Iga and Koga were famous throughout feudal Japan primarily due to their large ninja clans. So by the “dynasty” of Hattori we mean precisely the clan of ninjas (“ryu”), which Hanzo headed, i.e. was her jounin. He had the nickname "Devil" (Oni no Hanzō), which he earned for his military merits and also to distinguish himself from his namesake from another clan, the Tokugawa, named Watanabe Nanzo. And the Hattori clan itself kept the traditions of a unique system of spear fencing.

Hattori’s youth came at the end of the legendary era, which in Japanese historiography bears the eloquent name “Sengoku Jidai” - “The Age of the Warring States.” This period ended when the first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), came to power. Being an excellent diplomat and military leader, he managed to do what his predecessor Oda Nobunaga dreamed of - he united Japan into a single feudal state. And it is this period that is considered the end of ninja history.

Immediately after the rapid heyday caused by the official recognition of the ninja by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and Takeda Shingen's attempt to unify Japan with the help of a detachment of ninja mercenaries from the Koga clan community, their rapid and sad decline followed. After the death of shogun Yoshimitsu, the new shogun Oda Nobunaga, whose life had been repeatedly attempted by mercenary ninjas of many clans, decided to put an end to ninja traditions once and for all. As part of the “cleansing” of the Iga province, his detachment defeated the combined combat detachment of several clans. Many of the ninja were captured and executed, and the few survivors scattered throughout the country. Among the few survivors was Hattori Hanzo. Together with a small group of his students who remained after the defeat of the clan, he left the burnt-out and defeated province of Iga and went to Osaka.

I’ll sarcastically note that such harsh measures did not save Nobunaga. He was killed after all, in 1590, only not by ninjas, but by conspirators from among his own warriors. After this, the country fell into turmoil, and the life of Tokugawa, then not yet a shogun, was under threat.

And this is where the surviving ninjas came in handy. Hatori Hanzo foresightedly assessed the situation and saved Tokugawa from the conspirators, thereby providing support to the future shogun and securing the patronage of the first of the Tokugawa dynasty, which would rule Japan for another 200 years. Having ascended the throne, Ieyasu Tokugawa made Hattori Hanzo the head of his secret service (as they would say now, the presidential security service) - a position as suitable as it was unexpected for a former outcast. For the first time in history, an independent ninja entered the official service of the emperor, thereby, de facto, destroying the border separating ninjas and samurai.

However, the crafty shogun turned out to be not as magnanimous as he seems. Having seen early what internal strife leads to, and how dangerous even the most devoted people can be, he continued Nobunaga’s work, completely prohibiting the practice of ninjutsu. And so it turned out that the centuries-old traditions of numerous clans were preserved only thanks to the Hattori Hanzo detachment and unknown masters who, at their own peril and risk, taught ninjutsu to their children and grandchildren. Hattori Hanzo formed his secret service only from former ninjas, and placed them in all possible positions at court, so that although the clans disappeared, their traditions lived on, although they were not accessible to any outsiders. This went on for almost a century, when in 1676 what little was preserved was eventually written down by Fujibayashi Yasutake, a samurai (!) of one of the Iga dynasties, in the form of a fundamental treatise on the techniques of the Koga and Iga clans called "Bansenshukai".

Grave of Hattori Hanzo (Master Ninja)

Hanzo Mazanari died in 1596, when he was only 55 years old. The age is not too old, so it is believed that he died in a battle with the Fuuma ninja clan, but there is no historical evidence for such an assumption. His post was taken by his son Masanari, who now commanded the entire guard of the Edo palace and a combat detachment of 200 people, who were subordinate only to the emperor. To avoid confusion with his father's name, he was nicknamed Iwami-no-Kami (石見守?), but he did not live up to his father's fame. Respectful of the shogun's prohibition, Hattori Hanzō did not teach his son ninjutsu, which led to the sad result - his son treated his subordinate squad of Iga warriors without due respect.

They, in turn, considered him unworthy to represent the great name of his father, and in 1605 the ninja rebelled against him. Armed with bows and cannons, they captured a nearby castle and demanded his removal from his post as head of the guard. If their demands were not met, they promised to kill Masanari and then commit suicide. Essentially, they acted like modern terrorists, which, in fact, in the ideas of that time, they were. However, their demands were satisfied, and this incident went down in history as the first armed uprising in a united Japan. The ninja themselves were not punished, but the squad was disbanded and divided into 4 divisions under the command of experienced samurai. The merging of the martial arts of ninja and samurai could be considered complete.

Hanzo's remains now rest in the cemetery of the Shinen-ji Temple in Shinjuku (Tokyo), which is a 5-minute walk west of JR Yotsuya Station. The inscription on the grave reads: "Hattori Hanzō, servant of the Tokugawa and respected ninja leader."

There, in the temple, the famous spears of his clan are kept, the secret of which he never passed on to anyone.

His name was also preserved by the Hanzo Gate, which is one of the entrances to the emperor's palace, and also by the Hanzo-mon subway line (which received its name from the gate), which connects the central part of Tokyo and the southwestern suburbs. And this is not to mention the numerous comics, cartoons and films made about this legendary man.

True, we must not forget about the memory that is transmitted and reinforced by legends and films about the “Devil Hanzo”, who was not only skilled in battle, but also made katana swords. The first mention of such swords dates back to 710 AD, when the swordsman Amakuni used a sword with a curved blade, forged from dissimilar iron plates, in battle. The sword was good because it looked like a typical saber. Without changes, it went through 7 centuries.

What about the movie "Kill Bill"? The fact is that the role of Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill is played by the famous Japanese actor Shinichi Shiba (better known as Sonny Shiba), who is considered the best performer of the role of the real Hattori Hanzo in numerous TV series of the early 80s. And this convinces us that Tarantino knew perfectly well who Hattori Hanzo really was.