Hattori Hanzō, also known by the name Hattori Masanari, was the third son of Hattori Yasunaga, a samurai who served the Matsudaira clan. In his childhood he was called Tigachi Hanzō. His father held the highest rank in the shinobi hierarchy, that of jōnin, and Hanzō followed in his father’s footsteps, choosing the same path.
Although Hattori was born in Mikawa Province, which was the domain of the Matsudaira clan and later became the territory of the Tokugawa clan, he maintained close and extensive ties with Iga Province, which was considered the homeland of the Hattori clan.
In 1558, when Hanzō had not yet reached the age of sixteen, he proved himself a brave and skilled warrior during a nighttime attack on Udo Castle, located in Nishi District of Mikawa Province. That night, Hanzō led a detachment of approximately fifty to sixty shinobi saboteurs who secretly infiltrated the enemy stronghold, killed the guards, and set fire to the castle in several places, after which the enemy was forced to surrender. For this outstanding feat, Tokugawa Ieyasu rewarded Hanzō with a precious spear, which the descendants of the Hattori family preserve to this day as a sacred relic.
In 1562, Hanzō distinguished himself by rescuing Ieyasu’s daughters from Kaminogo Castle, where they were being held hostage. In January 1569, acting on Tokugawa’s orders, he captured Kakegawa Castle in Tōtōmi Province. During the fighting at the Battle of Anegawa in 1570 and at Mikatagahara in 1572, Hanzō, thanks to his exceptional abilities, accomplished many feats and displayed remarkable fearlessness, for which he received the nickname “Hanzō the Devil,” or Oni no Hanzō. He was regarded as a recognized master of military strategy and spear fighting.
In 1579, Hanzō was appointed as one of the assistants to Ieyasu’s eldest son, Tokugawa Nobuyasu, in carrying out ritual suicide; however, he was unable to carry out this task out of respect for Nobuyasu.
In 1582, after the death of Oda Nobunaga, Hanzō accompanied Tokugawa Ieyasu during his extremely dangerous escape from Sakai to Mikawa through provinces filled with the followers of the traitor Akechi Mitsuhide, who were hunting for Ieyasu. At Hanzō’s suggestion, their route passed through Iga Province, where he had many loyal and trustworthy associates. As a result, Ieyasu managed to reach Mikawa safely, unlike, for example, Anayama Baiketsu. Anayama Baiketsu, who had first served Takeda Shingen and later defected to Ieyasu, chose a different route to Mikawa and was ultimately killed by Mitsuhide’s men.
Thanks to his knowledge of the actions and intentions of various daimyō, as well as his outstanding talent as a military commander, Hattori Hanzō earned great respect from Tokugawa Ieyasu and was appointed head of the secret service, the ommitsu-gashira. While leading this service, Hanzō established positions known as “gardeners” (oniwa-ban) within Ieyasu’s castle, assigning the most experienced shinobi to these posts. These “gardeners” performed the duties of bodyguards and scouts, capable both of dealing with spies and of carrying out covert operations in enemy territory.
In 1590, Hanzō took part in the siege of Odawara Castle, the stronghold of the Hōjō clan, for which he was granted an estate in Tōtōmi Province with an annual income of eight thousand koku of rice.
After Tokugawa’s headquarters was moved in June of the same year to Edo, the future capital of Japan, Tokyo, Ieyasu, in gratitude for Hanzō’s loyalty, granted him the rank of hatamoto, that is, a direct vassal of the daimyō, increased his income by another eight thousand koku of rice, and bestowed upon him a residence located in front of one of the gates of Edo Castle. These gates later became known as Hanzō-mon, the “Hanzō Gate.” During this period, Hanzō had under his command one hundred and fifty yoriki police officers and three hundred dōshin guards. Around the same time, he accepted the honorary title of Iwami no Kami.
Hattori Hanzō died at the age of fifty-five in 1596. His heir was his son, Iwami no Kami Masanari. The name Masanari was written with different characters than his father’s name. The younger Masanari served as the head of security of Edo Castle and was killed in 1615 in battle with the defenders of Osaka Castle.
See also
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Yamagata Masakage
Masakage was one of Takeda Shingen’s most loyal and capable commanders. He was included in the famous list of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen” and also belonged to the inner circle of four especially trusted warlords known as the Shitennō.
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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyū Munenori began his service under Tokugawa Ieyasu while his father, Yagyū Muneyoshi, was still at his side. In 1600, Munenori took part in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. As early as 1601, he was appointed a kenjutsu instructor to Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasu’s son, who later became the second shogun of the Tokugawa clan.
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Yagyu Muneyoshi
A samurai from Yamato Province, he was born into a family that had been defeated in its struggle against the Tsutsui clan. Muneyoshi first took part in battle at the age of sixteen. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was forced to enter the service of the Tsutsui house and later served Miyoshi Tōkei. He subsequently came under the command of Matsunaga Hisahide and in time became a vassal first of Oda and later of Toyotomi.
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Endo Naozune
Naozune served under Azai Nagamasa and was one of the clan’s leading vassals, renowned for his bravery and determination. He accompanied Nagamasa during his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga and at that time asked for permission to kill Nobunaga, fearing him as an extremely dangerous man; however, Nagamasa did not grant this request.
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Hosokawa Sumimoto
Sumimoto came from the Hosokawa clan: he was the biological son of Hosokawa Yoshiharu and at the same time the adopted son of Hosokawa Masamoto, the heir of Hosokawa Katsumoto, one of the principal instigators of the Ōnin War. Masamoto was homosexual, never married, and had no children of his own. At first he adopted Sumiyuki, a scion of the aristocratic Kujō family, but this choice provoked dissatisfaction and sharp criticism from the senior vassals of the Hosokawa house. As a result, Masamoto changed his decision and proclaimed Sumimoto as his heir, a representative of a collateral branch of the Hosokawa clan that had long been based in Awa Province on the island of Shikoku. Almost immediately after this, the boy became entangled in a complex and bitter web of political intrigue.
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Honda Masanobu
Masanobu initially belonged to the retinue of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but later entered the service of Sakai Shōgen, a daimyo and priest from Ueno. This shift automatically made him an enemy of Ieyasu, who was engaged in conflict with the Ikkō-ikki movement in Mikawa Province. After the Ikkō-ikki were defeated in 1564, Masanobu was forced to flee, but in time he returned and once again entered Ieyasu’s service. He did not gain fame as a military commander due to a wound sustained in his youth; nevertheless, over the following fifty years he consistently remained loyal to Ieyasu.
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Honda Masazumi
Masazumi was the eldest son of Honda Masanobu. From a young age, he served Tokugawa Ieyasu alongside his father, taking part in the affairs of the Tokugawa house and gradually gaining experience in both military and administrative matters. At the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Masazumi was part of the core Tokugawa forces, a clear sign of the high level of trust Ieyasu placed in him. After the campaign ended, he was given a highly sensitive assignment—serving in the guard of the defeated Ishida Mitsunari, one of Tokugawa’s principal enemies—an obligation that required exceptional reliability and caution.
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Hojo Shigetoki
Hōjō Shigetoki, the third son of Hōjō Yoshitoki, was still very young—only five years old—when his grandfather Tokimasa became the first member of the Hōjō clan to assume the position of shogunal regent.
