or Second Hanzà Â, 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.
Hanzà  was known as an expert tactician and a master of sword fighting, and was included in cultural sobriquet as one of (Tokugawa jà «rokushinshà Â).
He became known as the Second Hanzà Â. He would later earn the nickname to distinguish him from another Tokugawa general named Watanabe Hanzà  (Watanabe Moritsuna), who is nicknamed .
Hattori Hanzà  was born the son of , the First Hanzà Â, a minor samurai in the service of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan. His real name was . Despite being born in Mikawa Province (now Iga-chà Â, Okazaki, Aichi), 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, Hanzà  served Tokugawa Ieyasu (who at the time was still called Matsudaira Motoyasu) 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, Hanzà  made a successful hostage rescue of Tokugawa's family at Kaminogo castle in 1562.
In 1563, a major incident occurred which involved Hanzà Â. The Ikkà Â-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, Hanzà Â, who was also a follower of the Ikkà Â-ikki, instead kept his loyalty to the Tokugawa clan and supported Ieyasu to fight the rebels.
In 1569, Hanzà  went on to lay siege to Kakegawa castle against the Imagawa clan.
From 1570 to 1573, Hanzà  served with distinction at the battles of Anegawa and Mikatagahara respectively; it was during this conflict that Hanzà  received the nickname Oni no Hanzà Â. According to the Kansei Chà Âshà « Shokafu, Hattori Hanzà  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, Hanzà  counterattacked with only thirty warriors at the Tenryà « River. He and Watanabe Moritsuna performed with exceptional skill with their spears. This prompting Moritsuna to gain a nickname of Yari no Hanzà  (Spear Hanzo) while Hanzà  being nicknamed as Oni no Hanzà Â, (Hanzà  the demon).
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, Hanzà  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 Hanzà Â's ordeal and was noted to have said "Even a demon can shed tears".
In 1580, another incident involving Hanzà  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. Hanzà  was trying to resolve the matter. However, the à Âgaki 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 à Âgaki clan demanded Hanzà  to be held responsible executed. Ieyasu then managed to trick the Oda clan by pretending to arrest Hanzà  at first. Then as Ieyasu allowed Hanzà  to escape from his prison in Hamamatsu castle along with his wife and children. After that, Ieyasu deceived the à Âgaki clan by presenting them with a head of someone else, while claiming it was Hanzà Â's head.
In the middle of June 1582, after the Honnà Â-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 Hanzà Â. 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:
Regardless of which theory is true, historians agreed that the trek ended at Kada (a mountain pass between Kameyama town and Iga). Tokugawa's group suffered a last attack by the ochimusha-gari outlaws at Kada pass where they reached the territory of the KÃ Âka ikki clan of Jizamurai who were friendly to the Tokugawa clan. The Koka ikki samurai assisted Ieyasu to eliminate the threats of raiders and escorted them until they reached Iga Province, where they were further protected by other allied clans from Iga ikki which accompanied the Ieyasu group until they safely reached Mikawa.
Portuguese missionary LuÃÂs 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 (家忠æÂ¥è¨Â), that the escorts of Ieyasu had suffered around 200 casualties during their journey due to the raids from bandits and outlaws.
According to Iga's history book (ä¼Âè³Âè ç±ç·Âæ¸) compiled during the Edo period, the Iga clan ninja which Hanzà  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 Tenshà Â-Jingo war broke out between the Tokugawa clan, Uesugi clan, and Hà Âjà  clan. Hanzà  participated in this conflict on the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu as he deployed his forces in various forts in the Kà Âfu basin against Ujinao, who camped his army in the area of present-day Hokuto city. Hanzà  led the Iga clan warriors to Katsuyama castle (Kamisone-cho, Kofu city), Misakuchi castle, and Kotohirayama castle (Misakuchi-cho, Kofu city), where he monitored the Nakamichi road connecting Kai and Suruga. At the same time, a Tokugawa army detachment from the Iga Province commanded by Hanzà  invaded Saku District, where they were also aided by Shinano local samurai warriors from the Tsugane clan led by à Âbi Sukemitsu. In early September, Hanzà  and Sukemitsu launched a night attack on Egusuku castle (also known as Shishiku 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. Hanzà  was praised by Ieyasu for this achievement.
In 1584, Hattori Hanzà  continued to serve Ieyasu at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. During this battle, Hanzo marched to Ise commanding 100 warriors of Iga and Kà Âka 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 (second bailey of the castle). In the ends, the castle fallen to the Toyotomi's force.
In 1590, Hattori Hanzà  participated in the Odawara campaign, where he led a troop of 50 members of Negoro-shà «, a group of mercenaries using firearms that originated in Kii Province. After this conflict, for his service in helping Ieyasu crossing of Iga, Hanzà  was awarded with 8,000 koku of domain in Totomi Province (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture). By the time Ieyasu relocated to Kantà  region, Hanzà  was given the command of yoriki officers and 200 civil officials.
In 1597, Hanzà  died on 2 January, succumbing to an unspecified illness.. A fictional account of his death is that while he was pursuing Fà «ma Kotarà  in the Seto Inland Sea, he fell into Kotarà ÂâÂÂs trap. Kotarà  succeeded in luring him into a small channel and a tide trapped the Tokugawa fleet. Then, Kotarà  and his men set fire in the channel using oil.
Hanzà Â'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 (Japanese spear) which preserved in The spear's blade is ryà Â-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 (424 cm) long, 7.5 kg in weight, and given to him by Ieyasu, was donated to the temple by Hanzà  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 Hanzà  for his valor at the Battle of Mikatagahara (1572). It was later donated to Saenen-ji temple (founded by Hanzà  to honor IeyasuâÂÂs eldest son, Matsudaira Nobuyasu, who was ordered to commit seppuku) by Hanzà ÂâÂÂs descendants in the late Edo period.
Another Hanzo's spear was recorded being passed down to à Âtani Masazumi, a vassal of . The blade length is 3 shaku and 7 sun (approx. 111.8 cm), while the groove (hi) depth is medium, approximately 3 'bu (about 9 mm).
Hanzà Â's reputation as a samurai leader who commanded a 200-men strong unit of Iga warriors has grown to legendary proportions. Tales of Hattori's exploits often attributed various supernatural abilities, such as teleportation, psychokinesis, and precognition.
After his death in 1597, Hattori Hanzà  was succeeded by his son, whose name was also Masanari (third Hanzà Â), though written with different kanji (æ£就 instead of æ£æÂÂ). He was given the title Iwami no Kami (ç³è¦Âå®Â) and his Iga men would act as guards of Edo Castle, the headquarters of the government of united Japan. "Hanzà Â" is actually a name passed down through the leaders of the Hattori family, meaning his father was also called Hanzà  and so was his successor. Indeed, there were at least five people known as Hattori Hanzà  throughout history.
To this day, artefacts of Hanzà Â's legacy remain. Tokyo Imperial Palace (formerly the shà Âguns palace) still has a gate called Hanzà Â's Gate (Hanzà Âmon), and the Hanzà Âmon subway line which runs from Hanzà Âmon Station in central Tokyo to the southwestern suburbs is named after the gate, where his house was once located. The neighbourhood outside Hanzà Â's Gate is known as Wakaba, but before 1943 was named Iga-chà  ("Iga Town").
As a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hanzà  was more popularly known in modern era as archetypical ninja figure and is featured in many fictional works. However, Hanzà  was not featured in the first ninja boom of the Taishà  era (1912-1926), as during that era, the ninja archetype figure in fictional works were more dominated by Sarutobi Sasuke and Kirigakure Saizà Â. Hanzà  only started to gain his acknowledgement as legendary ninja in fictional works in the 1950s in various mediums such as novels, manga, anime, Japanese television drama, movies, and theatre of Japan. , a famous movie by Quentin Tarantino is also heavily attributed to the speciality of his Sword. Important works in the process of creating "Ninja Hattori Hanzo" reputation include Shibata Renzaburo's "Akai Kageboshi" (1960) and Yamada Futaro's short story "Ninja Hattori Hanzo" (1964). The former portrays Hanzà  as a central character who is deeply involved with the protagonist and runs through the story. The latter is a work that shows that "Hattori Hanzo" does not refer to a specific person, but is a name that is passed down.