Hattori Hanzō was born the son of , the
First Hanzō, a minor samurai in the service of the
Matsudaira (later
Tokugawa) clan. His real name was . Despite being born in
Mikawa Province (now Iga-chō,
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 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; 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 Hanzō, 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 and 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. 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
Kōka 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. 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 (家忠日記), 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 temple in Shinjuku Ward According to Iga's history book (伊賀者由緒書) 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 (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 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 (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. 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, Hanzō 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 (second bailey of the castle). In the end, the castle fell to the Toyotomi 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 (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture). 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.. A fictional account of his death is that while he was pursuing
Fūma Kotarō in the
Seto Inland Sea, he fell into Kotarō's trap. Kotarō succeeded in luring him into a small channel and a tide trapped the Tokugawa fleet. Then, Kotarō and his men set fire in the channel using oil. == Weapons and armaments ==