is the nickname of , a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

thief and folk hero who lived in

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

(present-day

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

) during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

.Goodman, David G. (1986). Pg 256-257. "After Apocalypse: Four Japanese Plays of Hiroshima and Nagasaki", New York: Columbia University Press. His exploits have been commemorated in

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought ...

theatre,

folk songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

, and modern

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ...

Capture and tattoo

In 1822, he was caught and tattooed, and banished from Edo. On August 8, 1831, he was captured again, and confessed to the

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murd ...

of over 100

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

estates and the impressive

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

of over 30,000

ryō The was a gold currency unit in the shakkanhō system in pre- Meiji Japan. It was eventually replaced with a system based on the '' yen''. Origins The ''ryō'' was originally a unit of weight from China, the ''tael.'' It came into use in Jap ...

throughout his 15-year career. He was tied to a horse and paraded in public before being

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the au ...

at the Suzugamori execution grounds. His head was then publicly displayed on a stake. He was buried at

Ekō-in , also known as Honjo Ekō-in, is a Pure Land Buddhist temple in Ryōgoku, Tokyo. The formal name of the temple is , reflecting its founding principle of Pariṇāmanā, or the spreading of Amida Buddha's benevolence to all souls of all living cr ...

located in the

Ryōgoku is a district in Sumida, Tokyo. It is surrounded by various districts in Sumida, Chūō, and Taitō wards: Yokoami, Midori, Chitose, Higashi Nihonbashi, and Yanagibashi. In 1659, the Ryōgoku Bridge was built, spanning the Sumida River ju ...

section of Tokyo. So many pilgrims have chipped away pieces of his tombstone for charms that his

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

has had to have been replaced a number of times since his death.

Background

At the time of the arrest, Jirokichi was found to have very little money. This, combined with the

public humiliation Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...

he dealt out to the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'', resulted in the popular legend that he gave the money to the poor, turning the petty crook into a posthumous folk hero similar to

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

. The fact that he died alone, serving his wives with divorce papers just prior to arrest in order to protect them from sharing in the punishment as the law decreed, further enhanced his stature.

Nickname

Jirokichi's nickname Nezumi Kozō roughly means "Rat Kid". The word ''nezumi'' means "rat" or "mouse" and ''kozō'' translates to "kid, brat". The term ''kozō'' is a somewhat pejorative word for any young male.''kozō (3)'' in '' Kojien'' (4th ed., 1991). . In actuality, even though the nickname containing the term ''kozō'' was frequently applied to pickpockets, there are many other instances where it became the epithet of other types of criminals.

Media

* '' Nezumi, Edo wo hashiru'': a Japanese television series relating the adventures of Nezumi Kozo, with

Hideaki Takizawa , also known professionally as , is a Japanese record producer and former singer and actor. In 2002, he debuted with Tsubasa Imai in the group Tackey & Tsubasa under the record label Avex Trax. In 2018, Takizawa retired from entertainment and ...

in the main part. * In the game ''

Persona 5 is a 2016 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. It takes place in modern-day Tokyo and follows a high school student known by the pseudonym Joker who transfers to a new school after being falsely accused of assault and put on probation ...

'', the main character is shown wearing a t-shirt referencing the year of his birth and there is a pop quiz question related to his execution. * In an episode of '' Lupin III Part 2'', Nezumi Kozō's fourth descendant, named Rat Boy Jirokichi IV, teams up with

Goemon Ishikawa XIII is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in '' Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. Goemon is a thirteenth generation descendant of the renegade samurai Ishikawa Goemon. He is famo ...

to pull off a heist in the Sakuradamon Police Station.

Explanatory notes

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

External links

Robin Hoods of the World: Japan's Jirokichi the Rat from the BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nezumi Kozo 1831 deaths 1797 births Japanese folklore Japanese thieves 19th-century executions by Japan Executed Japanese people People executed by Japan by decapitation Ninja