Nezumi Kozo

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Nezumi Kozo (鼠小僧) was the nickname of one Jirokichi (次郎吉 Unknown - 1832), a Japanese thief who lived in Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the Edo period. In 1822, he was caught and branded, and banished from Edo. In 1832, he was captured again, and confessed to the burglary of over 100 samurai estates and the impressive theft of over 30,000 ryō throughout his 15-year career. He was tied to a horse and paraded in public before being beheaded at the Suzu-ga-mori execution grounds. His head was then publicly displayed on a stake. His grave is at Ekō-in in Tokyo.

Because he was known for robbing the estates of daimyo and supposedly donating the money to the poor, Japanese popular culture portrays him as similar to Robin Hood. After his death, his story was embellished. His life has been commemorated in kabuki theatre, folk songs, jidaigeki, video games, and modern pop culture. Ryunosuke Akutagawa wrote a short story, Nezumi Kozo Jirokichi (translated into English as "Nezumi-Kozo (The Japanese Robin Hood)"); at least two films have had the same Japanese title.

Nezumi Kozo in modern popular culture

Nezumi Kozo is an inspiration for the video game character Ebisumaru, who commonly stars in a series from Konami entitled Ganbare Goemon. A descendant also appears in Lupin III to cause trouble for Goemon Ishikawa XIII in an episode of the second series.

The nickname

Jirokichi's nickname, Nezumi Kozo, is not a name; "Nezumi" is neither a surname nor a given name (nor is "Kozo"). Nezumi is the Japanese word for "mouse" or "rat"; a kozo was a young errand-boy who worked in a shop in the Edo period. The nickname can thus be roughly translated as "rat boy".

External links

[Essay about Nezumi Kozo in the context of Kabuki]
[Robin Hoods of the World: Japan's Jirokichi the Rat] from the BBC

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