Jirokichi the Rat or Nezumi Kozo, (次郎吉 or ねずみ小僧, the latter literally meaning rat boy, ?? - 1832) is a Japanese folk hero, a legendary benevolent outlaw similar to the English Robin Hood. He lived in Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the Edo period and was known for robbing the estates of daimyo and supposedly donating the money to the poor. The most likely explanation for his nickname was that he always carried a bag of trained rats, and let them loose to scurry around the estate so anyone present would be too distracted by the sounds of scurrying rats to hear him sneaking, although he may have also gotten the nickname from his rat-like features and mannerisms. Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Folklore is the body of narratives, including tales, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs current among a particular population, comprising the oral tradition of that culture, subculture, or group. ... Butch Cassidy, a famous Western American outlaw An outlaw, a person living the lifestyle of outlawry, meaning literally outside of the law. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Robin Hood is the archetypal English folk hero, an outlaw who, in modern versions of the legend, stole from the rich to give to the poor. ... Edo (Japanese: 江戸, literally: bay-door, estuary), once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo. ... Long a symbol of Tokyo, the Nijubashi Bridge at the Kokyo Imperial Palace. ... The Edo period (江戸時代, Edo-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1600 to 1867. ... Daimyo Matsudaira Katamori visits the residence of a retainer. ...

In 1822, he was caught and branded, and banished from Edo. In 1832, he was captured again, tied to a horse, and paraded in public before being beheaded. His head was then publicly displayed on a stake. Before his death, he confessed to the burglary of over 100 samurai estates and the impressive theft of over 30,000 ryō throughout his infamous 15-year career. His grave is at Ekō-in in Tokyo. 1822 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Beheading—Facsimile of a Miniature on Wood in the Cosmographie Universelle of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552. ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860 photograph. ... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared Theft (also known as stealing) is in general, the wrongful taking of someone elses property without that persons willful consent. ... A Ryō (Japanese: 両) was a gold piece in pre-Meiji Japan. ...

During his lifetime, he was immensely popular with peasants, especially those who suffered from oppression or perceived oppression by the Japanese feudal system. After his death he became a folk hero, and his story was embellished, making him out to be a ninja. His life has been commemorated in kabuki theatre, folk songs, jidaigeki, Japanese film, video games, and modern pop culture. In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: the 16th century was a good time for European peasants A peasant, from 15th... Defining feudalism requires many qualifiers because there is no broadly accepted agreement of what it means. ... A ninja on the cover of Black Belt magazine. ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film and television in Japan. ... Films are produced by recording actual people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques and/or special effects. ... Computer and video games A screenshot of Tetris for the Nintendo Game Boy A console game (better known as a video game) is a form of interactive multimedia used for entertainment, which consists of a moveable image displayed on a screen that is usually controlled and manipulated using a handheld... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ...

Nezumi Kozo has been compared to Ishikawa Goemon, and is sometimes depicted to be Goemon's peer, although the two were actually from different time periods. Kozo is inspiration for the video game character Ebisumaru, who commonly stars with Goemon in a series from Konami entitled Ganbare Goemon. Ishikawa Goemon (石川五右衛門 Ishikawa Goemon) (1558-1594) was a famous Japanese thief, put to death after failing to assassinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi. ... Konami Corporation (コナミ) (TYO: 9766) (NYSE: KNM) (SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. ... Ganbare Goemon (known as Legend of the Mystical Ninja in North America), is a prolific video game series produced by Konami. ...

External links

• Essay about Nezumi Kozo in the context of Kabuki
• Robin Hoods of the World: Japan's Jirokichi the Rat from the BBCKozo, Nezumi