Fūma Kotarō
Fūma Kotarō (Fifth) 風魔 小太郎 | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sagami Province |
| Died | 1603 Edo |
| Allegiance |  Hōjō clan |
| Commands held | Kanagawa Prefecture |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Omosu (1580) Siege of Odawara (1590) |
Fūma Kotarō (風魔 小太郎) was the name adopted by the leader of the
The Fūma clan and Fūma Kotarō
The clan was based in
Fūma Kotarō was the fifth and the best known of the Fūma clan leaders. Born in Sagami Province (modern Kanagawa Prefecture) on an unknown date, he became notorious as the leader of a band of 200 Rappa "battle disrupters",[3] divided into four groups: brigands, pirates, burglars and thieves. Kotarō served under Hōjō Ujimasa and Hōjō Ujinao. His biggest achievement came in 1580 at Battle of Omosu, when the Fūma ninja covertly infiltrated and attacked a camp of the Takeda clan forces under Takeda Katsuyori at night, succeeding in causing severe chaos in the camp, which resulted in massive casualties among the disoriented enemies as they attacked each other.[4] Later in 1590, at Siege of Odawara, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi laid siege to Odawara Castle, which eventually fell, the Hōjō clan was forced to surrender.
When the Tokugawa shogunate came to power, the remnants of Fūma-ryū were reduced to a band of brigands operating in and around Edo. A popular but fictional story says that in 1596, Kotarō was responsible for the death of Hattori Hanzō, a famous ninja in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had tracked him down in the Inland Sea, but Kotarō has succeeded in luring him into a small channel, where a tide trapped the Tokugawa gunboats and his men then set fire to the channel with oil.[2][4]
Kotarō was eventually caught by the Tokugawa shogunate's special law-enforcement force, guided by his rival and a former Takeda ninja Kōsaka Jinnai (高坂甚内), and executed through beheading by an order of Ieyasu in 1603.
In folklore and popular culture
In a folk legend, he is often an inhuman figure: a supposedly part-oni monstrous giant (over 2 meters tall) with inverted eyes.[4] In fiction portrayals, Fūma Kotarō is often depicted as Hattori Hanzō's arch-rival. As the name Fūma literally means "wind demon", Fūma Kotarō's depiction is frequently more flamboyant, fantastical, and sometimes even demonic. In contrast, Hanzō is usually rendered with a relatively subdued appearance.
Kotarō is a player character in the video game
The anime series Sengoku Collection features a female interpretation of Kotarō, being a servant to the female version of Imagawa Yoshimoto. In the manga and anime series Laughing Under the Clouds, Fuma Kotaro is a couple of twins who both rule over a falling Fuma clan. In the manga series Yaiba, he is a revenant brought back to life by Onimaru.
His 18th-century descendant Fūma Kotarō Kaneyoshi is the hero's nemesis through most of the TV series
A fictional weapon called the Fūma shuriken is a large collapsible shuriken with four blades. In 2014, Makai Syojyo Ken held a professional wrestling event where several wrestlers performed as historical figures; during the event, Isami Kodaka performed as Fūma Kotarō.[6]
See also
- Ishikawa Goemon
- Hattori Hanzo
References
- ^ Stephen K. Hayes, Ninja: Legacy of the Night Warrior, p.16.
- ^ a b Donn F. Draeger, Ninjutsu: The Art of Invisibility, p.129-130.
- ^ Stephen K. Hayes, The Mystic Arts of the Ninja: Hypnotism, Invisibility, and Weaponry, p.4.
- ^ a b c Joel Levy, Ninja: The Shadow Warrior, p.165-166.
- ^ "Shall we date?:Ninja Love - Android-apps op Google Play". Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ 【結果】魔界錬闘会10・24新木場. Ringstars (in Japanese). Ameba. 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
