Since most historical accounts were written from the perspective of the victorious side, the truth is not always reported. On the other hand, figures have become legendary heroes despite having committed evil acts. In the latter half of the 16th century during the time of TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi – who unified Japan – a group of burglars ransacked houses in the capital, Kyoto and its outskirts. According to one surviving account, the head of the group, ISHIKAWA Goemon, was captured and boiled alive with his infant son in an iron pot filled with oil. The thief Goemon opposed Hideyoshi – who had tormented the populace – and so many legends about him sprung up. In some tales he only stole from those in power and when he was being boiled in oil, he lifted his son up until he took his dying breath. In the Edo period after Hideyoshi’s death, he was regarded as a hero by the general public, and became a unique character in kabuki plays and joururi (dramatic recitations). In the latter part of the Edo period, the thief, Jirokichi, known as NEZUMI Kozo (rat lad), who specialized in stealing from the mansions of the nobility, was brutally executed. Before the execution he was dragged around the town, and a crowd of people rushed to see him. A rumor had spread among the people that the money he had robbed from the nobility had been distributed to the poor. To substantiate this, when his house was searched none of the stolen money was found. At that time a system of collective responsibility was in place, so he handed over divorce and separation certificates to his wife and mistresses in advance and received his punishment alone. It’s because of this that he was talked about as a hero who stood up to the authorities alone, becoming the subject for numerous movies and novels. However, among present day historians, the established view is that he spent most of the money he stole on gambling, women and alcohol. Making his appearance right after Nezumi Kozo was KUNISADA Chuji, a yakuza (gangster) who operated in the region of present day Gunma Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture. He survived countless fights with fellow yakuza and was feared as being “Kunisada Chuji who kills his opponents while smiling sweetly.” In movies and plays, he is depicted as a yakuza who has a deep sense of duty to his fellow human beings; taking care of his subordinates and saving farmers during a famine. Finally he was crucified for the crimes of murder and breaking through a barrier station. The most plausible theory is that the theatrical version is a made up story and he was in fact simply a yakuza. In the early part of the Showa era, TANI Yutaka, a burglar who operated in the Malay Peninsula, who later became known as “Harimau,”was also turned into a hero. Then a colony of Britain, the Tani family moved to the Malay Peninsula when Yutaka was two years old. In reaction to Japan setting up the puppet nation of Manchuria in northeastern China in 1931, Chinese in Malay rioted in order to expel the Japanese. The Tani household was destroyed, and his sister’s head was cut off and taken away. Furious, Yutaka formed a gang of thieves with his Malay friends and targeted Chinese, but was captured and thrown into prison. During that time the Pacific War got underway and the Japanese military recruited Yutaka’s group to their network of spies. Released, Yutaka successfully delayed construction to strengthen the British military’s fortifications. After that, Yutaka died after becoming infected with malaria. In order to strengthen morale, the Japanese military transformed Yutaka into the legendary hero Harimau. Thus historical heroes are created by those in power who wish to make use of them, or conversely, by the desire of ordinary people to oppose to those in power. (From March issue, 2014 / 2014年3月号より）