is a popular series of stories and television jidaigeki

Jidaigeki

is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...

in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. A story by Shōtarō Ikenami

Shotaro Ikenami

was a Japanese author.-Major works:Ikenami created several works, including:*Kenkaku Shōbai *Onihei Hankachō*Ninja Justice: Six Tales of Murder and Revenge...

 in the December 1967 issue of the magazine "All Yomimono" developed into a series, which Bungei Shunju published the following year. In all, 135 stories were published.

The title character is Hasegawa Heizō, head of the special police who had jurisdiction over arson-robberies in Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

. Nicknamed "Onihei," meaning "Heizō the demon

Demon

call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

," he led a band of samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 police and cultivated reformed criminals as informants to solve difficult crimes.

Four actors have portrayed Onihei on television. The first was Matsumoto Hakuō I

Matsumoto Hakuo I

, born , was a Japanese Kabuki actor, regarded as the leading tachiyaku of the postwar decades; he also performed in a number of non-kabuki venues, including Western theatre and films...

. Tetsurō Tamba

Tetsuro Tamba

was a Japanese actor.-Biography:Tamba is perhaps best known by Western audiences for his role as Tiger Tanaka in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice . By then, he had among other roles appeared in two films by director Masaki Kobayashi: Harakiri and Kwaidan...

 and Kinnosuke Nakamura also played the lead in Toho

Toho

is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...

 series on NET

TV Asahi

, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....

. More recently, Nakamura Kichiemon II

Nakamura Kichiemon II

is a Japanese actor, kabuki performer and costume designer. He is a so-called Living National Treasure.Nakamura Kichiemon is a formal kabuki stage name. The actor's grandfather first appeared using the name in 1897; and Nakamura Kichiemon I continued to use this name until his death...

, son of Hakuō, led a cast in a Shochiku

Shochiku

is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...

 production on Fuji Television

Fuji Television

is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....

.

The Fuji series ran from 1989 to 2001, with occasional short series and specials as recently as 2007. Until his death in 2001, Edoya Nekohachi III portrayed the informant Hikojū, often paired with Omasa (Meiko Kaji). Another informant was played by Chōsuke Ikariya

Chosuke Ikariya

was a Japanese comedian and film actor, and leader of the Owarai comedy group The Drifters. His nickname was .-1931–1962: Early career:Chōsuke Ikariya was born with the name of on November 1, 1931 in Tokyo, Japan. During the war his family moved from their home in Sumida, Tokyo to the countryside...

. Yumi Takigawa was Hisae, wife of Onihei. Guests have included Akira Emoto, Frankie Sakai

Frankie Sakai

was a Japanese comedian, actor, and musician.-Career:From his days at Keio University, Sakai worked as a jazz drummer at American Army camps during the Occupation of Japan, often doing comic routines with his music...

, Rokusaburo Michiba

Rokusaburo Michiba

is a Japanese cuisine chef most notable as the first Japanese Iron Chef on the television series Iron Chef. He was on the show from its inception in 1993 until his retirement on his 65th birthday, January 3, 1996...

, Makoto Fujita

Makoto Fujita

, born Makoto Harada , was a Japanese actor. He was born in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, the son of silent-film actor Rintarō Fujima, and started his career as a comedian in 1952.-Acting Roles:...

, Shima Iwashita, Isuzu Yamada

Isuzu Yamada

is a Japanese actress on stage and screen whose career has spanned eight decades.-Career:Yamada was born in Osaka with the name Mitsu Yamada. Her father, Kusuo Yamada, was a shinpa stage actor specializing in onnagata roles and her mother, Ritsu, was a geisha...

, Yoshizumi Ishihara

Yoshizumi Ishihara

is a Japanese weather forecaster, TV personality, and actor. He is the second son of Tokyo governor Shintarō Ishihara, and brother of politicians Nobuteru Ishihara and Hirotaka Ishihara.-Biography:Ishihara was born on 15 January 1962 in Zushi, Kanagawa....

, and Tetsuro Tamba.

In Other Media

• Heizo Hasegawa was highlighted in volume 15 of the Case Closed
  Case Closed
  Case Closed, known as in Japan, is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. The series is serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday since February 2, 1994, and has been collected in 73 tankōbon volumes as of September 2011...
  
  manga's edition of "Gosho Aoyoma's Mystery Library, a section of the graphic novels (usually the last page) where the author introduces a different detective (or occasionally, a villain) from mystery literature, television, or other media. The character Heizo Hattori (Martin Hartwell in the English adaptations) was also named after Hasegawa.

External links

• Onihei search at Bungei Shunju
• Onihei Hankacho at IMDB