#Nakamura Jirokichi

[tanuki-kimono]

Adorably cheeky modern obi by KyoWakka inspired by folk hero Nezumi kozô, an Edo period Robin-hood-like folk hero actually named Nakamura Jirokichi.

The nickname Nezumi kozô lit. means "rat brat", but here the thief relieving the rich of their koban (oval gold coin) is... a cat!?

I love this design sooo much: the glowing lanterns of the party searching this phantom thief + the rat-shaped shadow are super cute details!

[nikosasaki]

heyyyyy! any ideas for your potential one piece oc yet?

oh do I!! ofc all of this is extremely subject to change but this is what my brain has been rotating for the past few hours;

his name is Jirokichi 'Mouse' Mullowney, named after nezumi kozō, a thief and folk hero whose full name was nakamura jirokichi, and john mullowney, an irish horse thief turned bounty hunter who hunted catholic priests. so that's fun.

Mouse is a famed and elusive bounty hunter — on of the most prolific bounty hunter in the east blue, who is mostly known for not being known at all. he only really does his business through a third party, in the dark, or in some other way that hides his identity. quiet and unseen, like a mouse in the dark. he's kind of a folk tale himself, in that way. people have no idea what he looks like, or even if he's a man or a woman, etc.

you'd think Mouse is really cool and competent, what with being a famed bounty hunter and all that. but no. really, he's just extremely lucky. ninety percent of his success comes from plain old luck and being in the right place at the right time. he's a happy-go-lucky guy who just so happens to be an extremely good tracker.

he meets the straw hats somewhere between shells town and syrup village. really, he meets Luffy who can't help but be too friendly and overshare (im thinking he might be sent by Garp to find Luffy but im not sure yet, but either way;) Mouse is like. hm. my kinda guy. he introduces himself as regular guy Jiro who ends up helping Luffy and the crew out of a messy situation, after which it is revealed that he is actually famous bounty hunter Mouse. Zoro, who has been lowkey obsessing over Mouse (for normal reasons!! he swears) kind of loses his mind because he thought Jiro was really annoying but that doesn't make sense because Mouse should be cool etc.

throughout the story they keep running into Mouse until he finally decides to join them full time by the end of season one, and all the while he and Zoro have a very silly push and pull dynamic where Mouse very openly flirts with Zoro and Zoro wants to die.

his fc is maybe kento yamazaki but I'm very open to suggestions (ethnicity doesn't matter. really just looking for someone with bambi eyes and a great smile) because it's Hard to find someone with resources that match one piece's vibe.

[todayintokyo]

The rat boy of Tokyo

2020 is the year of the rat, so here’s the true story of the rat boy of Tokyo. If you’ve ever been to Asakusa, you might have seen his statue.

He was the greatest robber in old Edo. His real name was Nakamura Jirokichi (仲村次郎吉); his nickname was Nezumi Kozō (鼠小僧), which can be translated as “rat boy”. He was born in 1797. He was a cabinet maker’s apprentice, but he led such a wild life that his father disowned him. That’s when he started his famous career as a burglar. He was first caught in 1822 and banished from Edo, then captured again and executed a few years later.

He confessed that he had broken into more than 100 samurai estates and had stolen over 30 000 ryō (cold coins). His exploits turned him into a folk hero, and it’s possible that he got his nickname because he was quick and smart, like a rat.

He was buried at Ekōin (回向院) in Ryōgoku, and you can still visit his grave. His original tombstone disappeared because so many people took chips from it, believing that it would ensure good luck in gambling or in financial matters. A new tombstone was made, and nowadays visitors scratch a special rock with a pebble and put the dust in their wallet. This, it is said, will give you a share of the luck that the rat boy enjoyed for many years.

The temple also has a special graveyard for pets (fairly common in Japan):

[kuipernebula]

Lined and Colored that take on Ushimitsu Kozo. His real name is probably some pun on Nakamura Jirokichi, the name of Nezumi Kozo, who he’s based on.

Couldn’t pick a color palette so I went with one for a blue-haired variant and one for a white-haired variant.

[ask-the-disciples]

More info about Persona 5 AU for Zen!! - They would most likely be the Heirophant Confidant - Upon maximizing bonds with Zen, like with every other party Confidant, you unlock their ultimate persona. Zen’s persona Tabitha transforms into Jirokichi - and has a drastically different appearance and overall tone. - Zen overall is built as a high-risk, high-reward fighter. Tabitha uses more physical attacks, and Jirokichi magic-based (with specialties in Fire and Curse). - Tabitha’s inspirations were explained in the previous post - as for their ultimate Persona, Jirokichi is directly based on Jirokichi Nakamura, a firefighter by day and thief by night. After being caught it was revealed all of the riches, weapons and food he stole were completely donated to the poor and ill. Shortly after, he was executed. - Soul Snipe one-shots an enemy. If that enemy is at full health when this is done, this Gun Attack can be used to fully revive a fallen ally. However, if a second ally is the target, the name of this attack changes to Double Cross, where the chosen ally to be healed only gains half-health back - however also raises the healed's highest stat a decent amount. Either or can only be used once per battle.

[liarsadvocate]

PERSONA 5 AU PROFILE

I finally finished the profile! You don’t gotta read this if you wanna roleplay with me in this AU, this is more like a dump so I don’t forget this stuff.

Name: Ouma Kokichi Age: 18 Education: Shujin Academy Residence: Yongen-Jaya

Arcana: Fortune Persona: Nezumi Kozou Melee Weapon: Daggers/Hunting Knives Ranged: Pistols (Only used when absolutely necessary)

BACKGROUND

Kokichi’s parents died when he was young and it’s unclear when and how he found his way to an orphanage. Once turning old enough to live alone, he moved into his own apartment, a cheap place in Yongen-Jaya. A while ago, he had experienced a few weird, surreal encounters that are blurry in his memory, until he found a mysterious app on his phone that granted him access to the metaverse. After an unfortunate accident and fighting off the owner of a palace, his rebellion lead to the discovery of his persona. Since then, he sometimes visits Mementos to use his skill for good in disguise.

DICE exists, though he hasn’t told them about the existence of the metaverse yet. It’s a parallel dimension with many risks and an experience like that is life-changing. So, he’ll investigate it first until he understands how it works, before dragging them into something they can’t turn away from later. Most importantly though, fighting is always connected to violence and even if they’re not fighting humans or animals, just shadows, it leaves a bad aftertaste. Kokichi knows how useful the metaverse is to do good and after having seen it he can’t turn his eyes away, but he feels bad about fighting and is often caught in an internal conflict due to this. Until he solves this for himself, he doesn’t want to burden them with these countless problems.

ARCANA “ The Fortune Arcana is portrayed by the Wheel of Fortune and symbolizes fate, luck, fortune and opportunity. Personas of this Arcana often specialize in Wind-based abilities. They are depicted as mythological figures or deities that control fate / omens.Human characters of the Fortune.

Human characters of the Fortune Arcana are usually individuals who attempt to seize their own destiny in spite of fate and are typically involved with making important choices and decisions in response to what life throws at them. “ (Taken from the Megami Tensei Wikia)

I chose this Arcana since Ouma, to be blunt, tends to have real shit luck and easily ends up in situations in canon where yes, a lot was his own fault, but a lot was also him ending up in terrible situations, trying to control them and making grave decisions that changed the entire course of the game itself. 

PERSONA: NEZUMI KOZOU

History: During the Edo period, he was a thief and folk hero said to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Over the span of 15 years, he stole around 30.000 ryo, despite the theft of 10 ryo being punished with death and having already received a warning tattoo in form of a stripe on his arm. His thievery was a humiliation towards the wealthy samurai he stole from. Some historians believe he might have wasted the money on women and gambling, but the poor celebrated him for mocking the oppressive forces and their lack of security through his deeds. Thus, it is unsure what his true nature was.

Nakamura Jirokichi received the nickname ‘Nezumi Kozou’, which translates to ‘rat urchin.’ When breaking into samurai’s homes, he was said to release a bag of rats into their residence to cover up the possible noise he made while stealing. In reference to Jirokichi’s good luck, many scrape stone off his grave when visiting it in Tokyo.

Reference: 💜  💙

OUMA’S PHANTOM THIEF OUTFIT

His upper body is concealed by a white, formal jacket. It has a closed collar, three fake bondage straps on each of his arms and more or less loose, colourful buttons at the front. It looks like someone tied a kimono sash around his waist, made of checkered black and white fabric, but it’s tightly sewn into the fabric of his jacket and there’s no knot or ribbon to be seen. His pants are in the same fashion, white, fake bondage belts, and he wears thin, laced boots of the same colour. Dangling from his hips are two broken chains that seem to lead nowhere. Around his shoulders, he’s wearing a torn cape, black on the outside, dark purple on the inside.

The final parts of his outfit are of course the mask and gloves. Since they always need to be colourful for a phantom thief, his are purple. A white, half mask covers his eyes with the same motive as his official DICE mask. Kokichi both likes it and complains about his outfit, because some parts of it are cumbersome, but he’ll grow comfortable with it over time.

(It’s different from his official artwork, but the outfit is obviously inspired by it. I did this because I believe DICE portrays a great part of his beliefs and strength and is such a huge part of his life that it’s simply tied to his rebellion, too.)

NEZUMI KOZOU

Visual Description: As a young man from Japan during the Edo period, Nezumi is wearing part of a snow white kimono on his upper body, with a black sash tied around his waist and hems of the same colour. It’s hard to see, but the inside of the kimono part is checkered. His pants are made of white fabric as well, though silver chains tightly wind around them starting from his hips. Raven, straight hair flows over his shoulders and floats ominously around him, along with his attire, whenever he attacks. Nezumi’s skin is pale as bone and his face is covered by a full white mask, matching the one Kokichi wears, though the sides are inverted.

He does not carry an obvious weapon, but there are daggers hidden underneath his clothes. What he always carries with him is the huge rat cage on his back. It is crafted of a white, silvery frame holding chambers of black tinted glass, each containing either a rat or a fortune spirit. Most ominous are the rats themselves, for they have pitch-black fur and violet, glowing eyes.

The fortune spirits are bound to doll-shaped Omikuji. One may believe they represent fortune and the rats represent misfortune, but since Nezumi used his rats to cover up his noise and distract from his deeds, one may also associate it to Kokichi’s lies, since they’re his cover up and greatest tool, too.

Nezumi Kozou’s clothes are torn and dirty, but his determination to mock the oppression remains undefeated.

Fighting style: Befitting of a thief, he has a relatively low defence, but a high attack rate and agility as compensation. Nezumi uses his rats in battle to brainwash and confuse enemies into attacking each other or being more vulnerable towards critical hits. Some of his attacks are like the wind carrying the disturbing chatter of rats to your ears, while others strike you mercilessly and quickly to bestow a swift death upon you. The fortune spirits grant him and his companions greater luck and useful status conditions.

Sidenote: I originally wanted a historical figure, a pacifist against violence or something similar, but there was nothing I could have used together with the lies and trickery theme necessary for him, sooo...I ended up picking this. Not 100% what I wanted, but not bad I believe. I adjusted a few things about Kozou, but yeah. Also, jokes on Ouma, the “good luck charm” thing is pretty ironic since Ouma tends to have shitty luck himself. So I guess this acts more as a neutralisation in battle.

[walkingbikingjapan]

Nezumi Kozo whose real name is Jirokichi Nakamura is perhaps the most famous Japanese robber and hero who lived in Edo, the fomer Tokyo during the late 18th and early 19th century.  He commited the robbery in various samurai‘s residences in Tokyo and was finally captured in 1831 when he was executed.  It as believed that he went into only samurai‘s places which was a symbol of the power and that the money he stole was donated to those in poverty.  Because of this rumor, Nezumi Kozo became the legend in Edo and was became a popular character in Kabuki performances.

By 三代目歌川豐國 / Toyokuni Utagawa III – http://www.enpaku.waseda.ac.jp/db/image/enpaku/nishikie/101-1/101-1113.jpg, Public Domain, Link

His grave is in Eko-in Temple in Ryogoku which I wrote about in my previous post.

Tomb of Nezumi Kozo in Eko-in

Tomb Stone of Nezumi Kozo, the Famous Thief

Tomb stone read August 18, Tempo 3-nen which means year 1832.  His name Jirokichi Nakamura was also curved.  According to Wikipedia, he was arrested in that year and was executed on Aubust 19 – so I don’t know why the tomb stone says August 18.  In front of the tomb stone, there is another white stone and there are many worshippers who are grinding the stone.  Since Nezumi Kozo had not been captured for a long period of time, people believed that he had a luck and that you could also gain luck if you grind his tomb stone.  Of course, this white stone is replaced from time to time.

Nezumi Kozo the Robber who became Kabuki character. #japantravel #tokyo #temple #kabuki Nezumi Kozo whose real name is Jirokichi Nakamura is perhaps the most famous Japanese robber and hero who lived in Edo, the fomer Tokyo during the late 18th and early 19th century.  

[silodrome]

Nezumi Baleine Dive Watch - A Classic Swedish Automatic

Nezumi Baleine Dive Watch - A Classic Swedish Automatic #watch #watches #fashion #style #menswear

The Nezumi Baleine Dive Watch is made by Swedish company Nezumi Studios – they specialize in developing classically styled watches with surprisingly affordable price tags. The name “Nezumi” comes from a Japanese folk hero from the Edo period nicknamed “Nezumi Kozō”, his real name was Nakamura Jirokichi, and he became famous for stealing from 100+ samurai estates over his career and giving much of…