Hattori Jiho (服部持法)
Jiho Hattori (dates of birth and death unknown) was a samurai from Iga Province and an akuto (a villain of medieval times), who was active from the late Kamakura period to the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (Japan). His common name was Uemontaro.
His imina (personal name) was unknown
Jiho was the name he assumed when he entered the priesthood. `Doshu` was another religious title that he used.
The Hattori clan were powerful gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi through Edo periods) with bases in Hattori-go, Ae-gun County, Iga Province (present-day Iga City, Mie Prefecture), and dominated the northern part of Iga Province, such as Ae -gun County and Yamada-gun Country (Iga Province).
From the beginning of the 14th century, villains became active in Kuroda estate which was part of the lands belonging to Todai-ji Temple in Nabari-gun County in Iga Province
Although the authorities in Rokuhara (Kyoto) tried to suppress the villains (at the request of Todai-ji Temple) the insurgency could not be suppressed.. In 1327 the authorities in Rokuhara (Kyoto) issued a strict decree that commanded the police commanders in Iga Province (Tsuneshige TAIRA and Jiho HATTORI), to arrest a gang of villains which included Kakushun and Dogan. However, Tsuneshige and Jiro had been bribed by the villains and, when the pair went into the estate (unaccompanied by their soldiers) following some entertainment provided by the villains, the pair left the estate and reported to the Rokuhara authorities that the villains had escaped. The Rokuhara Tandai was not convinced by this outcome and in July of the same year the order was once again issued to destroy the houses of the villains and arrest them. However, Jiho and the others did not follow this order (on the pretext they were ill), but they eventually (August) visited the Kuroda estate and reported back that the villains had evaded capture yet again. It is said that the Rokuhara police commissioner became impatient and ordered Jiho and his retainers to visit the estate in the company of the estate steward) and Iga Province vassals: an order the constables eventually followed..
After the downfall of the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), when the revolt in the period of the Northern and Southern Courts arose, he named himself Doshu Nyudo Uemontaro TAKAHATA after his home village, Takahata-mura village, Hattori-go district.
Around this time, TAKAHATA completely turned into a villain himself; invaded the estates in the north part of the Iga Province which belonged to Todai-ji Temple (including Tomoda, Tamataki and Yubune estates) and TAKAHATA himself was called 'great and honorable villain, chief of all the province.'
Banding together with minor provincial lords, TAKAHATA provoked riots, frequently switched allegiances (from the Japanese Northern Court and the Southern Court), and gradually eroded the control of the provincial governors. The Muromachi bakufu (shogunate) tried to strengthen its control by appointing Yoshinao NIKI as provincial governor however, some say Jiho colluded with Yoshinao behind the scenes while simultaneously conspiring with minor local lords in resistance to the powers of the governor. Although the bakufu replaced the shugo with Tadatsune MOMONOI, it was impossible to suppress Kokujin ikki (kokujin (local samurai) revolt). In 1346, when Seii Taishogun (literally, 'great general who subdues the barbarians') Takauji ASHIKAGA, and the Vice-shogun and his brother, Tadayoshi ASHIKAGA, ordered the construction of Ankoku-ji Temple Risho-to Pagodas all over Japan according to the advice of Muso Soseki (a Buddhist monk), the bakufu ordered the government of Iga Province to oblige Jiho HATTORI and Shinzaemon TSUGE to take charge of the protection of temples' estates and the reporting on the progress of the pagodas' construction. Subsequently as well, (for the duration of Muromachi period) Iga Province was characterized by province-wide unrest that accompanied rule by the Niki clan.