Hattori Hanzo comes to 

Avon, Indiana

 

Living on the west side of Indianapolis in the fast-growing town of Avon, it comes as no surprise when I see another mega-sized warehouse popping up in what was previously a cornfield. Indy being at the center of the country and aligned with I-70 east-west from Baltimore to Utah, I-65 north-south from the Gulf to Lake Michigan, and I-74 heading to Davenport and Rock Island, it’s the perfect location to put up rows of warehouses for manufacturers and cargo haulers. Plus, there are lots of cornfields to plow under. So, when I saw yet another row of white boxes going up a couple of miles down the road near I-74, I thought, well, there goes another cornfield. Little did I know that one of Japan’s most famous samurai ninjas from the 16^th Century was about to show up in Hendricks County and may very well hang out at the Starbucks at Interstate exit #68. If you had the awful mental image of a garish-looking plastic feudal-era warrior planted in front of Star B’s ala Ronald McDonald, let me set your mind at ease.

In an effort to connect the east to west routed interstates of I-65, I74, and I-70, the Ronald Reagan Parkway Project was started about ten years ago. Unfortunately, the northern-end connection to I-65 currently terminates in another Indiana cornfield about ten miles short, but I’m not here to quibble about never ending road construction projects when sword-wielding samurai and American presidents are on the docket. As mentioned, warehouses are springing up on either side of Ronnie R., like destroying angels in the backyard after a week of rain. So, it was on the southside of I-74 behind the newly opened McDonalds and Starbucks, or Staba, as the Japanese call it, that I saw Hanzo and it appears he is now in the warehouse business.

Actually, it was the “Hanzo” signage on the side of an iceberg-sized warehouse that caught my attention. Hanzo, hmm, I guess that makes sense. Han can mean shipping, or transport in Japanese and so, or zo can mean to send, so transport company seemed logical. There are several Japanese logistics firms in the area, and this looked like another one serving the automotive and warehousing industries. Nevertheless, I’ve learned from experience that my preconceived notions about Japan are often wrong despite having lived there at various times over the past five decades. Time to pull out my trusty Farmer’s Almanac and find out what this Hanzo business is all about and why he's hanging out with Hoosiers.

As usual, my guess was way off. It turns out that the name Hanzo has nothing to do with transport or delivery. It’s an American shipping and warehouse firm named after the 16^th Century ninja warrior, Hattori Hanzo. Well, duh, I should have guessed that. According to their website, Hattori Hanzo is their namesake due to his ability to slice through problems and tackle any shipping and warehousing challenges. I get it. Perfect analogy for freight handling. Really? Time to get back to the Almanac for further investigation on just who this Double H fellow was.

I was familiar with the name Hattori Hanzo as a figure from Japanese history and the leader of the Iga ninja. I think most Japanese would be familiar with the name as well, although probably wouldn’t know much beyond his characterization in film and video games. The Hanzo Company website describes Hanzo as a samurai who could kill with a single stroke, protect the emperor, and unify of the country. While I would certainly give kudos to these folks for coming up with an original moniker, the bio on Mr. Hanzo is not quite how things went down in the waning days of the 16^th Century. Or, as we used to say in the old neighborhood, that’s not quite your cat.

Hanzo lived during what is known as the Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States Period (1467-1568). As you might imagine, it was a period of power struggles between clans and fiefdoms for control and domination of the country. During that period and for most of Japanese history for that matter, the emperor held little power and it was not until the collapse of the feudal system in 1868 and the beginning of the modern era known as the Meiji Restoration that the emperor had any far-reaching authority. So as far as I can tell, Hanzo wasn’t protecting any emperors, or winning battles with his sword. Despite the aesthetic beauty and deadly nature of the Japanese katana, it had limited use on the Sengoku battlefield. The yari, or spear, and the newly imported matchlock were more effective in the large-scale engagements of the day.  As for the claim that he helped unify Japan, we will have to give him a bit more credit.

According to historical records, Hanzo was a samurai in the service of a regional warlord known as Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hanzo was known for his skill in military strategy, espionage, and assignation. It was Tokugawa, not the emperor, who unified Japan through savvy political maneuvering, a bit of luck, and with the assistance of Hanzo’s and his Iga ninja. Tokugawa and his descendants went on to hold power for the next three-hundred and fifty years. Not a bad run if you’re in the warlord racket. The current tv series Shogun is loosely based on the story of English navigator William Adams and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Not sure what all this has to do with third-party logistics, but maybe espionage and clandestine ops are a big thing in the freight business.

I would also give props to Mr. Hanzo for his staying power as a pop culture icon. I mean, how many sixteenth-century warlord sidekicks end up in Quinten Terentino movies running sushi bars in Okinawa, or as a bad-ass video game character who now rebrands himself as a logistics guy in central Indiana? Now that’s what I would call a diversification!

Needing a break from the exhausting work of writing humorless prose, I stopped in at the new Staba out front of Mr. Hanzo’s place of business to see if they had my favorite Nitro Cold Brew. They did and I sat down to enjoy my view of corn stubble waiting to become a warehouse. When at S&B, I try to be polite and not stare at the purple hair, neck tattoos, or laptop hobos, but it’s hard work. Having been a “hobo” myself, I know the exact timing required to purchase something before they call the cops. As I sipped my joe, I glanced to my left and saw a dark figure hunched over what looked to be battle plans depicting troop positions and castle walls. And was that a wakizashi blade at his waist?  Nah, couldn’t be. I grabbed my nitro and headed for the door reminding myself that we were, after all, in Avon, Indiana.