His name was Jirokichi the Rat, alias Nezumi-Kozo, which translates into English as "The Kid Rat". He lived in Edo, now Tokyo, at the beginning of the 19th century, some 500 years after Robin Hood ...

Today marks the start of a nezumi-doshi, or Year of the Rat, the first in the order of 12 celestial animals of the Chinese zodiac. In 2008, toshi-otoko and toshi-onna, men and women who were born ...