Dan-San On Japan

ありがとう (arigatou) to Dan-San who, firstly, recommended Sengaku-ji to me and, secondly, kindly agreed to be the guest editor for this special edition of the blog. Apart from the photos, I take credit for nothing. And it means, I get to write a comment instead:
__

The story of the 47 Ronin is one of Japanese legend and reflects the samurai code of honour – ‘bushido’. In 1701 two ‘daimyo’ (warlords) were ordered to arrange a reception for the envoy of the Emperor. They took advice on etiquette from a powerful official of the region known as Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka. He became greatly annoyed at them due to the lack of a sufficient bribe for such instruction.

One of the daimyo appeased him by meeting his demands, the other, Asano Takumi-no-Kami Naganori did not and Kira continued to insult him. This continued until one day when Kira called Asano, ‘a country boor with no manners’, and Asano lost all self-restraint and attacked Kira. Unfortunately he did not kill him and was forced to commit ‘seppuku’ (ritual suicide by disembowelment / hara-kiri), all land went to Kira and any samurai under his command became Ronin (masterless samurai).


Of Asano’s men forty-seven refused to let their master go unavenged even though this was strictly prohibited. They knew they were being watched and under orders from their leader Oishi dispersed and took up trades or became monks.

After a year Oishi sensed that Kira had finally let his guard down and gathered all the Ronin together in a secret meeting place. And so it was 14 December 1702 that they attacked Kira’s mansion to finally avenge their master. They split into two groups one led by Oishi, the other by his son Ōishi Chikara and after a fierce struggle, the last of Kira's samurai were subdued.

In the process they killed sixteen of Kira's men and wounded twenty-two, including his grandson. Of Kira, however, there was no sign. They searched the house, but all they found were crying women and children. They began to despair, but Ōishi checked Kira's bed, and it was still warm, so he knew he could not be far.

A renewed search disclosed an entrance to a secret courtyard hidden behind a large scroll; the courtyard held a small building for storing charcoal and firewood, where two more hidden armed retainers were overcome and killed. A search of the building disclosed a man hiding; he attacked the searcher with a dagger, but was easily disarmed.

He refused to say who he was, but the searchers felt sure it was Kira, and sounded the whistle. The ronin gathered, and Ōishi, with a lantern, saw that it was indeed Kira - as a final proof, his head bore the scar from Asano's attack.


At that, Ōishi went on his knees, and in consideration of Kira's high rank, respectfully addressed him, telling him they were retainers of Asano, come to avenge him as true samurai should, and inviting Kira to die as a true samurai should, by killing himself. Ōishi indicated he personally would act as a ‘second’ (known as a ‘kaishakunin’ the seconds would stand behind the one who had committed seppuku and behead them at the moment of agony – as in the film ‘The Last Samurai’) and offered him the same dagger that Asano had used to kill himself.

However, no matter how much they entreated him, Kira crouched, speechless and trembling. At last, seeing it was useless to ask, Ōishi ordered the ronin to pin him down, and killed him by cutting off his head with the dagger. They then extinguished all the lamps and fires in the house (lest any cause the house to catch fire, and start a general fire that would harm the neighbours), and left, taking the head. One of the ronin, the youngest, was ordered to travel to Akō and inform them that their revenge had been completed.

As day was now breaking, they quickly carried Kira's head to their lord's grave in Sengaku-ji temple, causing a great stir on the way. The story quickly went around as to what had happened, and everyone on their path praised them, and offered them refreshment.



On arriving at the temple, the remaining forty-six ronin washed and cleaned Kira's head in a well, and laid it, and the fateful dagger, before Asano's tomb. They then offered prayers at the temple, and gave the abbot of the temple all the money they had left, asking him to bury them decently, and offer prayers for them. They then turned themselves in; the group was broken into four parts and put under guard of four different daimyos.

During this time, two friends of Kira came to collect his head for burial; the temple still has the original receipt for the head, which the friends and the priests who dealt with them all signed.

The shogunate officials were in a quandary. The samurai had followed the precepts of ‘bushido’ (by avenging the death of their lord) but also defied shogunate authority (by exacting revenge which had been prohibited). In addition, the Shogun received a number of petitions from the admiring populace on behalf of the ronin. However, as expected, they were sentenced to death, but the Shogun had finally resolved the quandary by ordering them to honorably commit seppuku, instead of having them executed as criminals.



The forty-six ronin did so on February 4, 1703. (This has caused a considerable amount of confusion ever since, with some people referring to the "forty-six ronin"; this refers to the group put to death by the Shogun, the actual attack party numbered forty-seven.) They were also buried in Sengaku-ji temple, as they had requested, in front of the tomb of their master.

The forty-seventh ronin eventually returned from his mission, and was pardoned by the Shogun (some say on account of his youth). He lived until the age of seventy-eight, and was then buried with his comrades.