47 Ronin - Tale of Unbreakable Samurai Spirit
The ronin attack the principal gate of Kira's mansion│via Wikimedia Commons│Katsushika Hokusai
The true story of the revenge of the 47 Ronin, which happened in Edo (modern Tokyo) between 1701 and 1703, is known all over the world as an example of samurai loyalty, discipline, endurance and justice. Also referred to as Chushingura (The Story of the Loyal Retainers), the tale is part of the living culture of Japan, a symbol of its aesthetics and philosophy and its true national epic. And after three centuries, the tale still arouses interest, being celebrated in music, theater, cinema, games and manga. Many differing versions of the story have been widely produced, invented, interpreted. But the details of what really happened are hazy. There are only assumptions.
The Ako Incident
The beginning of the eighteenth century marked a lot of changes in Japanese society, shuttered away from the world. It was a time of ostentation and corruption in Shogun Tsunayoshi´s court in Edo, pleasure quarters multiplied in ancient Kyoto, the merchant class was rising in power and samurai were losing their privileges, arts and theater were flourishing while farmers were taxed beyond endurance and common people were neglected.
The story of the 47 ronin begins on March 13, 1701, when the noble Asano Takuminokami, feudal lord (daimyo) of Ako, attacked the Shogun´s Master of Ceremonies, Lord Kira Kozukenosuke, at the Hall of Pines, in Edo Castle. Lord Asano was designated by the Shogun as one of the responsible for a ceremony in his homage to be held at the castle. The lords in charge had to seek guidance on etiquette from Lord Kira. However, Asano and Kira didn´t get along and Asano ended up losing his temper, attacking Kira with his sword, leaving him superficially injured.
Drawing a sword in the Shogun´s castle was considered a crime. Asano´s punishment was swift, without further investigation about the brawl, and harsh. He was sentenced to commit the ritual suicide of seppuku, his fief was confiscated, his family name was seized, his relatives were banned and his more than 300 retainers became masterless samurai (ronin), enduring poverty and all kinds of hardships. Kira, however, was not even reprimanded.
While appearing to follow the Shogun's prohibition of revenge, behaving like a wantons to disguise their true intentions, 47 ronin (known as Ako Gishi), aged from 78 to 16 years old, remained loyal and plotted in secret, seeking for an opportunity to kill Kira in memory of their master under the leadership of Oishi Kuranosuke, 45, Asano´s chief retainer.
Legend tells that the men cut their fingers and signed a blood pact and even divorced their wives, so people could believe better that they had lost their way, while at the same time they were protecting their families from retaliation if they accomplished their goal. The ronin used espionage techniques to gather information about Kira and his mansion, in the Honjo area of Edo.
Oishi Kuranosuke’s statue at Sengakuji Temple│© Maria Fernanda Gottardi
The raid became known as the Ako Incident and happened on the snowy night of December 14, 1702. The ronin´s orders were to find Kira without delay, engage in no unnecessary combat and kill no one who didn´t offer resistance. It is said they improvised and handcrafted most of the armors, weapons and clothing they used. They formed two assault groups to invade the mansion.
After successfully finding and killing Kira, the ronin turned themselves in and were sentenced to death. Since they had surrendered the castle of Ako peacefully and showed no explicit malice toward the Shogun, they wouldn´t be executed as common criminals. Although masterless samurai were not legally entitled to such treatment, they were allowed to perform the noble ceremony of seppuku, because of the popular commotion in their favour.
The men of Ako were divided into four groups and were put into custody at the mansions of the daimyos Hosokawa, Hisamatsu, Mori and Mizuno, where they would wait for the seppuku ceremonies to be carried out. After their seppuku, on February 04, 1703, the ronin were buried at Sengaku-ji temple, same place Asano was buried.
That´s the basic story which became a symbol of loyalty and revenge. It is said that, besides Kira, more than 17 men who served him were killed by the ronin on the raid. As the writer Inada Kazuhiro well remembers in his article Samurai Vengeance: The Undying Popularity of the 47 Ronin, if it had happened today, the assault by an armed group on the house of a government official would be considered as terrorism. But at the time, the 47 ronin caused a sensation in Edo and gained sympathy even from other clans.
Weeks after the happening, a kabuki play was produced. The writer gave free rein to his imagination and the tale became an exciting recreation story. Even though the play was shut down after a few weeks, the 47 ronin became idols. By the year 1900 more than fifty other full-length dramas had been produced and more than forty films have appeared since 1910. Throughout the years, the story was heavily adapted, with names changed and details created.
Distorted Lens
According to British historian, writer and specialist in Japanese military history, Stephen Turnbull, who wrote the foreword of John Allyn´s book 47 Ronin, modern readers who are introduced to the historical event see it through distorted lens especially because of a very popular play, first produced in Edo in 1748, and adapted both to the bunraku puppet theater and to the kabuki theater.
Called Kanadehon Chushingura (The Treasure House of the Loyal Retainers), or simply Chushingura, the play was more unashamedly fictional than any other before and gave the basis to all the stories and interpretations that came subsequently. “The overall impression of the nature and circumstances of the raid provided by Chushingura has completely eclipsed the sober historical reality”, says Turnbull.
Just like in every interpretation of the tale, in Chushingura Kira is portrait as a villain, “an attribution that is essential if his murder is to be transformed into an uplifting account of samurai virtue”, states Turnbull. In the Shogun´s court, hierarchy, notions of divination, good or bad omens, correct protocol and ritual were absolutely essential. By 1701, Kira was 61 years old and had served successive Shoguns for about 40 years. It was a role that required attention to detail and precision.
The young daimyo Asano, 34, was a descendant of samurais and was not interested in court ceremonial, which he considered useless, effete and far-fetched, as Allyn´s book points out. Turnbull affirms that historically, Asano, was probably more interested in pleasure and in enjoying the privileges of his income. The adaptations of the story, however, always show a caricature of Asano as an honored warlord and Kira as greedy, lazy and corrupted.
No records or personal letters exist that could shed light on why Asano lost his temper and attacked Kira at the Hall of Pines. There are only assumptions, like the one that Kira made derogatory comments about Asano and belittle him in front of other daimyos, or that Asano failed to give a wealthy present to Kira in return for being trained in court etiquette, at which Kira mocked and scorned him, or even that Kira made a malicious comment about Asano´s wife purposely to irritate him.
Asano never had a chance to defend himself in a court of law or even to make a statement to the authorities who had rushed to condemn him. That´s the simple reason why we will never know the truth behind his motivation in attacking Kira, as Turnbull recalls. The palace records reveal that the events happened in incredible speed: Asano attacked Kira sometime before midday; the order placing Asano in custody was issued at 1 p.m.; the order for his seppuku was delivered at 4 p.m. and he committed the ritual suicide at 6 p.m.
As months went by, the debate about the events continued in the court and in the city. Everything was still blurry and the nature of the brawl remained unknown. However, the Ako ronin were certain that the fact that their master had been driven to such desperate measure “proved that it must have been very a serious matter”, as Turnbull points out. Therefore, they considered themselves justified in taking ultimate revenge on Kira, even though the death of one´s master was excluded from the legal provisions regarding vendetta at that time.
According to American anthropologist Ruth Benedict, author of the book about Japan, The Chryshantemum and the Sword, devotion (giri) in the samurai´s code is not simply loyalty; it also prescribes revenge for an insult. So the ronin tried to justify their actions by appealing to an ancient tradition of Old Japan rather than modern legalities. The supreme act of vendetta, katakiuchi, had the literal meaning of “cutting down an enemy” and meant that someone, either the victim or a representative, would take revenge.
Teahouse Ichiriki in Kyoto, No. 7 from the series The Loyal League of Forty-Seven Ronin│via Wikimedia Commons│Katsukawa Shunsen
However, to Turnbull, Kira was the true victim of the unfortunate event, since he was an elder being assaulted by a vigorous young man. Kira responded to the aggression with restraint and orderly conduct. According to Turnbull, the raid of the 47 ronin is less a vendetta and more an attempt by Asano´s retainers to finish the job he failed to do – kill Kira – in his memory.
But there was more resentment involved. Kira was not even slightly punished or questioned about his responsibility on the brawl. That shows that the verdict was one-sided, going against the samurai code established during the Kamakura Period, which states that if there is a fight among two people, both parties are to be punished. In Allyn´s book, Asano´s retainers question precisely this unfair treatment to Asano and the favouritism to Kira, who was even being guarded with the help of a daimyo´s force. Thus, by killing Kira they would finish his master´s job and also state a retaliation against the Shogun.
Path of Glory
If we were reading the tale from Lord Kira´s point of view, it wouldn´t be so interesting. The perfectionist master of etiquette could never be portrayed as the tragic protagonist. As it´s told, Kira remained passive during Asano´s assault and hidden during the raid, revealing himself only after nearly all his men were defeated. There is no glory, bravery or gallantry on display there; no kabuki play would ever celebrate the deeds of a bureaucratic, boring administrative official. The populace of the lively Edo period claimed for more tangible heroism and adrenaline-fueled adventures of virile and energetic swordsmen. “Lord Kira and his men were sent to their almost unknown graves; the Forty-seven Ronin were sent to glory”, complains Turnbull.
The reason why the tale of the 47 Ronin created such a fuss at that time and became so valued and important in modern Japan is because, according to Benedict, the Japanese have a great appetite for stories of relentless heroes who settle debts by choosing death as the solution. In the West, this type of narrative would be considered resignation to a cruel fate.
In Japan, however, they are chronicles of initiative and unyielding determination in which the heroes exert all their efforts to fulfill an obligation that is incumbent upon them and, in doing so, they redeem themselves from another. The sympathy for the selfless hero comes from the fact that he fulfilled his duty at all costs without anything – helplessness, illness, pain or death – diverting him from his path.
The Japanese philosophy consider the supreme endeavor in life the fulfillment of one’s obligations. What requires willpower is the most admired virtue in Japan, explains Benedict. To the Japanese code of honour, the most traditional relationship of giri is the fidelity owed by an honorable man to his superior and his comrades in arms. In ancient Japan, before the unification of the country by the Tokugawa clan, it was even considered a greater and more esteemed virtue than the obligation to the Shogun.
To know one’s giri meant to be faithful one’s entire life to a master who, in turn, took care of one’s dependents. To pay one’s giri meant to offer even one’s life to the master to whom one owed everything, says Benedict. This element is present in the 1941 film The 47 Ronin, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, when Oishi (played by Chojuro Kawarasaki) talks to his men about the necessity of revenge: "Since the Asano House has favoured our families for generations, sustaining us in our lives, we could not stand idly by". Or as the character states in Allyn´s book: “A samurai cannot live under the same sky as the slayer of his lord”.
Makoto (sincerity) is the precept of all precepts in Japanese ethics and means putting one's whole being into action. For Benedict, the story of the 47 ronin is nothing more than the representation of the basic meaning of makoto. In this case, it doesn´t mean impulsively expressing one's feelings, as it would be the definition of sincerity in the West. It means following the path with self-discipline and discretion, as the ronin did.
This is what makes any precept or attitude endure. Sincerity plus obligation (makoto plus giri) means setting an example for the eternity of time, as Oishi says in Allyn´s book: “A man will only be as long as his life but his name will be for all time. One's life weighs lightly against duty. For those of us born as samurai, life is something else. We know the path of duty and we follow it without question”.
Forty-Seven Ronins Attack, No. 11 from the series The Loyal League of Forty-Seven Ronin│via Wikimedia Commons│Katsukawa Shunsen
Pop Culture
If the relentless, discreet and pragmatic ronin of Ako knew they were going to inspire so many different forms of art, they would probably be very surprised, since, in their judgement, they were doing nothing but their obligation. Little did they know they would even be set to fight monsters, possessed monks, dragons and a sorcerer while speaking English, like in the 2013 American production, 47 Ronin, directed by Carl Rinsch.
In the film the young Asano becomes an elder (Min Tanaka), Kira becomes a young man (Tadanobu Asano) and a half Japanese, who never existed in the real story, becomes one of the ronin (drowsily played by Keanu Reeves). This version pretended to attract younger audiences with a Hollywood star, fantasy, romance and visual effects, reminiscent of video games. Truth be told, there are good scenes and great Japanese cast – Hiroyuki Sanada steals the show playing Oishi, making the presence of Reeves disposable. The film works when Sanada is on screen, but the overall result is something difficult to digest.
Nothing against changing the story, since it was adapted since the beginning; nothing against romance and fantasy either. It´s also quite understandable that the film tried to alleviate the tension for the Western public when, for example, Oishi and his wife exchange tender love vows when they divorce – their true separation was probably as described in Allyn´s book, restrained and without outbursts – and Oishi´s teenager son, Chikara, being spared from the seppuku sentence by the Shogun, something that didn´t happened in reality.
If it was made without the useless raving, trusting only on the talented cast and the greatness of the tale, it would probably be a great and more appreciated film. The fantasy is so silly and exaggerated that it doesn´t fit inside such a serious theme. For example, Asano is driven to attack Kira after he is bitten by an enchanted spider commanded by a cartoonish sorcerer, who plots with Kira to steal his lands.
Last Knights, from 2015, is another example of drastic changes that end up not working. Taking a ride on the idea of the 2013 film, and aiming the same public, the film adapted the story of the 47 ronin to the medieval world of Western knights, although the cast is multicultural. Directed by Japanese Kazuaki Kiriya, featuring Morgan Freeman and Clive Owen, the film pretended to be bold and original while the result is a mess full of clichés.
Four Japanese productions stand out among so many examples of adaptations of the story in the cinema. Kenji Mizoguchi´s two parts film The 47 Ronin, from 1941, is based on the ten parts play Genroku Chushingura (Treasury of the Forty-Seven Loyal Retainers), from 1934 by Seika Mayama. Mizoguchi used the same actors from the Zenshinza theater troupe who were staging the full play in 1941. The strong, vivid performances of the actors combined with the elegance of the direction and the detailed visuals compensate the long four hours of runtime.
The beautiful scene where the ronin bow and cry when they find out what happened to their master, though trying to control their emotion, is memorable. One interesting fact is that the film doesn't show the attack on Kira, only his head being placed in front of Asano's grave. It doesn´t focus in action, it focus on the human aspects and bravery of the ronin. It also gives an important part in the story to Lady Asano (Mitsuko Miura), who instigates Oishi to keep up with his revenge plan: "I cannot bear the thought that no one will avenge the bitter wrong for which my husband willingly gave up his life and his house”, she says to him.
1962´s Chushingura, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, is meant to be more entertaining than the 1941 film. It highlights the corruption and vanity of wealth and power of the shogunate – the insensitive Shogun is shown slapping the injured Kira because his blood soiled his garments – and the villainy of Kira (Chusha Ichikawa): "With lust and greed as my values, I intend to live a long life", as he declares.
Toshiro Mifune´s presence in the film is remarkable, even playing a small role. He revisited the story twice in his career: In 1971 he played Oishi in the television series Dai Chushingura and in 1978 he appeared briefly as a daimyo in the film The Fall of Ako Castle (Ako-jo danzetsu), directed by Kinji Fukasaku, which is also worth mentioning.
Fukasaku´s skillfully takes advantage of details, like the rustling of the garments or a bird singing during the seppuku ceremony, and different perspectives never explored before, the preoccupation of the neglected common people of Ako about their future; Oishi summoning the retainers for seppuku shortly after their master´s death to test them and select the most loyal; comic parts, like one retainer afraid of seppuku; and some ronin hastily and clumsily trying to ambush Kira with a rifle. All these elements work very well together and make the film stimulating from beginning to end, even if we know the story. As Mifune, Sonny Chiba also plays a brief but interesting role.
Chushingura cover
1994´s 47 Ronin (Shijushichinin no shikaku), by Kon Ichikawa, focuses on the ronin´s preparation for the raid and on the leadership of Oishi, played by Ken Takakura. The film also takes a different – and dangerous – path from the other versions, which almost compromises the film. Oishi is crueler and he doesn't pretend to be debauched, he actually is, as it gets clear throughout the plot, making the entire meaning and purpose of the story – bravery, loyalty and the samurai code – nullified. He kills Kira mercilessly and even finds time to get involved with a very young and naïve girl, who ends up pregnant, while he shows no respect to his devoted wife, a shocking detail considering that Takakura plays an older Oishi (at the time of filming the actor was 63 years old). The assault at Kira´s mansion with the snow falling and brutal action is very impressive and it is what makes the film worth watching.
John Allyn´s book, first published in 1970 and still printed ever since, is probably the description of the tale which is closest to the real events. In the films Kira is always shown acting cowardly and hiding when the ronin invade his mansion. In Allyn´s book he faces them and duels with Oishi to his death. It is said that in reality Kira was indeed a skilled swordsman. Allyn, who knew Japanese culture and history, retells the story trying to reproduce the legitimate way in which the characters would behave given the circumstances, place and time. Allyn studied Japanese at Stanford University and was stationed in Japan during the early years of the U.S. occupation.
The story of the ronin of Ako also inspired several graphic novels like Chushingura, by the manga master Goseki Kojima, published in Japan in 1998, and two called 47 Ronin, one published in 2013, by Scottish Sean Michael Wilson, and the other in 2014, by American Mike Richardson.
The Scent of Incense
The Sengaku-ji temple, in Minato area, Tokyo, has an intimate connection to the ronin of Ako; it´s not only the place where the ronin are buried. This Buddhist temple, which belongs to the Soto Zen school, was built in 1612 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun of Edo era, near Edo castle. Devastated by fire after 30 years, it was reconstructed at the present site. The temple is a prestigious Buddhist institution, where monks deepen their practice and studies, and represents everything that remains from the real events related to the 47 ronin.
Lord Asano was also buried in Sengaku-ji after his seppuku. After killing Kira, the ronin washed his head at the temple´s well, which is still there. The head then was placed before Asano´s tomb and they burned incense, like the tradition dictates. At the temple, they awaited for the Shogun´s decision about their matter; Oishi wrote a report of the whole affair to the government´s censorate and a letter to Lady Asano informing her of their success. The leader designated Terasaka Kichiemon to dispatch the reports, who was subsequently exempted from execution.
So, after their seppuku, performed at the houses of the daimyo who had their custody, only 46 ronin were buried at Sengaku-ji in a special plot adjacent to the tomb of their master. Later, Lady Asano was also buried at Sengaku-ji, facing the markers of the loyal retainer´s graves. There are two memorial graves, one for Terasaka and one for Kaiano Sanpei, who strongly desired to take part in the avenge but committed seppuku before the raid due to his family opposition. At the temple´s patio there is a bronze statue of Oishi, erected in 1921, holding the scroll with the names of the men who sign the blood pledge.
The Memorial Museum is also a must see at the temple. There are objects, like the war drum and whistle the ronin used inside Kira mansion, illustrations, letters, wooden statues of all the ronin, their declaration about the objectives of the raid, armors, clothing and weapons, including the spear that was used by Jujiro Hazama to kill Kira. It is said that he was the one who found Kira hidden at a charcoal hut. Due to this achievement, Jujiro was the first man of the group to burn incense in front of Lord Asano´s grave.
The entrance to Sengaku-ji is free of charge, but visitors must pay for the incense to be placed at the graves, as the tradition demands. The museum is also paid. The temple is only a short ride by train or bus from the city center and is very close to a train station, named after it. Every year, on December 14, date of the raid, the temple hosts the Ako Gishisai, a festival in the honor of the 47 ronin. A parade starts at Zojo-ji temple, near Tokyo Tower, and ends at Sengaku-ji. There is also a memorial service and traditional dances.
When Lord Asano committed seppuku, in March 1701, the cherry trees were in bloom. It is said he wrote his last poem inspired by their beauty and the sadness of leaving the world in such a young age:
“Scathered by the wind,
Like a withered flower,
I become but a trace of spring.”
Little did he know his death would still be remembered nowadays. For more than 300 years, the graves of the Ako ronin in Sengaku-ji have been a pilgrimage site, where thousands of Japanese and tourists pay homage to their memory year round. The scent and smoke of incense burning hangs heavily over the temple, transporting us to a different ancient time right in the middle of the bustling and modern city of Tokyo.
Bravery and loyalty to a master are not things we occupy ourselves with anymore in the present life. As Benedict recalls, paying giri nowadays means fulfilling all kinds of obligations to all kinds of people, tasks that are full of pressure coming from the public opinion. The 47 ronin represent a devotion that is not imposed, an authentic loyalty that comes spontaneously from the heart. That is why, even though people's minds and motivations changed through the course of history, the memory and the story of the Ako Gishi remain fascinating us.
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