47 Rōnin, Shi-jū-shichi-shi ( 四十七士 - also known as Chūshingura 忠臣蔵) associated sites in Tōkyō (September 2015)

With tensions between the two rising on the 14th day of the 3rd Month of Genroku 14 (21st

April 1701) in the Matsu no Ōrōka, The Great Pine Corridor (松之大廊下 ) of Edo Castle, Asano Takumi-no-kami Naganori ( 浅野 長矩内匠頭), the Lord of Akō Domain, drew his short sword and attacked the senior most official responsible for protocol, Kira Kōzuke-no-suke Yoshinaka (吉良 義央上野介) wounding him on his forehead. Kira had been appointed by the Shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (徳川 綱吉 ) to instruct Asano in the protocol involved in receiving envoys from Kyōto for which Asano had been put in charge.

Site of the Matsu no Ōrōka in the Imperial Palace East Gardens

Reconstruction of the Matsu no Ōrōka and its decoration of pine trees and plover in the Edo Museum, Tōkyō

As drawing a sword in the precincts of Edo Castle was a capital offence Asano was sentenced to commit seppuku (hara-kiri). The sentence was carried out after Asano had written his death poem…

風さそふ花よりも kaze sasofu hana yori mo More than the cherry blossoms,なほ我はまた naho ware ha mata Inviting a wind to blow them away,春の名残を haru no nagori wo I am wondering what to do,いかにやとせん ika ni yatosen With the remaining springtime.

He was buried in Sengakuji Temple (泉岳寺). The Chizume Blood Stained Plum Tree and Stone nearby which were splattered with his blood as his second decapitated him was also moved to Sengakuji Temple where it can still be seen today. His domain lands and property were confiscated and his retainers dispossessed becoming rōnin, masterless samurai. Kira remained unpunished.

The incident triggered probably the most famous revenge vendetta in Japanese history usually known as the story of the 47 Rōnin, Shi-jū-shichi-shi (四十七士 , also known as Chūshingura 忠臣蔵)…

On the basis of the Confucian principle of Bushido that ‘No man shall live under the same heavens nor tread the same earth as the enemy of lord or father’ they plotted in great secrecy under the leadership of Ōishi Kuranosuke (大石内蔵助 ) for two years to revenge their Lord.

On the snowy night of the 14th day of the 12th month of Genroku 15 (30th January 1703) they broke into Kira’s mansion and decapitated Kira who had been found hiding in the coal shed.

Prior to the attack they posted several copies of their declaration of intent around the mansion, one of which (a bequest from the estate of the Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō VI) is on display in the Ako Gishi Memorial Hall at Sengakuji Temple which reads…

"Last year, in the third month, Asano Takumi no Kami, upon the occasion of the entertainment of the Imperial ambassador, was driven, by the force of circumstances, to attack and wound my Lord Kōtsuke no Suke in the castle, in order to avenge an insult offered to him. Having done this without considering the dignity of the place, and having thus disregarded all rules of propriety, he was condemned to hara-kiri, and his property and castle of Akō were forfeited to the State, and were delivered up by his retainers to the officers deputed by the Shogun to receive them. After this his followers were all dispersed. At the time of the quarrel the high officials present prevented Asano Takumi no Kami from carrying out his intention of killing his enemy, my Lord Kōtsuke no Suke. So Asano Takumi no Kami died without having avenged himself, and this was more than his retainers could endure. It is impossible to remain under the same heaven with the enemy of lord or father; for this reason we have dared to declare enmity against a personage of so exalted rank. This day we shall attack Kira Kōtsuke no Suke, in order to finish the deed of vengeance which was begun by our dead lord. If any honourable person should find our bodies after death, he is respectfully requested to open and read this document."15th year of Genroku. 12th month."Signed, OISHI KURANOSUKÉ, Retainer of Asano Takumi no Kami, and forty-six others."

They also planted a placard stating that…

"We, the ronin serving Asano Takumi no Kami, this night will break into the mansion of Kira Kōtsuke no Suke to avenge our master. Please be assured that we are neither robbers nor ruffians and no harm will befall the neighbouring property."

Site of Kira’s former residence and a statue of Kira in Ryogoku’s Honjō Matsuzaka-chō (本所松坂町公園)

They then marched across Edo stopping briefly at the site of the former Edo residence, Tepposhu Kamiyashiki (上屋敷), of Lord Asano

The site of Lord Asano’s Edo residence and the gate from the residence which was moved to Sengakuji Temple

The site marker is adjacent to St. Luke’s HospitalAkashi-cho, Chuo Ward, Tōkyō

During their march word had spread of their action and people gathered along their route to offer them food and support. They eventually reached Sengakuji Temple where Asano was interred.

The gate to the Sengakuji Temple in Shinagawa and Lord Asano’s grave

They paused briefly to wash Kira’s head at the Kubi Arai Well and laid it before Asano’s tomb along with the following statement.

The Kubi Arai Well at Sengakuji Temple

"The 15th year of Genroku, the 12th month, and 15th day. We have come this day to do homage here, forty-seven men in all, from Oishi Kuranosuké down to the foot-soldier, Terasaka Kichiemon, all cheerfully about to lay down our lives on your behalf. We reverently announce this to the honoured spirit of our dead master. On the 14th day of the third month of last year our honoured master was pleased to attack Kira Kōtsuke no Suke, for what reason we know not. Our honoured master put an end to his own life, but Kira Kōtsuke no Suke lived. Although we fear that after the decree issued by the Government this plot of ours will be displeasing to our honoured master, still we, who have eaten of your food, could not without blushing repeat the verse, 'Thou shalt not live under the same heaven nor tread the same earth with the enemy of thy father or lord,' nor could we have dared to leave hell and present ourselves before you in paradise, unless we had carried out the vengeance which you began. Every day that we waited seemed as three autumns to us. Verily, we have trodden the snow for one day, nay, for two days, and have tasted food but once. The old and decrepit, the sick and ailing, have come forth gladly to lay down their lives. Men might laugh at us, as at grasshoppers trusting in the strength of their arms, and thus shame our honoured lord; but we could not halt in our deed of vengeance. Having taken counsel together last night, we have escorted my Lord Kōtsuke no Suke hither to your tomb. This dirk, by which our honoured lord set great store last year, and entrusted to our care, we now bring back. If your noble spirit be now present before this tomb, we pray you, as a sign, to take the dirk, and, striking the head of your enemy with it a second time, to dispel your hatred for ever. This is the respectful statement of forty-seven men."

After washing the head and presenting it in front of the grave of Asano it was collected by two of Kira’s colleagues who signed the receipt for it along with the temple priests. It was returned to Kira’s son.

The receipt for Kira’s head (Sengakuji Temple)

"MEMORANDUM:—ITEM. ONE HEAD.ITEM. ONE PAPER PARCEL.The above articles are acknowledged to have been received.Signed, {SAYADA MAGOBELI.(Loc. sigill.){ SAITÔ KUNAI.(Loc. sigill.)"To the priests deputed from the Temple Sengakuji,His Reverence SEKISHI,His Reverence ICHIDON."

As revenge vendettas were illegal but they had followed the code of Bushido they were sentenced by the Shōgun to seppuku (hara-kiri). On the 4th day of the 2nd month of Genroku 16 (20th March 1703) they committed seppuku and their remains were interred at Sengakuji Temple.

Wooden statue of Chikara Kuranosuke by the sculptor Sekiran (Sengakuji Temple)

Chikara was Oishi Kuranosuke’s son who was 15 at the time of the attack and 16 when he committed seppuku. Oishi had given his son the choice whether to join the attack on Kira’s mansion or to look after his mother. Chikara’s reply was…

"I have lived my entire life for this moment. One's life weighs lightly against duty."

Oishi Chikara's final statement before committing seppuku at the residence of Matsudaira Oki no Kami. Lord Matsudaira had offered to deliver a message to Chikara's mother, but he politely declined.

“I humbly thank your lordship for what you have been pleased to say. My father warned me from the first that our crime was so great that, even were we to be pardoned by a gracious judgment upon one count, I must not forget that there would be a hundred million counts against us for which we must commit suicide: and that if I disregarded his words his hatred would pursue me after death. My father impressed this upon me at the temple called Sengakuji, and again when I was separated from him to be taken to the palace of Prince Sengoku. Now my father and myself have been condemned to perform hara-kiri, according to the wish of our hearts. Still I cannot forget to think of my mother. When we parted at Kiyoto, she told me that our separation would be for long, and she bade me not to play the coward when I thought of her. As I took a long leave of her then, I have no message to send to her now.”

Wooden statue of Oishi Kuranosuke by the sculptor Sekiran (Sengakuji Temple)

The seppuku of Oishi Kuranosukehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cishi_Yoshio#/media/File:Kuranosuke_Harakiri_no_zu.jpg

The graves of the 47 Rōnin and the grave of Oishi Kuranosuke at Sengakuji Temple

Old photograph of some of the (about one third life size) dolls of the 47 Rōnin in the Museum at Sengakuji Temple

The Shōgun sentenced Kira’s son to death for being unable, as a samurai should, to protect his family and they were dispossessed. Asano’s wife became a nun by the name of Yozeiin who on her death was also interred at Sengakukiji Temple. The younger brother of Naganori, Asano Daigaku Nagahiro, was allowed by the Shōgun to re-establish has clan and, though much reduced, the clan domains.

A screen painting of Yozeiin (Sengakuji Temple) and Yozeiin’s grave

Note: All translations were made by translated by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale who was Second Secretary to the British Legation in Japan during the last days of the Edo period and the first days of the Meiji Era.https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Final_Statement_of_the_47_Ronin