The Story of the 47 ronin (and Sengaku-ji Temple)
One may not know much of the samurai, like me. But from hearsay, movies and books, at least we all know the trait that best identify them — loyalty. The fascinating story of the 47 ronin (*) could not have exemplified loyalty better in the Japanese psyche.
* A ronin is a samurai who lost his master.
The unwavering loyalty of these 47 ronin to their master, as well as their dogged determination to correct an injustice, could have easily been passed off as legend, except that it is historically accurate.
There are some disputes into some facts, which you can Google to learn more. I will attempt to present a simplified version that is accepted by the mainstream.
Here comes the short (or rather long) story……..
1) The Asano v Kira feud
In ancient Japan, the Emperor was a figure head with the Shogun holding all the levers of power. The Shogun would have feudal lords (also known as daimyo), who could be given control of lands to administer in their names.
At various points, each daimyo would be summoned to serve at the Edo Palace, which is now the Tokyo Imperial Palace. This practice served to mitigate the risk of a coup to usurp the Shogun.
In 1701, one such daimyo named Asano Naganori (to be referred to as Asano subsequently) was summoned. His job is to learn the palace protocol from the master of ceremony, Kira Yoshinaka (Kira), in order to carry out diplomatic duties in the palace. (In the Singapore context, Kira would be the equivalent of the Chief of Protocol in MFA.)
Kira treated Asano in an insulting manner on several occasions. He probably assumed his seniority would make him immune from any backlash from Asano. One popular account is Kira was upset that Asano had not attempted to bribe him, unlike the other daimyo with Asano.
But after one insult too many, Asano drew his dagger towards Kira but failed to kill him. All Kira suffered was a facial wound.
2) The death of Asano
Drawing of arms in the palace is a serious offence. Rather than being executed as a criminal, Asano was sentenced to an honourable ritual suicide, seppuku (also known as “hara-kiri”).
The very considerable mitigating factors, plus the fact that Kira was not punished, was seen as a grave injustice. After his death, Asano’s family was deprived of the lands and his retainers were then rendered ronin. All the ronin would thus lose their employment and income and had to fend for themselves.
3) Plot by the loyal 47 retainers of Asano to take revenge (under the leadership of Oishi)
From this group, 47 of them decided that it was their sacred duty to avenge their master. Revenge was criminalised but on balance, the Samurai code took precedence. Under the leadership of Ōishi Yoshio (Oishi), they swore that they would not rest until their secret mission was accomplished.
Kira knew very well the samurai code and took extra precautions to ensure his own safety, including long-term spying on Oishi and the retainers. Knowing they would be under surveillance, Oishi and the other retainers went into a 2-year charade that was meticulously planned.
Oishi would get drunk, frequent brothels and even left his wife. One day, a man came across a drunk Oishi. Thinking Oishi was now a dishonourable samurai, he was spat on by the man.
The other retainers took on odd jobs to give the impression that they have moved on. Unbeknownst to Kira, one of them married to the family who constructed Asano’s house in order to obtain the architectural designs to plan the attack!
Kira received such intelligence and somehow convinced himself that Oishi did not have the desire for revenge.
4) The attack on 31 January 1703
The ronin was split into two groups: Oishi would attack from the front gate; while his son Chikara from the back gate. Chikara was only 15 at that time.
Oishi understood that Kira’s guards would be collateral damage but took pains to ensure that there were to be no civilian casualties both in the house, as well as in the district.
Neighbours were tipped off in advance of the attack, and were told about the motive of the attack and were assured that they would not be harmed. Kira was disliked as an arrogant man and the neighbours were only happy to co-operate!
5) The death of Kira….and the revenge of Asano
To cut the long story short, Kira was eventually caught hiding in an obscure location. Oishi went on to explain their mission and requested Kira to commit the honourable seppuku with the same dagger that Asano had used for his own ritual. Kira declined and would go about dilly-dallying.
Oishi soon lost his patience and ordered the retainers to pin Kira down. Oishi then drew his dagger and beheaded Kira.
6) Presentation of Kira’s head at Asano’s grave at Sengaku-ji Temple
The 46 ronin (*) then marched to Sengaku-ji Temple, where Asano was buried. Upon reaching the destination, they presented Kira’s head at Asano’s grave.
* The 47th ronin was sent to relay news of the success of the mission and thus did not undertake this march.
7) Surrender of the 46 ronin
Knowing their deaths would be inevitable, the ronin gave their money to the monk and requested him to take care of their burials at the temple. They then surrendered themselves to the authorities.
8) The dilemma of the Shogun
The Shogun was faced with a moral dilemma. Although murder was explicitly prohibited, the mission enjoyed great public support. The public saw this revenge attack as justified and the ronin were all venerated. Executing them as criminals would incur public wrath.
A compromise decision was thus made. The ronin would be given the honour of committing seppuku in order not to criminalise them.
More about Sengaku-ji Temple…..
Sengaku-ji Temple is now an attraction where one could pay respects to the graves of these ronin at the cemetery.
A museum is also located in the premises. The admission fee is only a nominal 500 yen.
You should visit the museum to take in some exhibits:
a) Imperial Letter by Emperor Meiji on moving the capital to Tokyo
b) Original receipt on the presentation of Kira’s head
c) Figures of the 47 ronin
Each year, a festival would be held to honour the ronin. They tried to re-enact the march of the ronin, including the presentation of Kira’s head!
I am glad that I could fulfil my visit to Sengaku-ji Temple in March 2023 to learn more about this remarkable story.