Forty-seven Ronin

The revenge of the forty-seven Ronin (四十七士, Shi-jū-shichi-shi, forty-seven samurai), also known as the Akō vendetta or the Genroku Akō incident (元禄赤穂事件, Genroku akō jiken), is an 18th-century historical event and a legend in Japan in which a band of ronin (leaderless samurai) avenged the death of their master. A noted Japanese scholar described the tale as the best known example of the samurai code of honor, bushidō, and as the country's "national legend." A contemporary historian and expert in bushidō, however, wrote that the tale is a good story of revenge, but by no means a story of bushidō.

The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was Kōzuke no suke. The ronin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira, after waiting and planning for a year. In turn, the ronin were themselves obliged to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that people should preserve in their daily lives. The popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, in which Japan underwent rapid modernization, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity.

47 Ronin (1994 film)

47 Ronin (original title: Shijūshichinin no shikaku) is a 1994 Japanese film, directed by Kon Ichikawa. The film is another version of the Chūshingura, the story of the revenge of the Forty-seven Ronin of Ako against Lord Kira.

Plot

The story of the Forty-seven Ronin has been depicted in many ways, with each version focusing the emphasis on different parts of the story—the rivalry of Lords Asano and Kira, Asano's assault on Kira, Asano's sentence of seppuku immediately afterward, and the revenge attack 21 months later against Kira by the Forty-seven Loyal Retainers. Oishi Kuranosuke, Asano's chamberlain and the head of the 47 samurai, is often the primary character, and his actions are often held up as the epitome of bushido, the honor code of the samurai.

In this telling, the emphasis is on the preparation for and the attack on Kira's castle. The immediate reactions to Lord Asano's assault on Lord Kira are shown in flashback, and Lord Asano and the actual assault are barely shown at all.

Forty-seven Ronin (disambiguation)

Forty-seven Ronin refers to a case involving the samurai code of honor.

Forty-seven Ronin or Akō Rōshi may also to: