Because of the censorship laws of the shogunate in the Genroku era, which forbade portrayal of current events, the names were changed.

The story was popularised in numerous plays, including in the genres of bunraku and kabuki. The popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, during which Japan underwent rapid modernisation, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity.įictionalised accounts of the tale of the forty-seven rōnin are known as Chūshingura. This true story was popularised in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that people should display in their daily lives. Due to considerable public support in their favor, the authorities compromised by ordering the rōnin to commit seppuku as an honorable death for the crime of murder. After waiting and planning for a year, the rōnin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira, knowing full well that the authorities would likely not tolerate this vendetta's completion and put them to death. The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless after their daimyō (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a powerful court official named Kira Yoshinaka. It is one of the three major adauchi vendetta incidents in Japan, alongside the Revenge of the Soga Brothers and the Igagoe vendetta. The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin ( 四十七士, Shijūshichishi ), also known as the Akō incident ( 赤穂事件, Akō jiken) or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of rōnin (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. To have Kira Yoshinaka commit ritual suicide ( seppuku) to avenge their master Asano Naganori's deathįorty-seven rōnin (四十七士, Akō-rōshi ( 赤穂浪士)) led by Ōishi YoshioĤ6 rōnin sentenced to ritual suicide ( seppuku) on 4 February 1703, with 1 pardoned

The 47 ronin story by john allyn