The 47 Rōnin: Re-opening the Fruit Cellar Door

"Ōishi Kuranosuke" leads the pack of Akō rōnin into Sengaku-ji.

I went to the 47 Rōnin Festival at Sengaku-ji temple on December 14, commemorating the 312th anniversary of the famous 'revenge' attack by a group of masterless samurai on the residence of Kira Yoshihisa (more commonly and erroneously known as Yoshinaka), the man they felt was responsible for their lord, Asano Naganori's death. After taking Kira's head, they brought it to Asano's grave, located in Sengaku-ji's cemetery. This created quite a controversy at the time, and while most of the population may have wanted the rōnin to be pardoned for their actions, the shogunate really had no choice but to order their deaths for their violent transgression of  the law.  But instead of being executed like common criminals, the rōnin were allowed to keep their honor by being granted the right to death by ritual seppuku suicide (or so we are lead to believe-- some historians have recently started to believe that this was a ruse concocted by the shogunate to appease public opinion and none of the rōnin were allowed the privilege to slit their bellies).

Anyway, people who know me and my views on this bump in the relative peaceful history of the mid-Edo Period, know that I am not a fan of the leader of this rōnin hit squad, Ōishi Kuranosuke, and I challenge the motives of what the group really wanted to accomplish through their 'feudal drive-by'. Popular myth, as first spread by bunraku puppet and kabuki plays, say the rōnin took their revenge out of a deep sense of 忠孝 (chūkō) or  忠義 (chūgi) to justify their actions. These are two words for 'loyalty' that are often associated with the loyal 47 rōnin story, and regardless of real history, the Japanese love the fictional account of  the incident. But why?

There goes Kira's head

Is it just good drama and action?  Japanese, who know almost nothing of their history , all know this tale. Why? Why is it this way?  I have even seen a kabuki theater full of people start sniffling and crying when the Ōishi gives his emotional farewell speech to his men. I have heard the same sniffling in movie theaters, and even seen and heard it in my own household when any one of the seemingly endless supply of  47 rōnin movies or dramas airs on TV. Again, why?

It used to annoy me. It really did. I just didn't understand why people don't challenge the myth and take a look at the hard facts surrounding the incident. Was this just another, older example of Japanese white-washing their history to glorify something that really shouldn't be glorified?  I really have wondered and struggled with this. But as I stood within the precincts of Sengaku-ji, a lone non-believer adrift in a sea of Kool-Aid drinkers and listening to the cacophony of  'rōnin-talk', I think I finally understand "why".

All they wanted were new jobs and stipends- probably not
undying popularity

As Japan stumbles through the second decade of the 21st century and ties to the past and traditional values  weaken, 忠孝 (chūkō) and 忠義 (chūgi) are still to varying degrees, hardwired into the culture of Japan. This has allowed the  47 loyal rōnin story to imbed itself into the cultural DNA sequence over a 300 hundred year period, and this is why the myth and love of the 47 rōnin endures, regardless of what their true intentions were.

And, when the attack on Kira's mansion began, I can almost certainly guarantee  that the rōnin were not counting on achieving immortality and becoming the embodiment of  忠孝 (chūkō) and 忠義 (chūgi) within Japanese culture, that's for sure.

The 47 Ronin: Feudal Drive-By Of Yore

Andrew Rankin’s book “Seppuku” from Kondansha Publishing reflects the growing trend among serious scholars in the West (following the lead of the work Japanese scholars have been doing for quite a few years) to strip away the veneer of legends connected with the 47 Ronin and instead concentrate on what actually happened. As he puts it, “The Ako Incident is widely believed to embody moral conundrums that are quintessentially Japanese. It is perhaps more accurate to say that the whole affair now comprises the sum of three centuries of scholarly commentary and fictional embellishment, having absorbed a plethora of nuances and complexities that were tagged on post factum”. While ‘modern sammyrai’ still continue their campaigns of obfuscation and denial in support of the idealized image of the Ako Ronin, the picture that emerges seems to be that the Ronin were little different from a street gang carrying out a feudal drive-by. Let’s look at some of the more interesting sections of Rankin’s “The Ako Incident” in “Seppuku”.

Asano Naganori, who is usually portrayed as a noble, incorruptible, and perfect samurai, is shown as being “little more than a pleasure-seeking playboy who left administrative matters firmly in the hands of his advisors”. Similar to this is the description of the leader of the 47 Ronin, Asano’s chief councilor Oishi Yoshio/Kuranosuke. “Today an untouchable hero, he was not always known for brilliance. As a young administrator he was nicknamed ‘daytime lantern’ (hiru-andon); in other words, he was useless. He was not good with money, and needed assistance from senior retainers when handling anything financial. His first talent seems to have been for heavy drinking”. And what of the hapless Kira Yoshihisa? “The fact is that no concrete evidence exists (that Kira demanded bribes from Asano or taunted him)”. Rankin describes Asano’s botched assault on Kira, deriding it as “a lame effort” and notes that “Attacking a man twice his age, from the rear, and with the advantage of total surprise, Asano inflicted nothing more than two minor flesh wounds”. Further interesting points include that fact that Asano was escorted out of Edo Castle through an ‘impure’ exit reserved for corpses and criminals and was further shown contempt by having to commit seppuku in a garden rather than in the grand chamber appropriate to his status as a daimyo.

Rankin examines the aftermath of the assault where the bickering between different factions of the Ronin took center stage, with many of the group that had pledged to avenge themselves on Kira deserting as “their passion for vengeance waned”. At one point the Ronin were close to abandoning the attack on Kira and instead proposed substituting his son as the target of their wrath. Examining their motives, it’s shown that “the Ako men were not driven by personal devotion (to Asano). Some of them had never spoken a word to Lord Asano…Their loyalty was not to Asano personally, but to the warrior code….If the incident reveals anything timelessly Japanese, it is this heavy emphasis on the need to save face, a need defined by the status of the men as samurai, rather than on their moral obligations as individuals”. In other words, the Ako Ronin did it because they didn’t like being ‘dissed’. Oishi’s celebrated debauchery before the assault is shown for what it is: “When not plotting murderous revenge, Kuranosuke would head for the pleasure quarters and drown himself in drink. His behavior has been explained as a ruse to throw Kira’s spies off the scent. But Kuranosuke had a reputation as a drinker long before the Ako Incident, and there seems no reason to doubt that he was simply making the most of his last few months on earth”. Ako ronin Fuwa Kuzuemon, who won fame for striking down five servants during the raid, comes off as little more than a psychotic killer. He was banished from Ako by Asano for practicing tsuji-giri. What was tsuji-giri? “Random nighttime attacks on pedestrians”. Yes, Kuzuemon was in the habit of thrill-killing innocent civilians. Fuwa was also noted for being a “Kabuki-mono”, elements of the samurai class that dressed up in “gaudy kimonos” and engaged in “wild antics”. He requested permission to take part in the raid not because he had a special attachment to Asano, but basically because he was looking for a fight. While the Ronin lied to Shogunate inspectors and told them they had killed Kira with a single spear strike, a letter from Fuwa stated that “all the ronin present had stabbed and hacked Kira until he was dead. They sawed off his head…”.

Perhaps more surprising than any of this was the fact that, despite what almost everyone has accepted as fact over the years, the Ronin did NOT commit seppuku. Instead, each of them (save one, Hazama Roku) was beheaded in a mock seppuku ceremony. There are unambiguous contemporary accounts from each of the four houses that were responsible for holding the imprisoned ronin that this was the case. Rankin’s account finishes up by listing accounts from several contemporaries of the Ronin who criticized their actions, with well known scholars such as Sato Naokata lambasting them with “To give themselves up and wait for the Shogun’s ruling was nothing but a scheme to escape death and bask for a while in their own glory, before finding themselves new employment”. While all of this information might seem a bit harsh, Rankin’s account is fair, balanced, and backed up by documentation. He relates the disgrace of Kira as a result of his cowardice during the attack, the efficient way in which the Ronin planned and carried out the raid, and some touching stories involving several of the Ronin wracked by doubt and conflicting loyalties. This probably ranks as the best short account of the 47 Ronin incident available to date in English.

The only criticism we would level at this chapter would be that the author, while correctly stating the number of personnel in the Kira mansion at the time of the raid, has incorrectly ascribed them all the status of samurai guards. In fact, of the 45-50 personnel in Kira’s mansion, only three to five (depending on which account you choose to believe) were samurai guards with the rest being unarmed household staff (whom the Ronin evidently had no qualms about killing). For example, Rankin states “Guards at the front and rear gates were easily overpowered” when letters written by the ronin during their imprisonment establish that household servants were manning the front and rear gates (and both were asleep at that), the armed samurai having retired for the evening. Surviving bakufu records establish that all but perhaps five of the dead and wounded were servants. Simple math shows that Kira’s modest stipend could not have supported more than a handful of guards-contrary to how he is popularly depicted, he was not a wealthy man. The lack of guards at the Kira estate is further established by the imbalance of casualties-the Ronin suffered only one combat casualty (one wounded, with another Ronin being wounded after taking a pratfall) while Kira’s household suffered 16 dead and 21 wounded with the reminder fleeing the scene. The Ronin were not noted for their swordsmanship (something even their own museum in Ako freely admits), so such a lopsided tally can only be explained away by the fact that they largely were facing terrified unarmed servants. Popular support for the Ronin also seems to be overestimated by Rankin, as according to research done by Henry Smith (the West’s leading authority on the Ronin) Asano’s assault on Kira went largely unnoticed among both members of the samurai class as well as commoners, and was regarded as a minor incident by those who did comment on it. It wasn’t until the plays and novels based on the Ronin’s assault began to appear that public support for the Ronin started to manifest itself.

Still, one has to be encouraged by this development. While no doubt the upcoming Hollywood remake of the 47 Ronin legend with Keanu Reeves will ignite a whole new round of Ronin worship, it’s only a matter of time before the accepted view of the Ako Incident relegates it to the status of the feudal drive-by of yore.