The Story of the 47 Ronin – Truth or Legend?

The story of the 47 Ronin is known as one of the greatest tales of revenge in history. It represents the samurai’s loyalty to their master or leader and has been the inspiration for many works of art ever since. Legend has it that the 47 loyal retainers of feudal lord Asano were forced to become浪人(ronin) or浪士(roshi), leaderless samurai as they were furious at the fate of their leader and the fact that the enemy had He had escaped without consequence. So they decided to avenge their lord’s death at a later time. After waiting for almost 2 years, the 47, led by their leader Oishi, attacked their enemy, the feudal lord Kira when he finally let down his guard and beheaded him. As a consequence, the 47 ronin were sentenced to commit seppuku (the ritual suicide for samurai) just like their leader, and all the samurai obeyed the order to do so.

In Japan, the story of the 47 ronin is called 赤穂事件 (Ako jiken – Ako Incident). Ako is what is now known as Hyogo Prefecture. As a fun fact, the word浪人is still used today, but it refers to students who take a gap year to study and re-apply to the high school or university they want to enter.

The story of the 47 Ronin takes place in the early 18th century . During that time, Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate . The story goes that a daimyo named Asano Naganori attacked Kira Yoshinaka , a superior officer, who kept insulting him. Although Kira was unharmed, the Asano daimyo was sentenced to death for such action and ordered to commit 切腹 seppuku). He and his family were stripped of power and thus he was buried a disgraced man.

But what happened as a result of the event? For first, both the cause and what the ronin had done quickly spread throughout the country and they were praised as heroes for upholding samurai values , especially loyalty . There are even reports that the shogunate received petitions from the public asking them not to sentence the ronin . The actions of the 47 are said to have allowed the Asano family to regain their status. The ronin were buried at Sengakuji Temple where Asano had been buried.

Tomb of Daimyo Asano at Sengakuji Temple

While some disagree that these men were actually heroes, this is the generally accepted story.

Works depicting this story and anything based on it are called忠臣蔵(Chushingura). It remains one of the most popular stories in Japan, as well as around the world. It was performed in kabuki plays and many other traditional Japanese-style narratives.

It has spawned many novels, movies, and television series. Many famous Japanese actors have played a role in one of the many retellings. Hollywood has even made a couple of movies that are said to be inspired by the original story but with their own twists. The bravery and loyalty of the 47 ronin inspire people, even to this day.

As mentioned above, the 47 along with their leader Asano are buried at Sengakuji Temple in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It is said that they took Kira’s head to Asano’s grave there when they achieved their revenge.

The tombs of the 47 Ronini at Sengakuji Temple

Since the Ako incident, people have visited Sengakuji to pay their respects to these leaders. And people still do today. You can burn incense to pay your respects.

There is even a 赤穂義士記念館 (Akogishi Kinenkan – the Ako Samurai Memorial Hall) on site, where visitors can learn more about the incident and see various artifacts related to what happened. While visiting the temple and tombs is free entry, although it costs 500 yen (approx. USD 5) to enter the memorial hall.

On December 14, the 赤穂義士祭 (Akogishi-sai – the Ako Samurai Festival) festival is held every year to commemorate the incident of Ako and the Ronin whose graves are at Sengakuji. Many people attend this event and the monks hold a ceremony to pray for the spirits of the Ronin. There are even food stalls for people visiting the temple and the festival on that day.