Hisashi Otsuka: THE LEGEND OF THE
47 RONIN
Hisashi Otsuka: At the heart of Japan is the samurai code of
"bushido." Its canons encompass the range of honor that
a warrior lived by: courtesy and courage, sincerity and
self-control, honor and loyalty. In the Legend of the 47 Ronin,
these virtues were etched forever into 
the very soul of the
Japanese people.
The story begins at the dawn of the 18th century. Asano, a
samurai lord, was summoned to the Shogun’s palace in the
great city of Edo, known today as Tokyo. Under the watchful eye
of his tutor, Lord Kira, master of palace protocol, Asano was
given 
court responsibilities. Friction between the two
men, however, was constant. Asano refused to pay the bribes that
Kira demanded for his services. Kira used every opportunity to
publicly humiliate Asano. After months of abuse, Asano’s
tolerance was gone. He drew his sword against Kira within the
palace walls - a grievous offense - and attempted but failed 
to
kill him. The punishment for this was inflexible. Asano was
sentenced to commit seppuku, a ritual act of suicide.
Upon his death, Asano’s estates were confiscated, his
family was disinherited, and his 300 samurai retainers were
ordered to disband, thus becoming ronin or masterless warriors.
Scores of them, however, in a secret blood oath, swore to avenge
their Lord’s disgrace and restore his rightful honor. Headed
by their general, Oishi, they undertook nearly two years 
of
great self-denial and carefully conceived ruses to disguise their
real purpose. Oishi himself moved to Kyoto, where he became an
infamous drunk and gambler, all to deceive the Shogun’s
police and Kira’s many spies.
The ruses worked. Kira and his allies finally relaxed their
suspicions of Oishi and his men. On a winter night, January 31,
1703, the 47 Ronin reconvened in Edo. They marched to Kira’s
mansion, announcing themselves to those inside with the beating
of a war drum. In the great 
battle that followed,
the 47 stormed the grounds, killing all of Kira’s guards
without a single loss of their own. Finding Kira, they brought
him to a courtyard and offered him the chance to honorably commit
seppuku. When he refused, Oishi swiftly beheaded him with the
same sword that Asano had used to end his own life. Then, to
symbolize the completion of their mission, the 47 returned to
Asano’s grave and set the head of Kira before it, declaring
their Lord’s honor redeemed.
Prepared to die for this deed, the ronin
proclaimed what they had done to the Shogun’s court
authorities. The Shogun himself, though sympathetic to their
heroic act, was nonetheless on the horns of a dilemma. To pardon
them would be to condone a vendetta. After months of controversy
the decision was made that each of the 47 
would execute himself,
not as a criminal but as an honored warrior. One at a time they
dignified themselves in carrying out the sentence and were buried
alongside their Lord. Their resting place at Sengaku-ji Temple
located in the heart of Tokyo, remains today a shrine to the
sacred values of samurai virtue.
Hisashi Otsuka's works are available in original and limited edition. For more information call (800)228-2006 or e-mail.