Honor and Violence:

Perspectives on the Akō Incident

Megan McClory

April 4, 2018

A senior thesis, submitted to the East Asian Studies Department of Brandeis University,

in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Arts degree.

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1

Law and Morality………………………………………………………………………………...4

Kenka Ryouseibai…………………………………………………………………………5

House Codes……………………………………………………………………………....8

Loyalty as Propaganda…………………………………...………………………………..9

Filial Piety………………………………………………………………………………13

Evolution into Legend……………………………………………………………………………15

Dissemination……………………………………………………………………………15

Audience…………………………………………………………………………………18

Akō as an Example………………………………………………………………………19

Modern Day……………………………………………………………………………...20

Sengaku-ji………………………………………………………………………………. 22

Chūshingura as a Genre………………………………………………………………… 25

Ukiyo-e………………………………………………………………………………...…25

Appeal and Extension to Non-Samurai………………………………..…………………………28

Gihei the Merchant………………………………………………………………………28

Injustice…..………………………………………………………………………………35

Amae …………………………………………………………………………………….38

Collective Honor…………………………………………………………………………41

Women in Chūshingura………………………………………………………………….44

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….47

List of Names and Characters

Adapted from David Bell Chushingura and the Floating World: The Representation of

Kanadehon Chushingura in Ukiyo-e Prints

Enya Hangan A young provincial noble and Lord of the castle of Hoki under the shogun

Ashikaga Takauji.

Asano Takuminokami Naganori, Lord of Akō in the province of Harima.

Momonoi Wakasanosuke (Yasuchika) A young samurai noble, Lord of Harima

Kamei Okinokami, Lord of Tsuwano in the province of Iwami

Kō no Moronao Chief councilor to the shogun, Lord of Musashi and Governor of Kamakura

Kira Kōzukenosuke Yoshinaka, court ceremonial official

Ōboshi Yuranosuke Chief retainer of Enya Hangan and leader of the rōnin

Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio, chief councilor to the Lord of Akō

Ōboshi Rikiya Son of Yuranosuke

Ōishi Chikara, son of Ōishi Kuranosuke

Kakogawa Honzō (Yukikuni) Chief retainer to Wakanosuke; also allocated to the role of

Kajikawa Yosobei in Act III

Kajikawa Yosobei, retainer to the shogun

Owashi Bungo

Ōtaka Gengo, retainer of Asano

Hayano Kampei Retainer of Enya Hangan

Kayano Sampei, retainer of Asano

Teraoka Heiemon Retainer to Enya and older brother of Okaru

Terasaka Kichiemon, low class rōnin

Ono Kudayu Former retainer to Enya, turned spy for Moronao

Ono Kurobe

Ono Sadakuro Son of Kudayu, now a highwayman

Ono Guniemon, son of Kurobei

Amakawaya Gihei Merchant

Amanoya Rihei, loyal merchant, contractor to Asano

Ashikaga Tadayoshi Younger brother of the fourteenth century shogun Ashikaga Takauji,

acting as his deputy

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709), fifth Tokugawa shogun

Lady Kaoyo Wife of Enya Hangan

Sagisaka Bannai Retainer to Moronao

Shimizu Ichigaku Moronao’s bodyguard

Ōta Ryōchiku Gihei’s father in law

Tonase Honzo’s wife

Konami Honzo’s daughter

Okaya Yoichibei’s wife

Osono Gihei’s wife

Okaru maid to Kaoyo and sister of Heiemon, betrothed to Kampei and later his wife

Yoichibei Okaru’s father

Ichimonjiya Brothel-keeper from Gion in Kyoto

Image 1 Utagawa Kuniyoshi: 'The Night Attack, Act XI', from the series Scenes from the Drama Chushingura, ca.1830. Polychrome woodblock print 243 x 356cm. Japan. V&A, East Asian Collection.

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Introduction

There is a lot to be learned from a culture’s stories. Many are legends, born from word of

mouth and passed through the generations to teach morals or the values that the community

treasure; even the ones created not for education, but simple entertainment, offer a window into

time and space. What was an ordinary day like? What kind of character stood out enough to

make an interesting story? What is the purpose of the tale?

The story of the Forty Seven Loyal Retainers is unusual in that it was a real event that

spawned an entire genre of fiction, from novels to plays to television. A tale of derring-do and

epic battles, plotting and ambiguous moral lines, it has caught the attention of all of Japan and

even the world, when A.B Mitford first translated the story into English in his work Tales of Old

Japan in the nineteenth century. The Akō Gishi are considered the epitome of samurai bravery

and honor.

The story opens at the shogun’s castle in Edo, in the spring of 1701. Lords Asano

Naganori and Kira Yoshinaka are preparing for the arrival of the imperial envoy to meet with the

shogun when Lord Asano storms up to Lord Kira, shouting claims of a recent grudge, and strikes

at the other man with his short sword. The blow misses, leaving only a slight scratch on Kira’s

head; Kira refrains from retaliation, not even drawing his sword, and Asano is restrained. He

offers no excuses or apologies for the attack and is promptly told to commit seppuku as

punishment, for the crimes of drawing a weapon in the residence of the shogun, as well as an

unregistered vendetta. Kira, on the contrary, is praised for not responding and remaining calm.

Within days, Asano is dead and Kira retreats to the manor of a powerful relative until the matter

dies down.

McClory 2

However, this leaves the many samurai who served Asano master-less, as Asano’s lands

are considered forfeit and his brother is put under house arrest; he has no children. The warriors,

incensed at the continued survival of Kira, band together and plot revenge for their late master,

after determining that there is little chance of restoring the family line and land with Asano’s

brother at the head. For two years, they conspire, led by a man called Ōishi Kuranosuke, until in

the twelfth month of 1702 (early 1703 by the Western calendar) they storm Kira’s mansion,

routing through the manor before finally discovering the man cowering in the storage shed in the

courtyard. The warriors entreat him to commit seppuku, so he can die an honorable death, but

when he refuses, one of the retainers steps forward and cuts off his head. They carry it to

Sengakuji temple, where Lord Asano is interred, and wash it before placing it on the grave of

their master.

The rōnin immediately turn themselves in and are eventually ordered to commit seppuku

for illegally conspiring and failing to register their own vendetta. It is notable, however, that this

decision took some time to be reached; the government was leery of punishing samurai who had

faithfully served their master, a value that they were trying to instill to ensure loyalty to the

shogun and let the country remain peaceful. The fact that the execution method was seppuku is a

sign of court’s compromise, permitting them an honorable death.

Although Asano’s death itself inspired little in the rumor-mill- it was unremarkable at

best and proved his lack of martial prowess at worst- the actions of his retainers quickly spread

throughout the country, traveling story tellers taking the romantic tale from town to town. It was

only slightly hindered by the laws that kept modern events and contemporary figures out of live

performances; less than fifty years later, it is immortalized in Takeda Izumo II, Miyoshi

Shōraku, and Namiki Sôsuke’s 1748 work Kanadehon Chūshingura, a puppet play set in the 14th

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century with altered names and settings to satisfy the laws, but clearly recognizable as the Akō

Incident.

The bunraku script was quickly adapted for kabuki, where it flourished, with countless

theaters making the story their own, adding and altering until there were innumerable versions of

the same basic tale, getting further and further from the original historic incident while

maintaining the core ideals that made the event the legend that it became. By examining both the

historic Akō Incident and the dramatizations that followed (primarily Kanadehon Chūshingura,

for the purpose of this paper) and using these as a center point, I aim to highlight the role and

identity of ‘samurai’ ideals, mainly honor- by which I mean a quality for which an individual

earns respect for themselves and others in their community- and loyalty, in Tokugawa era Japan.

The main questions this paper will seek to answer are first, how does the Akō Incident highlight

a gap between the generally accepted morality of the time and the code of laws? How does this

help create and perpetuate the legend? And second, how does the Akō Incident and the

surrounding literature show how typical bushido ideals extend and appeal to non-samurai?

McClory 4

Morality and the Law

The Akō Incident has perpetuated throughout the ages, becoming an immediate sensation

after the deaths of the Forty Seven at the turn of the eighteenth century. The first dramatization

appeared mere weeks after their deaths and only ten years later, kōshakushi traveling story tellers

were reciting the legend of the Righteous Forty Seven alongside classics such as Taiheiki and the

Chronicle of Nobunaga1. After thirty years, it was flourishing in the world of theater, quickly

being adapted into kabuki and bunraku scripts. The trend continues today, with dozens of movie

and drama adaptations.

One reason for the story’s popularity is the moral gap between the actions of the

‘righteous’ samurai and the laws of the time. Much the same as Robin Hood, the rōnin of Akō

acted according to their morals, justly, but in a way that went against the current regime.

Whereas once the samurai had retained a monopoly on violence, able to strike peasants at will

according to kirisute gomen2, or avenge their family members or comrades for any misdeeds

against their honor, now the shogun kept his warriors on a tight leash. The three unifiers had seen

how dangerous armed, willful forces could be. During the Warring States Period, it was these

forces that kept the country in a perpetual state of war, each small warlord competing for plots of

land with ‘soldiers’ who were little more than farmers that had exchanged their pitchforks for a

pair of daishō swords and polearms3. If the shogunate was able to control the people and their

ability to make war- the traditional power of the masses- then they would be able to steady the

government and maintain power. To do this, Hideyoshi, for example, delimited the class system

1Federico Marcon, and Henry D. Smith. "A Chūshingura Palimpsest: Young Motoori Norinaga Hears the Story of the Akō Rōnin from a Buddhist Priest." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 4 (2003):447 2 David B. Kopel. "Japanese Gun Control." Asia Pacific Law Review 2.2 (1993): 7 3 Herman Ooms. Tokugawa Village Practice: Class, Status, Power, Law. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 105

McClory 5

in medieval Japan, putting strict limits on social mobility, constraining not only the peasantry but

also the noble samurai.

Kenka Ryouseibai

The growing power of the shogunate and its restricted class structure was made

irrefutably clear with the infamous Sword Hunt Edict of 1588 which states that “the farmers of

the various provinces are strictly forbidden by His Highness to have swords, daggers, bows,

spears, firearms, or other kinds of weapons in their possession”, calling such accruements

‘useless’ to citizens whose duty it is to till the fields4. By issuing this decree, Hideyoshi is

creating a separation of roles that lasts for centuries. The farmers who provide the nation with

rice and food have no business in warfare; this statement significantly reduces the number of

available conscripts should rebellion rise again. From here, the samurai class is granted a

monopoly on violence, employed as bodyguards and as policemen, or otherwise bureaucrats, all

working in one way or another for the newly forming state.

This degree of control and centralization is unparalleled prior to the rise of the Sengoku

Era, but the Tokugawa succession proves effective in maintaining Hideyoshi’s unification of an

island of squabbling neighbors. White compares the Tokugawa’s regime to the absolute state of

early modern Europe that was emerging nearly contemporaneously, for their “strikingly similar

degrees of control over rival elites and their own common people”5. By taking control of

everyday life, infusing bureaucracy at every level- accounting for highly detailed legal

4 Hideyoshi Toyotomi. “Articles.” Trans. William Theodore deBary. In William Theodore deBary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe and Paul Varley, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Vol. 1, pp. 459. 5 White, James W. 1995. Ikki: Social Conflict and Political Protest in Early Modern Japan. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995) 31

McClory 6

documents and wide-spread literacy rates that Ooms describes though out Tokugawa Village

Practice: Class, Status, Power, Law- the bakufu was able to ensure that war would not soon

return to this newly unified country6.

This was not necessarily the best situation for samurai and their lords, however.

Suddenly, they found their class defined by the swords they wore- swords that no longer had any

use. Although some samurai were now employed as bodyguards and as a kind of police force,

there wasn’t enough wrongdoing to occupy them all and many more became bureaucrats or

simply collected their stipend without any actual work7. Due to the new class laws- which were

just as strict on the elite class as they were on the peasants- samurai were not allowed to farm or

conduct business and as a result, many found themselves becoming increasingly bored.

Some turned to study, becoming scholars and poets; cultural activities like tea ceremony

were increasingly popular. However, the samurai were still connected to their warrior past and

they made more and more of this central idea, idealizing intangible notions like bushido, loyalty

and honor, as well as infighting. Duels became such a concern that, in order to try and limit the

number of people killed in this manner, the laws of kenka ryouseibai was established, forbidding

dueling and eventually declaring that a man who was seeking vengeance for a dead family

member or close friend must register his quest for revenge with the government and seek

permission to kill the perpetrator8.

6 Herman Ooms. Tokugawa Village Practice: Class, Status, Power, Law. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 70 7Juan Williams. "Japan: The Price of Safe Streets; Tokyo's Powerful Police Watch for Criminals - and Much More." The Washington Post. 13 Oct. 1991. Web. 30 July 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/10/13/japan-the-price-of-safe-streets/03115e40-267d-4cf4-9520-61ebcb73f9d3/?utm_term=.6e82de521195 8 Eiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995), 17

McClory 7

This was one of the first major concerns of the Akō Incident. Lord Asano had very

obviously violated this law of kenka ryouseibai by attacking Lord Kira, and he received just

punishment for it- allowed an honorable death via seppuku. However, according to these same

laws, Kira should have been equally responsible as a participant in this kenka (fight) and

received some form of punishment. Rather than Asano’s supposed grudge that instigated the

attack in the first place, it is this unequal treatment that caused his dishonor and incited the Akō

Gishi. It has been argued that the government at the time simply did not consider the incident to

be a proper kenka, seeing as Kira refrained from even drawing his sword, let alone retaliating,

and this was the sort of behavior that the regime sought to reinforce as they continued to stamp

down on unnecessary dueling and maintain order9. Conversely, dramatizations would make this

out to be cowardly, as can be seen in the image of Act III of Kanadahon Chūshingura by the

woodblock artist Utagawa Kunisada I, where Kira’s face is screwed up in fear. It was a matter of

lawfulness against samurai values, and

it is unsurprising that the Forty Seven

demanded fair treatment and set on this

vendetta to ensure that their lord was

not being accused of needlessly

attacking a fellow lord, but was

pursuing a proper vengeance in order

to maintain his honor. Laws like kenka

ryouseibai, they believed, were helping

9 Masahide, Bitō, and Henry D. Smith. "The Akō Incident, 1701-1703." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 2 (2003):155.

Image 2 Utagawa Kunisada I. Actors Bandô Kamezô I as Kô no Moronao (R) and Sawamura Tosshô II as En'ya Hangan (L) Advertisement for the Nakamura theater c. 1862 Woodblock print, 35.5x49.7cm (14x19 9/16in) Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, William Sturgis Bigalow

McClory 8

to further restrain the samurai class by stripping them of their ideals and their honor10.

House codes

Although the code of bushido was not officially been established until after even the

samurai had been disarmed, its ideas and values were incorporated into the legal system and

taught as moral values. It’s important to realize that the laws that were adapted into the

Tokugawa bakufu to help inculcate loyalty originally came from the households of individual

daimyo- and even chōnin class wealthy families- to help raise their sons into proper noblemen11.

House codes, or kakun, arrived from China in the eighth century, meant to help with the

edification of younger members of the family, and therefore originally emphasized moral values,

but gradually took a militaristic shift as the Sengoku Period continued12. This became especially

important in an era when the samurai families spent long amounts of time separated due to the

sankin kōtai system, which Tokugawa Iemitsu had developed to help control possible threats. In

this system, the wives and children of daimyo families spent all their time in the capital of Edo,

basically as hostages, while the lord alternated residences, spending six months in Edo under the

eye of the government and the rest of his time in his own han to manage affairs there. This meant

that the young sons of the noble families were rarely exposed to male role models at a young age

and these house codes served to guide them without the presence of adult male samurai.

As peace continued, the role of the warrior gradually diminished, their swords no longer

necessary, and their legend was romanticized; naturally, the kakun underwent the same

10 David Bell. Chushingura and the Floating World: The Representation of Kanadehon Chushingura in Ukiyo-e Prints. (Surrey: Japan Library 2001), 28 11J. Mark Ramseyer. "Thrift and Diligence. House Codes of Tokugawa Merchant Families." Monumenta Nipponica 34, no. 2 (1979): 209-30. 12 William Theodore deBary. Sources of Japanese Tradition 2nd ed. William Theodore deBary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe and Paul Varley, eds., (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), Vol. 1, Ch. 18

McClory 9

metamorphosis, feeding into ‘guidebooks’ like Taira Shigesuke’s Bushido Shoshinshu,

Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s Hagakure and eventually, even to Nitobe Inazo’s famous Bushido: The

Soul of Japan13. The young samurai, often bored due to the constraining laws placed on their

class, were drawn and inspired by these glamorous retellings of ancient practices.

Loyalty as Propaganda

Partly because samurai were restricted by the Tokugawa regime, they began

concentrating and idealizing the tenets of the past. Qualities such as loyalty and honor were

heavily romanticized and can be seen again and again in popular tales, like Heike Monogatari

and even ghost stories like Yotsuya Kaidan; they are, of course, very prominent in the Akō

Incident itself, as well as its various reiterations. Known in English as the Treasury of Loyal

Retainers, Chūshingura revolves around romantic samurai ideals that were losing their place in

contemporary society as a heroic condition, replaced by a sort of patriotism and nationalism.

Not only did loyalty and honor pique the interest of the audience, it was naturally

encouraged by the structure of society, both contemporary and older; loyalty is especially critical

in a feudal system. According to Hurst in his article “Death, Honor, and Loyality: The Bushidō

Ideal”, loyalty was considered the most important trait a Japanese citizen- soldier or commoner-

could possess, from as early as the time that Chinese writings and philosophies were entering the

island nation. Hurst states that “loyalty is indispensable to state-building, and the entire Japanese

structure of legitimacy…was originally designed to achieve acquiescence to this absolutist rule,

that is, to inculcate loyalty in the Japanese”14. It was necessary for the shogunate to gain the

13 Taira Shigesuke. Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu. Trans. Thomas Cleary. (Boston: Tuttle Publishing 1999), Introduction 14 Cameron G. Hurst. "Death, Honor, and Loyality: The Bushidō Ideal." Philosophy East and West 40, no. 4 (1990): 516. doi:10.2307/1399355.

McClory 10

loyalty of his country- this is one reason that the sankin kotai system was instigated in the first

place. By holding the families of important figures hostage, Iemitsu and his successors forced the

daimyo to follow orders. It was not the storybook loyalty of Chūshingura, but the results were

similar.

Once an individual assumed his position as ‘shogun’, he was establishing himself at the

head of the pyramidal structure of feudalism, essentially daimyo of daimyos. In order to put a

stop to the constant infighting that had plagued Japan during the Sengoku period, the regime had

to reinforce their position and maintain the “finely nuanced hierarchical structure of Tokugawa

society. Chushingura contributed to the maintenance of that structure at a time when its security,

and particularly the position and function of the samurai, seemed under threat”15. Chūshingura-

and works like it- romanticized this pyramidal structure of lord and vassal, highlighting the

heroic value of loyalty in that relationship. The Tokugawas used these wistful notions to

strengthen the societal structure their role as unifier was balanced on.

Additionally, the shogun utilized force, collecting arms from the commoner classes and

giving the samurai a monopoly on violence, as well as holding the power of the purse. The upper

class was now forbidden from engaging in trade or farming, causing them to become reliant on

their daimyo and the government for wages. If they wanted to maintain their position and still

eat, therefore, it was necessary to please the higher ups, placing the samurai of the eighteenth

century in a precarious position and displays of loyalty were essential. However, what happens

when being loyal is not lawful?

15 David Bell. Chushingura and the Floating World: The Representation of Kanadehon Chushingura in Ukiyo-e Prints. (Surrey: Japan Library 2001), 28

McClory 11

This was the central question of the Akō Incident. The Forty Seven soldiers who dutifully

avenged their lord, all according to the principle preached in bushido and the moral code of the

time, did not do so in a matter that would be approved by the ruling elite. Their lord, first of all,

was lawfully killed, nobly executed by his own hand when he was ordered to commit seppuku.

According to the state, there was no reason for vengeance, as “ritual suicide symbolized the

political fact that the samurai ‘owned’ his own body; hence, his life, honor, and moral judgement

were under his own control”16. Even if the death was ordered by the shogun, it was Lord Asano’s

choice to give it up in an attempt to restore the honor he lost for his illegal actions. This brings

up the second important point in that Asano was, according to the law, in the wrong for drawing

a weapon in the vicinity of the shogun, as well as for striking at a fellow lord, as duels had been

outlawed by kenka ryouseibai. Consequently, the Forty Seven were, in effect, avenging a

criminal. Could there be honor in that?

Popular literature puts Asano’s act in a grey area of moral repugnancy by having Kira

provoke him; in Chūshingura, Moronao is angry at the rebuttal that Lady Kaoyo sends him,

refusing his advances, and lashes out at Hangan, Kaoyo’s husband. It is only when Moronao is

insulting him to his face that Hangan draws his sword. However, we do not know the historical

reason behind the initial attack- despite letters that were exchanged between the Forty Seven and

other documentation of the event, no one specified what incited Asano17. The most common

theory is that Kira was being deliberately misleading and difficult as the two worked together to

prepare for the arrival of the emperor’s enviy and Asano could no longer stand for being led

16 Eiko Ikegami. “Military Mobilization and the Transformation of Property Relationships: Wars that Defined the Japanese Style of Capitalism.” In Irregular Armed Forces and Their Role in Politics and State Formation, edited by Diane E. Davis & Anthony W. Pereira. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 128 17 Masahide, Bitō, and Henry D. Smith. "The Akō Incident, 1701-1703." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 2 (2003):153.

McClory 12

around in such a manner. This vagueness, however, is particularly telling, as it signifies that no

one was debating the morality of Asano’s actions; it was clear to his retainers that their lord had

acted in a manner that was worthy of his status and he was thus still and forever deserving of

their loyalty.

It becomes a Robin Hood-like situation. The criminal appeals to the ethics of the

audience, a Japan that was still largely self-governed at the village level, as individual villages

were responsible for maintaining order and punishing crime within their own borders18. This,

combined with religious tendencies, meant that the common people understood the dilemma-

their moral scruples juxtaposed against legal necessities. It was enough to immediately stir up

commentary by Confucian scholars, who quickly began debating the role of ritual and

righteousness (rei礼 and gi 義) with law and punishment (hō法 and kei刑); or, as McMullen

puts it, can an action be both a moral duty and a crime19?

In general, the Confucian literature that swiftly followed the event said no. If the

government endorsed this one vendetta against all others, something that had been expressly

forbidden, what would stop others? It would be little different than playing favorites and

encouraging flagrant behavior in the future. If they were to continue to maintain the Pax

Tokugawa, they could not afford to be lenient in this20. A blanket statement was issued,

demanding the deaths of the Forty Seven. In order to ensure the complete control that was

necessary for the Tokugawa regime to run almost as an absolute state, punishment was vital. In a

18 James W. White. Ikki: Social Conflict and Political Protest in Early Modern Japan. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995), 39 19 James McMullen, "Confucian Perspectives on the Akō Revenge: Law and Moral Agency." Monumenta Nipponica, 58:3 (Autumn 2003), 294 20 Cameron G. Hurst. "Death, Honor, and Loyality: The Bushidō Ideal." Philosophy East and West 40, no. 4 (1990): 524. doi:10.2307/1399355.

McClory 13

way, this was a given as, according to McMullen, in Japan “political values tended to assume

priority over familial ones”21. However, I would argue that these two are not necessarily separate

categories, political vs. familial ideals due to the resemblance to a family unit that a lord-vassal

relationship forms.

Filial Piety

The basic social group in medieval to early modern Japan is said to be the ie, translating

literally as household, but much broader. It is defined by Gainty as “a means by which political

and economic control over a certain area could be ensured for a specific multigenerational

group”, maintained through marriage, adoption and inheritance22. The smaller family was thus

dependent on their lord- the landholder- in order to maintain any sort of political and economic

control; the lord was then dependent on his superior and so on and so forth until they reach the

level of the shogun, who had control over all lands and could move landholdings at will,

dependent on who his allies and potential threats according to the baku-han system. Gainty even

goes as far as to say that “all samurai were defined according to their relationship to the

Tokugawa house”, categorized as fudai or tozama as land was reshuffled depending on their

perceived loyalty to Tokugawa and how recently they had switched sides, further separated as

hatamoto, rōnin, or gokenin23.

Another method the shogunate used to maintain order was by romanticizing the ideal of

‘loyalty’, particularly as it relates to filial piety. The bakufu was pushing Buddhism as the state

21 James McMullen, "Confucian Perspectives on the Akō Revenge: Law and Moral Agency." Monumenta Nipponica, 58:3 (Autumn 2003), 296 22 Denis Gainty “Family, Gender and Sex in Early Modern Japan” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday. (Westview Press: 2012), 404 http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brandeis-ebooks/detail.action?docID=873309 23 Ibid. 347

McClory 14

religion, Hideyoshi going so far as using the collected weapons from the non-samurai following

the Sword Hunt Edict of 1588 to make a giant statue of the Buddha. An important part of

Buddhism, however, is filial piety- a son respecting his father and elders, caring for them as they

age just as they cared for their child as he grew up. Since the feudal system, in effect, imitated

the nuclear family, this put the shogun at the head of the family, as the peak of the metaie that

was Japanese society, and was therefore the one to whom piety- and loyalty- was owed.

In short, the Akō Incident highlights the struggle of defining morality in a new age in

Japanese history. Having just marked its first century without significant warring in recorded

memory, a militaristic people and their ideals had to be reconstrued to match an absolutist

government’s heavy hand. The story romanticizes the samurai ideals- the moral value of being

honorable and loyal- attributing its popularity and beginning its evolution into legend, nearly

making these warriors into martyrs in collective memory, having fallen victim to a new era’s

policy of centralization and legal dominance. It sticks out due to its timeliness, appearing at a

time when the samurai as a class had to seriously rethink their role and their identity.

McClory 15

Evolution into Legend

The Akō Incident is particularly interesting because it began as a historical event, a folk

tale setting of heroic warriors whose actions seem straight out of legend. It is unsurprising that

the story quickly grew, crossing into the realm of myth, gaining status and renown as not only an

oral tale, but a kabuki play, puppet play, and novel, eventually earning drama, manga, anime and

countless movie adaptations. Beyond just fascination for the samurai ideal of honor and the

intrigue stemming from the gap between accepted morality and the rule of the land, what

garnered the attention of a vast and timeless audience? It many ways, it was the relatability of the

story. The main cast were indeed of a higher class that the majority of the people who went to

see it performed in kabuki theater, but the main themes were traditionally appealing qualities of

honor and loyalty. It is the way the true event can be manipulated to suit the tastes of the

audiences, despite laws meant to preserve the dignity of the shogun and the lords by halting the

spread of such a tale. It was characters like Gihei the Merchant and Okaru, the strong daughter of

a samurai. It was the way the warrior’s loyalty becomes the people’s fascination.

Dissemination

Marcon and Smith describe an image, a copy of a wood block print illustration from a

1710 book called Gonyūbu kyara onna 御入部伽羅女 that shows a storyteller (kōshakushi) in

Osaka, with signs above his booth advertising tales such as Taiheiki, the Chronicle of Nobunaga

and Shijūshichinin Hyouban- the Tale of the Forty Seven Men24. The image shows that, not even

24 Federico Marcon and Henry D. Smith. "A Chūshingura Palimpsest: Young Motoori Norinaga Hears the Story of the Akō Rōnin from a Buddhist Priest." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 4 (2003): 447

McClory 16

a decade after their death, the story of Asano’s retainers is being put on the same stage of the

great military epics. It was an immediate sensation.

Image 2 Taiheiki-yomi storyteller (far left) in front of Ikutama shrine, Osaka, with a placard advertising tales of Taiheiki,

Nobunaga ki, and the Forty-Seven Rōnin. From Yuzuke Gansui 湯漬翫水 Gonyūbu kyara onna御入部伽羅女 (1710), kan 5.

Courtesy of Osaka Furitsu Nakanoshima Toshokan 大阪府立中能島図書館. Reproduced in Federico Marcon and Henry D.

Smith. "A Chūshingura Palimpsest: Young Motoori Norinaga Hears the Story of the Akō Rōnin from a Buddhist Priest." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 4 (2003): 447

Performers had to take caution, however, as the story’s ‘heroes’ were officially traitors,

not to mention that the shogunate had long since put restrictions on portraying real-life,

contemporary personas in an effort to control “subject matter in plays which would have a

subversive political or moral influence”25. Even if many of the laws relating to kabuki were only

loosely enforced, the Treasury of the Loyal Retainers tested these restrictions. Consequently,

25 Donald H. Shively. “Bakufu vs. Kabuki.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies Vol. 18, No. 3/4 (Dec., 1955), 339

McClory 17

when Kanadehon Chūshingura, which is considered one of the first and most well-known of the

kabuki adaptations, was initially brought to the puppet stage, certain changes had to be made,

such as moving the setting from 18th century Edo to a Muromachi era city and changing all the

names to avoid detection. While this fooled no one, the play was allowed to continue- and it soon

took on a life of its own.

Although not the first enactment of the Akō Incident- that honor belongs to the Nakamura

Theater, which portrayed the events on stage less than two weeks after the deaths of the Akō

Gishi and ran for three performances- the most famous bunraku show Kanadehon Chūshingura

from 1748 was quickly adapted for the kabuki stage, where it received a thunderous welcome26.

Shimazaki comments on the thriving popularity of the story:

Whenever a theater found itself in financial difficulties, it would stage The Treasury

of Loyal Retainers, assured that it would attract a crowd. In fact, the kabuki version

of The Treasury of Loyal Retainers was staged at least 233 times between the initial

production in 1748 and the close of the early modern period. Moreover, even this

astonishing figure does not include radically new takes on the story with different

titles, sequels, and other types of adaptations.27

The Forty Seven Ronin were an immediate sensation in the theatrical world, even if the story

was never quite the same. In early kabuki, the actors had a lot of freedom, such as writing their

own lines. Consequently, each time it was performed, the play was slightly different depending

on the whims of the actors28. Different theater companies competed with each other, performing

26 David Bell. Chushingura and the Floating World: The Representation of Kanadehon Chushingura in Ukiyo-e Prints. (Surry: Japan Library, 2001), 9. 27 Satoko Shimazaki. Edo Kabuki in Transition: From the Worlds of the Samurai to the Vengeful Female Ghost. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016), 121 28 Donald H. Shively “Popular Culture” in The Cambridge History of Japan, ed. John Whitney Hall and James L. McClain. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 754 https://doiorg.resources.library.brandeis.edu/10.1017/CHOL9780521223553.015

McClory 18

the same theme but in a different representation to draw a bigger crowd. And, naturally, the show

depended on the audience, as well.

Audience

Kabuki had a reputation and a history steeped in prostitution. In fact, “among the most

popular themes for the skits of the early period were those demonstrating techniques used by

prostitutes in accosting clients, or by clients in accosting prostitutes”, and, of course, the

actresses had first had experience with this, as the majority of them did, in fact, work in a

brothel29. The bakufu was in constant combat with these institutions, hastily placing restrictions

which were quickly outwitted. When the female actresses encouraged prostitution, the

government forbade women from performing. So, young men took their place and homosexual

prostitution took over. When the bakufu couldn’t successfully shut down ‘youth kabuki’, they

made policies to reduce the attractiveness of the onnagata, beautiful men playing the female

roles, with stipulations like shaving the forelock and dressing as a male even when playing a

female character. So, the actors covered the shaved forelock with wigs or strategically placed

scarves. In this constant match of wits, eventually, the bakufu had to cut their losses and they

remained at a stalemate for more than two hundred years30.

This background had a significant impact on the composition of the audience. Naturally,

it was inappropriate for ladies to watch. It was also unseemly for the nobility and samurai to be

seen at a kabuki venue, although this was sometimes counteracted by carefully placed screens.

The main audience, therefore, was the chōnin class, the peasants and merchants that made up the

29 Donald H. Shively. “Bakufu vs. Kabuki.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies Vol. 18, No. 3/4 (Dec., 1955), 327 30 Ibid.

McClory 19

middle strata of urban society. It was to them that the playwriter and actors had to appeal to,

creating storylines and characters that the middle class could admire and emulate.

Akō as an Example

This was one way that theater compromised with the government. Although its origins

were less that savory, the stories of derring-do and heroics, honorable warriors and noble

women, came to act as something like a morality play. While they were significantly less

stringent than their western counterparts, “the plays taught ethics more effectively than they

taught history. Exemplifying the values taught to bushi [warriors] was the stuff of the period

plays, even if in vulgarized form. The heroes emerged as models of self-discipline, uprightness,

honesty, and compassion”31. Although the rigid class barriers meant that these chōnin viewers

could never be members of the upper crust, they could carry themselves like one. Swords were

something they couldn’t wield, but they could act with the same honor and loyalty as the Akō

Gishi. This is further emphasized by the title of the play. A kanadehon is a copybook for

practicing kana characters; one learns by copying the examples in the book. The title Kanadehon

Chūshingura suggests that, much like the syllabary, the characters and their actions should be

taken as an example, in this case, on how to act32.

While the message was favorable, the shogunate naturally didn’t take to the commoners

attempts to blur the lines of class, but “despite attempts by the shogunate to limit contact

between the two classes, commoners appropriated the dress, manners, and practices of

31 Donald H. Shively “Popular Culture” in The Cambridge History of Japan, ed. John Whitney Hall and James L. McClain. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 759 https://doiorg.resources.library.brandeis.edu/10.1017/CHOL9780521223553.015 32 David Bell. Chushingura and the Floating World: The Representation of Kanadehon Chushingura in Ukiyo-e Prints. (Surrey: Japan Library 2001), 30.

McClory 20

samurai”33. In effect, the samurai were role models for the Japanese people, figures to be looked

up to, admired and emulated. With the class barrier still static, the theater became a place for

their actions to be studied; this was how samurai ideals (what came to be known as bushido)

were transmitted and honor and loyalty became Japanese principles, not just a part of the

warrior’s code.

Modern Day

These are not ancient concepts that are relegated to the glorified past; honor and loyalty

were adapted for the modern day at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was at this time

that the laws restricting the carrying of swords- which had been banned, even to the upper class,

in the late nineteenth century- were relaxed for WWII, permitting officer class soldiers to wear

the curved blades34. Of course, they weren’t the most up to date weapons in an age of atomic

bombs and Destroyer Class battleships, but they represented a history of honor and loyalty, of

individual combat where one’s life and worth was dependent on the amount of time spent

practicing and honing their skills, in the same way the Akō Gishi highlight this lost age. By

bringing back these symbols, the government was trying to strengthen the ties to samurai of lore

who drew their swords in defense of their honor and their lord’s pride. Instead of protecting their

lord, however, it was the duty of the modern samurai to protect their emperor and country,

according to the propaganda; military officers were even placed in elementary and military

schools as drill instructors in order to “indoctrinate youth with accepted military values and

33 Denis Gainty “The New Warriors”. In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, ed. Karl F. Friday. (Westview Press, 2012), 353 http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brandeis-ebooks/detail.action?docID=873309 34 Edward J. Drea. Japan's Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2009), 176 http://www.jstor.org.resources.library.brandeis.edu/stable/j.ctt1bmzks5?refreqid=excelsior%3A7089a935a2f25302a86be947ae518fd3

McClory 21

patriotism to facilitate their transition as conscripts into the army barracks”35. Although the key

was now patriotism instead of ‘filial’ piety to one’s daimyo, the same concepts that are praised in

the Treasury of the Loyal Retainers, are still being use as a way to unify the country, this time in

an age of war rather than peace.

It is obvious when one looks at the militaristic Japan of the Second World War, that the

government propagated the samurai and warrior culture of mythos. However, because the feudal

system had long since been abandoned as archaic and the samurai themselves had been

disarmed, it was important that the legends were the ones being emphasized, the heroics and

chivalric deeds, and not the system which had been discredited by the government if they were to

maintain face36. It was in this way that the myth of the Forty Seven continued to grow and

expand into the modern age. The soldiers who died in battle were told that they would be

immortalized and honored at the now-infamous Yasukuni Shrine, much in the same way that the

kami of the Akō Rōnin reside in Sengaku-ji in Tokyo. This only helped the legend grow, even in

the modern age. The themes remained popular, in part because of their enduring legacy, but also

because these are the same themes that the government was encouraging during war time. With

the growth of the movie industry and the advent of television not too long after, Chūshingura

was able to branch out even further and continue its evolution into legend.

However, the ideals aren’t only used in warfare. The Japanese language has many words

for honor, meaning they are not limited only to the battlefield37. After WWII, the new

constitution outlawed war and disbanded the army and to this day, Japan has remained a

35 Edward J. Drea. Japan's Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2009), 154 http://www.jstor.org.resources.library.brandeis.edu/stable/j.ctt1bmzks5?refreqid=excelsior%3A7089a935a2f25302a86be947ae518fd3 36 Ibid. 38 37 Eiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995),17

McClory 22

remarkably peaceful country. Instead, the new battlefield can be said to be the corporate sphere.

By the 1950’s, the millions of yen that had been going to field the war were now being redirected

into the economy, rebuilding the grieving nation. New policies encouraged the growth of

keiretsu and vertical monopolies, creating a remarkably competitive atmosphere. It was here that

the traditional concepts of honor and loyalty were now being employed. Ikegami claims that

“collective conformity, avoidance of shame, and the pursuit of honor and prestige through

competition all reinforce one another, thereby shaping the remarkable compound of what I would

term “honorable collaboration” and “honorable competition” in the organizational culture of

Japanese business corporations”38. In this sphere, rather than the Akō Gishi, perhaps it should be

the role of Gihei the Merchant that is extolled, as he shows that honor does not exist solely in the

blade of a sword but is just as important to those of lesser status and integral to the society as a

whole.

Sengaku-ji

The legend continues, immortalized at Sengaku-ji in Tokyo. The temple was originally

built in 1612 by Tokugawa Ieyasu and was considered one of the three main Buddhist temples of

Edo, until it was burned down and relocated39. It gained fame for its association with the Akō

Incident when Lord Asano’s remains were interred here and it was here that Oishi Kuronosuke,

leader of the Akō Gishi carried the decapitated head of Lord Kira after accomplishing their

vendetta and achieving their master’s vengeance. Once they accepted their punishment, the Forty

Seven were buried alongside their lord at Sengaku-ji, making the temple a place of worship for

these symbols of honor.

38 Eiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995), 18 39 “About Sengakuji.” Sengakuji. Accessed on March 16 2018. http://www.sengakuji.or.jp/about_sengakuji_en/

McClory 23

A.B Freeman-Mitford, who served at the British Legation in Japan shortly after the

arrival of the Black Ships in the nineteenth century, was so struck by the temple that he included

a very thorough description in his 1871 book Old Tales of Japan, which was the first English

recount of the Akō Incident. This was the first image of the temple of the Forty Seven Rōnin that

reached the Western world and caused it to step onto the world stage:

On the left-hand side of the main court of the temple is a chapel, in which,

surmounted by a gilt figure of Kwanyin, the goddess of mercy, are enshrined the

images of the forty-seven men, and of the master whom they loved so well. The

statues are carved in wood, the faces coloured, and the dresses richly lacquered; as

works of art they have great merit—the action of the heroes, each armed with his

favourite weapon, being wonderfully life-like and spirited. Some are venerable men,

with thin, grey hair (one is seventy-seven years old); others are mere boys of sixteen.

Close by the chapel, at the side of a path leading up the hill, is a little well of pure

water, fenced in and adorned with a tiny fernery, over which is an inscription, setting

forth that "This is the well in which the head was washed; you must not wash your

hands or your feet here." A little further on is a stall, at which a poor old man earns a

pittance by selling books, pictures, and medals, commemorating the loyalty of the

Forty-seven; and higher up yet, shaded by a grove of stately trees, is a neat inclosure

[sic], kept up, as a signboard announces, by voluntary contributions, round which are

ranged forty-eight little tombstones, each decked with evergreens, each with its

tribute of water and incense for the comfort of the departed spirit. 40

Even by the nineteenth century, the temple had become the place of legends, leaving a lasting

impression to the people who would introduce Japan to the rest of the world. The spirits of the

Akō Gishi had permeated Japanese mythology and would forever be identified as a central tenet

of Japanese culture in the world’s eye.

This fact was engraved in Mitford’s consciousness when he witnessed a man committing

hara-kiri at the gravesite of the heroes of legend. A note was found on the corpse, identifying the

man as one of the last of a class of master-less samurai; he had petitioned to join Prince Choshū

40 Mitford, Algernon Bertram Freeman. (2004). Tales of Old Japan. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved March 20, 2018, from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13015/13015-h/13015-h.htm.

McClory 24

as a retainer, but upon his refusal, the man decided that death would be preferable to following

any other master and he slit his belly on top of the remains of those remembered as the epitome

of a warrior’s honor41. This scene was brought to the rest of the world by Mitford, who, as one of

the first British diplomats to Japan, had a not insignificant effect on the contemporaneous ‘Japan

boom’ that infected the Western world upon the easing of the Isolation Policy. His book, Tales of

Old Japan, in which “the Forty Seven Ronins” is the first story, turned out to be a bestseller42.

This meant that the Akō Incident had caught the attention of not just all of Japan, but the whole

world and the legend continued to spread.

Even today, Sengaku-ji’s legend is alive. In December every year, the Gishisai festival is

held in honor of Loyal Retainers. Although many cities celebrate the event, Sengaku-ji is well

known for its festivities and in 2010, over 70,000 people visited the temple during the festival.

However, this crowd pales in comparison to the 130,000 people who visited the city of Akō in

2002, the three hundredth anniversary of the Asano’s vengeance; that’s nearly three times the

population of the city43. In addition to all the usual festival activities, like dances and food stalls,

Gishisai features a memorial service in the morning, honoring the dead, but the main high light is

gishi gyouretsu, the warrior procession featuring volunteers dressed up as the Loyal Retainers.

The parade lasts nearly three miles, starting at Zojo-ji and making its way through Tokyo to end

at Sengaku-ji, drawing thousands of viewers44.

41 Mitford, Algernon Bertram Freeman. (2004). Tales of Old Japan. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved March 20, 2018, from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13015/13015-h/13015-h.htm. 42 Robert Morton. A.B. Mitford and the Birth of Japan as a Modern State: Letters Home. (Kent: Renaissance Books, 2017), 159 http://www.jstor.org.resources.library.brandeis.edu/stable/j.ctt1s17p1q 43 Yuriko Katsumata. "The Truth in the Fictions: The Exploration of the “Chūshingura” World.” (Master’s thesis, University of Victoria (Canada) 2011), 12 44 Asano, John. “Festivals of Japan: Gishi-Sai Festival in Tokyo.”Gaijinpot. December 11, 2015. Accessed on March 20, 2018. https://blog.gaijinpot.com/festivals-of-japan-gishi-sai-festival-in-tokyo/

McClory 25

Chūshingura as a Genre

Of course, there are countless retellings of the Akō Incident, Chūshingura Kanadehon

being one of the earliest- and one of the most frequently adapted. Since then, it has been made

into movies, becoming practically a genre of its own, with at least one new version being made

every decade since 1907, with a crescendo during the early stages of the film industry when there

was “a total of sixty Chûshingura films in late Meiji and Taisho (1907-26), an average of three

per year”45. The trend continues in recent years in Hollywood, with American adaptions in 2013

starring Keanu Reeves and a 2015 movie featuring Morgan Freeman. It’s a genre not dissimilar

to American Western movies, glorifying the venerated past and idolizing the bold decisions of

men on horseback and making it the font for an unending number of adaptations.

Ukiyo-e

Chūshingura survived not just in plays, but in the art that came with it. Ukiyo-e

woodblock prints were a popular way to advertise kabuki plays and the two often went hand in

hand. For the price of one cheap ticket, two woodblock prints could be purchased, which

frequently featured an actor in the role of one of the characters or a scene from the play46.

Kabuki plays and ukiyo-e prints catered to the same audience, the chōnin class that was

thriving in the economic prosperity that came with the Pax Tokugawa, who now had the extra

money and extra time to enjoy such leisure activities. With the country at peace at last, the action

of the Akō Incident is especially eye catching, as this was a generation that had never seen war

and instead lived a relatively mundane existence where they were able to focus on making

45 Henry D. Smith. “Chûshingura in the 1980s: Rethinking the Story of the 47 Ronin.” (Presentation at Modern Japan Seminar, Columbia University, April 13, 1990.) 46 David Bell. Chushingura and the Floating World: The Representation of Kanadehon Chushingura in Ukiyo-e Prints. (Surrey: Japan Library 2001), 20

McClory 26

money and amusing themselves. However, this was a confusing situation for the upper levels of

the chōnin, those wealthy enough to dress and adopt the mannerisms of the samurai, but still

stuck firmly in their own class due to the caste lines the bakufu had drawn; they were stuck in an

inbetween, not quite samurai, but a step above the masses. Some felt that the rōnin were

comrades in dissociation, as the master-less warriors could hardly call themselves samurai if

their lord was dead and their lands about to be dissolved. They too were stuck in limbo. This fed

into the Chūshingura craze, making the plays and the prints flourish in a reciprocal relationship;

as Bell puts it: “On the one hand, the popularity of Chushingura guaranteed the popularity and

saleability of ukiyo-e depictions of favorite episodes, characters or actors. On the other hand,

ukiyo-e depictions were an integral part of the commerce of the theater, advertising new

productions, promoting actors, or illustrating new interpretations”47. Together, the two thrived-

and we have the physical evidence to prove it in the dozens of playbills from all four of the Edo

period playhouses that exist in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston alone. Even

these play bills featured art characteristic of ukiyo-e prints. This, alongside countless Warriors

series and Kanadehon Chūshingura themes that all the most popular artists created; the ones I

have included in this paper are just a very, very small fragment of the genre that has been enough

to inspire entire books.

First gaining attention in the world of kabuki with Chūshingura Kanadehon, the story

quickly became the cornerstone of theater, a fall back for rainy days when the current title just

wasn’t drawing the crowds. It evolved into legend through oral tradition, garnering attention

across the world as a representation of what was seen as the core ideals of the Japanese people to

47 David Bell. Chushingura and the Floating World: The Representation of Kanadehon Chushingura in Ukiyo-e Prints. (Surrey: Japan Library 2001), 13

McClory 27

a world that was just getting acquainted with the country in the nineteenth century. The story

continued to grow as it cornered the film industry, establishing itself as a genre all its own.

Today, the Forty Seven are still regaled as heroes, true and honorable samurai who are honored

every year on the anniversary of Kira’s death. What started as a disagreement between two

wealthy men and the actions of their followers has evolved and expanded into legend.

McClory 28

Appeal and Extension to Non-Samurai

One thing that accounts for the sheer popularity of Chūshingura is the story’s appeal to

the chōnin and non-samurai population. Spreading mainly through mass entertainment like

drama and storytelling originally, Chūshingura was directed at the working, middle class and

naturally the story evolved to accommodate this fact, giving rise to figures like Gihei the

Merchant and an emphasis on female characters. Besides characters, however, it was the actions

of the samurai themselves that drew the middle class’s attention; while the Forty Seven were

indeed avenging their honor- a trait that was certainly not unique to their class- they were also

trying to ensure fair treatment by the government and the peasant class of Japan had proved time

and time again that they would not take injustice sitting down.

Kabuki and the bakufu have a rather strained history. Considering its unrefined

entertainment inappropriate for the upper classes, the shogunate tried for years to restrain the

evolution of kabuki, which had dubious origins in the sex industry. When a series of laws failed

to fully correct this, the government was forced to compromise and turn a blind eye on

occasion48. Nonetheless, it was not encouraged for samurai to be seen at the theater; of course,

they still arrived in droves, but kabuki remained the realm of the common folk49. Consequently,

playwrights were allowed to devote their attention to pleasing these rougher crowds and the

evolution of Chūshingura reflects this. The most obvious example of this is the addition of the

character Gihei in Kanadehon Chushingura.

48Donald H. Shively. “Bakufu vs. Kabuki.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies Vol. 18, No. 3/4 (Dec., 1955), pp. 326-356 49 Ibid.

McClory 29

Gihei the Merchant

Gihei is introduced in Act X of the play. A merchant from the thriving port of Sakai,

Gihei is described as “a man of unblemished reputation who has steadily amassed a fortune. He

lives unassumingly but, though no one would guess it, is a man of substantial means”50. Despite

this glowing reputation, he is no doubt a commoner as the scene opens with him directing the

delivery of seven cases- which he ties himself- to a captain ready to set sail. This simple act of

commerce is expressly forbidden to the samurai, one of the laws instituted by Tokugawa Ieyasu

upon his rise to power, an effort to keep the samurai class beholden to the government. The

warrior class were forbidden from taking part in trade or agriculture or any other profession that

might result in them earning money autonomously; if they were dependent on those in charge for

a stipend to survive, the likelihood of rebellion or insurrection decreased. It was a key part of

enforcing the rigid class lines that helped support the Pax Tokugawa and clearly separates Gihei

from the Akō Gishi.

Gihei’s role, in a way, supports Tokugawa’s decision to limit trade in this manner, as the

seven cases he had just finished sending off contained a large supply of arms and armor destined

to be used in the raid at the manor of Lord Kira, an act for which he could easily lose his life.

Gihei is a living example that proves that honor and loyalty are not traits unique to the samurai

class but belong to people at large. He sacrifices everything for this project, aiding the Akō

League in their vengeance, as “Gihei of the Amagawaya has a chivalrous spirit not even a

samurai could match” and sends away his wife and all his servants in order to protect this secret

50 Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku & Namiki Senryū, Chūshingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, trans. Donald Keene (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971), 150.

McClory 30

he shares with the band of rōnin51. Rather than letting the plot be discovered, he is willing to

divorce his wife, pretending to fall victim to a trap set by his father-in-law, Ōta Ryōchiku, who

has determined to marry off his daughter a second time in order to receive “the wedding money

from the groom to keep [him] warm”52. Through this, it can be seen that the merchant is not only

willing to sacrifice his own comforts and life for the sake of something he considers to be a just

cause, but also the wellbeing of the mother of his child and heir.

51 Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku & Namiki Senryū, Chūshingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, trans. Donald Keene (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971), 153. 52 Ibid., 156.

Image 3 Katsuhika Hokusai, Amakawa-ya sumika (At the Dwelling of Amakawaya). Act X from the series Kanadehon Chushingura, 1806. Polycrome woodblock print. Honolulu Academy of Arts. Gift of James A. Michener, 1991.

McClory 31

Just when the audience thinks Gihei has suffered enough, the police arrive at his door to

arrest him, the same night of the final shipment of equipment. They claim to know of the plot

hatched by Ōboshi Yuranosuke Yoshikane (Oishi Kuranosuke), Enya Hangan’s chief retainer,

and they put a blade to the throat of Gihei’s four-year-old son to coax information from the

merchant. But he refuses to quiver in fear, steadfastly exclaiming: “Gihei of the Amakawaya is a

man. Not even love for my son can make me confess what I don’t know. I know absolutely

nothing about this, nothing whatsoever, and I’ll go to hell before I confess what I don’t know. If

you don’t like what I say, go ahead and kill son before my eyes, yes, go ahead”53. Even when his

own life is threatened, he resolutely refuses to budge, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that

even merchants have their pride and have their honor, traits from which they will not bend or

break. It is only when he moves to strangle his own son rather than confess that Ōboshi himself

appears and the policemen drop their truncheons and ropes to reveal that the rōnin have pulled

their own ruse in order to test Gihei’s unwavering spirit.

Amazingly, Ōboshi bows low to Gihei, acknowledging his determination as a man, which

rivals the rōnin’s own, regardless of class. Ōboshi goes on to explain that some of his comrades

had doubted Gihei’s trustworthiness due to his status as a merchant, but that he has gone above

and beyond all expectations in his reaction to the admittedly cruel test:

There’s a saying ‘among flowers the cherry blossom, and among men the samurai,’

but no samurai could match your determination. Even a man who could hold off a

million strong enemies might not be endowed with such a splendid character. If we

borrow your spirit and make it our model when we attack Moronao, how can we fail,

53 Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku & Namiki Senryū, Chūshingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, trans. Donald Keene (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971), 158-159.

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even if he’s entrenched in the rocks or hidden in an iron cave? They say no ‘men

among men,’ but we have found one for certain among the merchants. 54

Ōboshi’s praise proves that there is more to honor that being able to wield a sword. Honor comes

from staying true to a just cause; it is not something reserved just for those who carry a noble

name but can be found in the streets and shops of any city. All the actors in this ruse draw back

and bow three times, recognizing the strength displayed by Gihei. And still, he remains humble,

waving away their apologies and berating his inability to do anything more, due to his status. He

reverses the praise, stating how he wishes to join them in the raid, as it was Lord Hangan’s

patronage that allowed him to rise from poverty and establish himself as a merchant. In this way,

his character serves to fill the ever-popular trope of rags to riches and demonstrating to even the

basest audience that honor and moral fortitude is not bestowed to certain households but can be

found even amongst the weeds.

It is at this point that Gihei’s abandoned wife, Osono, arrives on the scene and displays

her own kind of loyalty, resolutely refusing to abandon her son and remarry. She makes a scene,

crying and wailing, rebuking her husband for his betrayal. It is not the charismatic display that

Gihei had shown to the Loyal Retainers, but it shows her determination to fulfill her own role

and be a good wife to Gihei and a good mother to their son. It a demonstration of her filial piety,

a trait that has been proven again and again to be related to the loyalty the samurai show to their

master by avenging him. In the end, she agrees to leave, showing how she is willing to sacrifice

herself for her family, as she knows that to remain in this house would be to disgrace her

54 Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku & Namiki Senryū, Chūshingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, trans. Donald Keene (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971), 159.

McClory 33

husband by disobeying his wishes. Although she will miss her son and has no desire to remarry,

she concedes: “There’s no helping it. This is the end”55.

However, the pair are in for one more surprise this night. As Osono runs off in despair, a

man appears in her path, grabbing her as she flees; he chops her hair off- ornaments and all- and

snatches her purse before disappearing. Gihei hears her scream and runs to her aid, mentally

cursing himself for his wavering determination, but the group of samurai appear in his path and

present him with a bundle. Gihei, who thinks Yuranosuke is paying for his loyalty, is incensed.

He kicks at the bundle while Yuranosuke turns to leave and Osono’s hair ornaments and purse

tumble out; Yuranosuke explains that his comrade had attacked Osono, as no one will marry a

woman with her hair cut short and by the time it grows back, their deed will have been

committed and she will be able to return safely to Gihei’s side. Gihei’s true reward is the

knowledge that the name of his shop will be used as a password during the night of the attack,

and that in this way, he will be there with the Loyal Retainers even in the crucial moment and

remind the warriors of the righteousness of the merchant who has helped them.

In a world of nearly no social mobility, it is only natural that the chōnin class look up to

and respect the nobility, as a dreamlike life. Consequently, it is no surprise that Gihei’s actions

invoke an image of samurai spirit. During the Sengoku period, about a century after the play is

set, Asakura Toshikage, one of the first daimyo of the Sengoku era and leader of Echizen,

released “the Seventeen Article Testament of Asakura Toshikage”, a set of the house codes that

helped set a precedent for all noble families. Number nine of seventeen states: “those men who

55 Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku & Namiki Senryū, Chūshingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, trans. Donald Keene (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971), 167.

McClory 34

are unskilled and lack ability but are steadfast in spirit deserve special attention”56. In this scene,

the audience can clearly see Gihei living up to this advice and in that way can act as an example,

someone the chōnin can aspire to and emulate from their own class. It is all well and good to

seek to be like the noble samurai, but with the strict limits of class mobility in Tokugawa Japan,

it was important for the viewers to have someone from their own social strata from whom they

could learn to better their lives, rising as far above their class as possible57. In this sense, it could

almost be considered like a Western morality play, which taught the audience how to live in the

name of the Christian God and therefore aspire to a better life in heaven. While the typical

Japanese merchant from Gihei’s time couldn’t actually change his class, he could improve his

status by emulating the nobility and demonstrating “skill and appreciation of the arts, earning the

respect of their social superiors” as maintaining face was just as important to the middle class as

it was the nobility and earning their recognition is the closest a simple merchant was able to

come to improving his lot58.

It is notable this was a thin distinction at best. Although a merchant could never become a

samurai, he could live a significantly better life than a low-class samurai like Kampei or

Terasaka among the Forty Seven; some among the extremely wealthy merchants were even able

to purchase the right to wear the double sword. The title of ‘samurai’ was a legal distinction that

was becoming more and more irrelevant as the Pax Tokugawa continued; the samurai were no

longer warriors, but retainers who often had little to do but laze around the city seeking

entertainment. However, even as contact with the chōnin increased, the romanticized ideals of

56 Asakura Toshikage. “Seventeen-Article Testament of Asakura Toshikage.” Trans. William Theodore deBary. In William Theodore deBary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe and Paul Varley, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Vol. 1, 430 57 David S. Escoffery, "Teaching Merchant-Class Virtues with Chushingura and The London Merchant" page 6 of 10 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 5.2 (2003): <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol5/iss2/4> 58 Ibid.

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their warrior past continued to be enshrined in drama and literature and “despite attempts by the

shogunate to limit contact between the two classes, commoners appropriated the dress, manners,

and practices of samurai”, much the same way celebrities set trends in the modern day59. Indeed,

the kabuki theater was already full of trend setters, as the actors were stars of their own time and

the new styles of fashion were frequently first seen in the theater, then disseminated among the

people through wood block prints. One reason that Kanadehon Chūshingura held such appeal to

the wider audiences was the cast of prestigious samurai to fawn over and seeing their own people

in Gihei succeed and win favor with the upper class. From there, they were able to adapt their

own lives to match and hopefully earn the same fortune and recognition as Gihei of Amagawaya.

Injustice

The samurai may have had the titles, but the traits that the people of the newly unified

country were the same. For example. the determination and loyalty that Gihei showed, but also

the intolerance for injustice. The Forty Seven sacrificed their lives for the sake of their lord, but

it was not because they blamed Kira for Asano’s death, nor did they care about the presumed

slight he had carried out against Asano. In fact, no one talks about it; although correspondence

from the leaders of the rōnin band remain today, none of them mention exactly how Kira

managed to offend Asano60. All that can be said for certain is that Asano cried out, “‘Do you

remember the occasion for my grudge?’ (kono aida no ikon oboetaru ka 此間の遺恨覚たるか)”

as he slashed at Kira’s head with his short sword61. Asano didn’t seem to receive much sympathy

59 Denis Gainty, “The New Warriors,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday (Boulder: Westview Press, 2012), 353. 60 Masahide, Bitō, and Henry D. Smith. "The Akō Incident, 1701-1703." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 2 (2003):152. 61 Henry D Smith. "The Capacity of Chūshingura: Three Hundred Years of Chūshingura." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 1 (2003): 4.

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for his own actions, justified or not. First, there is the simple embarrassment that he failed at his

task and that Kira walked away relatively unscathed; this not only speaks poorly of Asano’s

martial prowess, but can also be attributed to the fact that he let his emotions dictate his actions,

as some suggest that his failure was due to over-excitement62. We do not have records attesting

to Asano’s ability with the sword- or lack thereof- but the fact that he had used a wakizashi to

slash at Kira rather than stab is rather telling, as the design of the weapon is far more suited to

stabbing, given its short length. This was not lost on the rumor mill that followed and this

mocking verse arose following his death:

初手は突き二度目はなどかきらざらん石見がえぐる穴をみながら

Shote wa tsuki / nidome wa nadoka / kirazaran Iwami ga eguru / ana o minagara

Why did he not stab first,

And then cut Kira down?

He must have known about

the hole Iwami dug.63

Iwami being Inaba Masayasu- known at court as Iwami no Kami- who had cut Hotta Masatoshi

in 1684 by thrusting with his own short sword. It was a basic lesson learned when fighting with

the daishō that the samurai bore and if Asano had ignored it, it would be no surprise that he

didn’t receive much sympathy from the public or his retainers.

More likely to have incited the loyal servants is the unfairness in treatment. Although

Asano made the first move, the laws of kenka ryouseibai dictated punishment for both parties,

irrespective of fault or liability; for example, the Imagawa house codes state that “if any warriors

62 Masahide, Bitō, and Henry D. Smith. "The Akō Incident, 1701-1703." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 2 (2003):156. 63 Ibid.

McClory 37

engage in fighting, both parties will be executed regardless of who may be right or wrong”64. By

these laws, Kira should have suffered the same fate as Asano, but instead he received words of

comfort and praise for not responding in kind (although some called this cowardly)65. The

government justified Asano’s execution by saying that the punishment was the result of drawing

a weapon in the palace and interfering with preparations for the emperor envoy’s arrival, rather

than for disregarding the law of kenka ryouseibai as this was not considered a true kenka, or

fight, since Kira had not reached for his own weapon. However, it is clear that the shogunate was

merely trying to keep peace and continue to inhibit private revenge among the samurai class in

order to maintain order; there had been too much violence among this particular class in the past

and it threatened the stability that the government wanted to preserve.

Of course, the rōnin protested and filed petitions for Kira’s punishment, but it was to no

avail and thus they decided to take justice into their own hands. This was a matter that the

Japanese populace could relate to. Schooler states that medieval Japan had no history of the

politically active citizen and while I agree that the peasant classes had never held much in the

way of political power, that is by no means to say that they would lie down and accept their

fate66. In fact, the village was remarkably independent and generally rather peaceful, reliant on a

highly developed legal system and the importance of saving face to preserve order when violence

was not in their power67,68,69. Nonetheless, when they felt their rights were being infringed or the

64 William Theodore deBary. Sources of Japanese Tradition 2nd ed. William Theodore deBary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe and Paul Varley, eds., (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), Vol. 1, 423 65 Masahide Bitō, and Henry D. Smith. "The Akō Incident, 1701-1703." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 2 (2003):156. 66 Carmi Schooler. “The Individual in Japanese History: Parallels to and Divergences from the European Experience.” Sociological Forum, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1990): 590 67 James White. Ikki: Social Conflict and Political Protest in Early Modern Japan. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995) 39-40 68 Herman Ooms. Tokugawa Village Practice: Class, Status, Power, Law. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 71-72 69 Takeo Doi. The Anatomy of Dependence. Trans. John Bester. (Tokyo: Kodansha International 1971), 54

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social contract they had signed by giving up their weapons was being taken advantage of, they

rose up in rebellion- an event that was not uncommon70. In fact, “the Japanese historian Aoki

Koji… found no fewer than 6889 instances of contentious upheaval throughout the Tokugawa

period, including 3212 incidents involving peasant ikki- actions of complaint addressed to the

samurai authorities; 3189 internal village conflicts; and 488 urban disturbances of some sort” and

while a large portion of these ‘contentious upheavals’ were petitions that were filed repeatedly,

there were also a significant number of cases of violent shows of force by a collective group71.

Contrary to the image of peaceful village life that the Pax Tokugawa might present, these were a

people who were not unwilling to stand up for themselves. They did not tolerate injustice. It is no

surprise that the actions of Loyal Retainers were looked upon favorably by the lower classes,

who admired the way that the samurai fought back in the face of the oft unreasonable Tokugawa

legal system72. That they were able to see themselves in these characters helped keep the legend

alive among the chōnin.

Amae

The primary social division in Tokugawa Japan was the ie, the family structure that

includes family and lord, as mentioned before; Gainty goes so far as to say that the ruling

structure of Japan under the bakufu was a ‘metaie’, incorporating households and building up

into a pyramidal structure all the way to the top to incorporate the shogun73. Familial ties-

whether by blood or by name- were an important aspect of life during this time period, an

70 James White. Ikki: Social Conflict and Political Protest in Early Modern Japan. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995) 35-36 71 Eiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995),174 72 Denis Gainty, “The New Warriors,” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday (Boulder: Westview Press, 2012), 351-352. 73 Ibid.

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important facet of society. It is no surprise that they played a significant role in the Akō Incident

itself. Honor was frequently tied to the group rather than the individual and this greatly

influenced the actions of the Akō Gishi, as well as their family members as portrayed in

Chūshingura. It also meant that women, as well as men, carried honor and the duty of preserving

the family honor.

Additionally, it showed that even these lower classes had their own sense of honor,

comparable to that displayed by the Akō Gishi, and it was largely an effect of the structure of

Japanese society. Psychoanalyst Takeo Doi received wide recognition for his work The Anatomy

of Dependence, discussing the role of amae in Japanese society and while many critique the

book’s tendency towards nihonjinron, or Japanese exceptionalism, I think Doi very clearly

highlights the importance of relationships and the collective in Japanese society. While amae

exists in some capacity in most cultures, the fact that it is most easily expressed in words in

Japanese speaks to its importance. Translating roughly to interdependence and the desire to be

able to depend on others, Doi frequently uses the relationship of a mother and child to highlight

this bond, but it is clear that it is something that extends beyond family to include ‘the group to

which one belongs’, both on a smaller scale- a school or a town- and on a larger scale, such as a

country. As Maynard says, the desire for amae, the desire to be able to depend on someone,

“motivates one to belong to a group or groups” and essentially creates a large support system,

tying one another to each other74.

74 Senko K. Maynard. "Relationality Cues in the Sociocultural Context of Japan." In Japanese Communication: Language and Thought in Context, 29-36. (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997), 33 http://www.jstor.org.resources.library.brandeis.edu/stable/j.ctt6wqqv1.8.

McClory 40

However, this can be problematic as it makes it difficult to discern the ‘self’ from the

‘other’75. Amae ties the bonds tightly; for example, when one is part of a group where amae is

strong enough, it feels as if everything can be forgiven. Doi uses this to explain the emphasis

many scholars have put on Japanese shame compared to Western guilt, but it is interesting to use

this idea to look at the honor of the Forty Seven as a group and at Gihei as a representation of a

merchant’s honor.

Although the most common reference is a family unit to express amae, the bonds of a

samurai are often closely compared to this, with loyalty to the lord standing in for filial piety.

This can be seen in the fact that “all who are in the service of the domains” bear coats with the

crest of the daimyo, whether they share his surname or not76, a physical reminder of the fact that

these warriors are very closely linked to one another and, in a way, inhibiting the sense of self.

With this connection between the warriors, honor becomes not just for oneself, but for one’s

comrades and lord, as well. So, it could be argued that Loyal Retainers are avenging their lord,

not just out of a sense of loyalty and filial piety, but in order to preserve face for themselves, as a

part of this group. This was especially important because it was advised by many noble

households not to accept rōnin as their retainers77; master-less samurai would not have the same

ties of amae to a new lord as those who had been in his employ for generation, as seen in the

difficulty Kampei has in finding a new lord to serve in Chūshingura78. As a member in Lord

75 Takeo Doi. The Anatomy of Dependence. Trans. John Bester. (Tokyo: Kodansha International 1971), 135 76 Asakura Toshikage. “Seventeen-Article Testament of Asakura Toshikage.” Trans. William Theodore deBary. In William Theodore deBary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe and Paul Varley, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Vol. 1, 430 77 Ibid. 78 Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku & Namiki Senryū, Chūshingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, trans. Donald Keene (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971), 80.

McClory 41

Hangan’s service, he carries those ties with him for life, ties that are strong enough for him to

bear, even in death.

Collective Honor

In Act V, Kampei, who had once served Lord Hangan, is out hunting in the woods, when

his shot goes wide and instead of bringing in a boar, it is his former comrade Sadakurō’s body

that falls to the ground. Unable to see in the dark, Kampei gropes around, quickly realizing his

mistake, but not recognizing the body. He

grieves for a moment, but then his hand

touches upon a heavy purse and he exalts

his good fortune, as he now has money to

contribute to the band of rōnin and their

honorable cause; unknown to Kampei,

however, this same purse has just been

carried many leagues by his father-in-law

after selling Kampei’s wife, Okaru, into

service as a prostitute. It was stolen when

Sadakurō kills the old man on his way

home. When Kampei returns home

bearing a suspiciously familiar purse and

his father-in-law fails to return at all, it is

only natural that the suspicion falls upon

Kampei. He is devastated, but the final

blow comes when Gōemon, come to

Image 4 Toyohara Kunichika, Japanese, 1835-1900. n.d.. Senzaki Yagoro, Hayano Kampei, and Fuwa Kazuemon, scene from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Chushingura). Place: Ackland Art Museum, University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transferred from Louis Round Wilson Library, Rare Book Collection, Bequest of Susan Gray Akers.

http://library.artstor.org.resources.library.brandeis.edu/asset/AACKLANDIG_10314028547.

McClory 42

collect Kampei to aid in the revenge plot, cries “the unfortunate thing is that word of this will get

around, and people may say that Hayano Kampei, a retainer of Enya Hangan, committed a

monstrous crime. This will disgrace not only you but our late master”79. After hearing these

accusations, Kampei is unable to bear the shame and promptly slits his own belly to try and atone

for these sins.

It is not his own shame that drives him to this action, it is the thought that he has caused

shame for his master, proving that their ties extend past the boundaries of life and death. These

are ties that Doi would claim stem from amae and Kampei’s actions, as well as those of his

comrades, showing how important it is for this ‘family unit’ to be able to depend on each other,

not just to watch their backs, but to ensure that their shames go avenged and their honor is

preserved, because it is all one and the same. As a collective, they share the same honor and the

same shame. Kampei’s suspected crime infringes on his lord’s honor and he does what is

necessary to minimize that stain; when Kampei is proven innocent, his sacrifice is exalted and he

is welcomed into the band as a blood brother, if only in name and spirit, for he shown his luck

and merit as a samurai, bringing honor to the group as a whole.

This is not unique to Kampei, of course. The village often acted a collective, together

responsible for civil order and the control of crime, with the key being joint responsibility, even

in sub-village groups80. This meant that if one person stepped out of line, the whole community

suffered. This would naturally foster loyalty- first, loyalty to one’s family, as a ‘sub-village

group’, then to the village, the headman, the lord and so on and so forth. In the eyes of their

79 Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku & Namiki Senryū, Chūshingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, trans. Donald Keene (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971), 80. 80 James W. White. Ikki: Social Conflict and Political Protest in Early Modern Japan. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995) 39-40

McClory 43

superiors, they were seen as one entity. To the shogun, they were provinces. To the daimyo, they

were villages, to the village they were families before they were individuals.

This means that none of the characters in Chūshingura are acting for themselves, but

rather for a form of group honor. Hangan is acting for both himself and his wife; he strikes at

Moronao knowing that he will not likely survive the encounter and even if he does, it won’t be

for long. Moronao is insulting not only Hangan’s pride but also that of the Lady Kaoyo who is,

in some way, an extension of Hangan in the eyes of society as his wife. Even if Hangan gives up

his life for drawing his sword, Lady Kaoyo as well as his brother, who both survive the

encounter, will not have to put up with the shame of someone insulting their honor. In this way,

it becomes clear why modern Japanese has more words for ‘shame’ than ‘honor’81. If honor is

collective and belongs to the group, it is not just one person who must suffer for not defending

their honor; one must defend one’s honor so the rest of one’s group does not live in shame. Or, in

the case of the Akō Gishi and their lord, their memory is not rooted in shame. If Moronao

continues to live and does not receive his share of the punishment, then it is Hangan’s memory

that is sullied; unfortunately for the Forty Seven, as his followers, they are, in effect, the living

memory of Hangan. Therefore, they are not just restoring honor to their lord, but also themselves

as a collective.

Inversely, this implies that the plot of the rōnin might not be as altruistic as first glance.

Amaeru goes two ways, with a passive receiver and an active provider amayakasu, likened to the

role of the mother, the boss who listens to his subordinate’s complaints when out for drinks or, in

this case, the lord of the samurai, Hangan. With this connection on this two-way street, Asano’s

81 Eiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995), 17

McClory 44

embarrassment reflects badly on his followers, especially as it is suspected that he was initially

criticized for his failure to kill Kira and the martial mistakes he made during the incident himself.

While it would be difficult for the now master-less samurai to find a new position serving a new

lord in the best of times, Asano’s reputation would certainly not help matters, leaving them to

scramble for money, like Kampei. By avenging their lord, they hope to regain their own

collective honor. When Asano’s enemy is killed and his honor is restored, his samurai no longer

need to hide their status and can go to their deaths, proud of the man they had chosen to serve.

This is the strength of the bonds of master and samurai, bonds that can be said to have been

forged in amae.

Women in Chūshingura

It is clear that family is important in the dramatization- even in real life, many of the

retainers were in fact related to each other, father and son, brothers or more distant. One factor,

however, that stands out in the plays and subsequent renditions of the story, is the role of women,

as wives and mothers and even prostitutes. The jitsuroku accounts rarely mention any female

participants, although this omission is a common occurrence during the time period; men and

women lived in different spheres and the sort of martial honor that the Akō Gishi are known for

was not something found in the female realm, where honor was earned primarily by being a good

and faithful wife, or otherwise passed on from the husband. It is therefore no surprise that the

only women mentioned- in passing- in the historical event are as wives, mistresses and mothers

of the male players; they simply had few roles to play. Of course, this is also biased by the fact

that women did not have a wide range of movement during the time period; although there are

naturally exceptions, women were not writers and they certainly were not kōshakushi

McClory 45

(storytellers) or actors by the time Kanadehon Chūshingura was

performed. Any roles that these wives and mothers did play were

largely lost to history, as they were in no position to record it.

Audiences, it turned out, were not pleased with this omission

and loyal female characters like Okaru and Kaoyo, wife of Lord

Hangan, emerge and given dramatic roles; female sacrifice in the

name of revenge, especially, becomes exceedingly popular among the

chōnin audience82. Although letters to a priest in Kyoto make it likely

that the historical leader of the band, Oishi, did, in fact, have a

mistress in the months leading up to the raid, there is little else to be

said, not even to establish her name as ‘Okaru’ and no version of her

as a character appear in the earliest tellings of the tale83. It’s only

gradually that she is established as a beloved character, a selfless

model of the chōnin class. Even though her lover is disgraced as a

rōnin with no master to follow, she willingly sells herself into

prostitution in order to pay for his return to grace. Her bravery is

shown further when she encounters Ōboshi Yuranosuke at the brothel

where she is employed; here she discovers the secrets of the plot by

reading a letter over his shoulder using a mirror and is almost killed

by Heiemon for knowing too much. She is, however, spared when she

82 Henry D Smith. "The Capacity of Chūshingura: Three Hundred Years of Chūshingura." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 1 (2003): 19 83 Federico Marcon, and Henry D. Smith. "A Chūshingura Palimpsest: Young Motoori Norinaga Hears the Story of the Akō Rōnin from a Buddhist Priest." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 4 (2003): 459

Image 5 Katsukawa Shuncho. Ichiriki ageya (at the Ichiriki Courtesan House), Act VII of

Chushingura, c. 1780's. Polychrome woodblock print. Fine Arts Museum

of San Francisco, Aschenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts,

Katherine Ball Collection, 1964.

McClory 46

pleads for her life, and Heiemon guiltily explains the death of both her father and her husband.

Upon hearing this, Okaru grabs the sword from him and attempts to plunge it into her own

stomach in an attempt to make up for her husband’s early death and inability to take part in the

plot to regain his own honor as well as that of his master.

This is the sort of sacrifice that appeals to the audience. Although she fails to kill herself

in Kanadehon Chūshingura, there are other versions where this is not the case84. Okaru’s

determination and loyalty demonstrate to the lower-class audience that honor is not exclusive to

the samurai. Born as the daughter of farmers and a maidservant to Lady Kaoyo, her humble birth

does nothing to stop her from giving her life for husband, much the same as the gishi give theirs

for the sake of their master. As a female character, her story is particularly moving – Doi would

say that this so due to the Japanese love of kuyashisa or ‘moral masochism’85- but it is just as

true that seeing someone innocent display such a strong sense of bravery tends to have a strong

effect on the audience, as shown in countless tragedies across time and space. The tragic heroine

continues to live on.

These women also demonstrate the concept of shared honor, as theirs is tied so closely

with that of their husbands. Starting with Lady Kaoyo, who steadfastly refused Lord Moranao;

conversely, Moranao took out his anger at her rejection on her husband, Lord Hangan. She

refrains from meeting with her husband in his final moments from fear of causing the emperor’s

envoys to think her a sentimental woman, thereby damaging Lord Hangan’s last reputation.

Similarly, Okaru hopes that by taking her own life, she would be able to make up for Kampei’s

failures and redeem him in the eyes of his master, even in the afterlife. Even Gihei the

84 Motoori Norinaga, and Federico Marcon. "The Story of the Loyal Samurai of Akō." Monumenta Nipponica 58, no. 4 (2003): 483. 85 Takeo Doi. The Anatomy of Dependence. Trans. John Bester. (Tokyo: Kodansha International 1971), 125

McClory 47

Merchant’s wife finally decides to step aside and leave her son and husband for fear of damaging

his reputation by disobeying him. For the women in this story, their bonds as husband and wife

are strong enough to nearly erase their sense of self; they live for the man they married and

therefore any shame or honor they bring belongs to him as well.

CONCLUSION

The Akō Incident is not just one story. It is a continuously evolving legend, morphing to

fit its surroundings and indulge the whims of the people. At its heart are the principles of loyalty

and honor, glorification of a militaristic past from which the audience can understand the

importance of these two traits and what role they played and continue to play in society. The fact

that they continue to be relevant and appealing throughout the centuries has allowed the tale to

expand into mythology, as an example for others, as a way to entertain the rising growing middle

classes in both drama and print, until it is a genre all its own. The characters have been carefully

developed to meet the expectations of an ever-growing audience, allowing the viewers to relate

to the bonds and personalities among these figures of legend.

The incident of 1703 spoke volumes of the mutability of Tokugawa era Japan,

showcasing the changing role of samurai and warrior values, the increasing power of an absolute

government and the immovability of class divisions. Yet it’s through the evolution into legend

that allows us to ask, what is the purpose of this story? And we can get an even greater glimpse

into Japanese history and culture.

McClory 48

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