47 Ronin Assignment

“Asano!” he spat, and then died as Oishi, in cold rage, swung his sword with two hands in a great swinging arc which snipped Kira’s head from his shoulders (page 241-242). This excerpt is from one of the many great scenes in “47 Ronin” a novel written by John Allyn. The story tells of how 47 samurai become ronin, or masterless, after an unjust seppuku is forced upon their leader. In the novel, these samurai devise a plan in order to seek revenge for the death of their master and bring honor upon his name.

The novel begins with Oishi, the head samurai and right-hand man of the daimyo Lord Asano, riding in the sunset with Ako, Asano’s daughter. They observe the poor conditions for the people that the laws implicated by Shogun Tsunayoshi. Meanwhile, Asano is in Edo awaiting a court meeting with the corrupt Master of Ceremonies, Kira. Asano already has a general distaste for Kira, as Kira is notorious for taking bribes under the table. Asano, being taught strict Confucian morals and ethics, sees this as unhonorable. He is to undergo the meeting with Lord Date, another representative of the Shogun. When they arrive, Kira treats Date nicely, and is friendly towards him, but is disrespectful towards Asano, saying “You know you could have saved yourself all this trouble, you know…if your money means so much to you, there are other ways to satisfy my taste for delicacies. I hear you have a pretty wife with a round moonlike face…”(page 46). In a fit of rage, Asano draws his sword and strikes Kira in the shoulder. Although Kira walks away from the incident with minor injuries, Asano is still sentenced to commit seppuku, or an honorable form of ritual suicide because striking a court official is considered a grave offense....

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...vents that happened. While reading out of a textbook gives you a one-sided, dull look into civilization in Japan, the way 47 Ronin shows the culture through actual people, bringing the story alive. The novel also assisted in helping me understand the relationships between the leaders in the government. I had no prior knowledge about the interactions between the officials such as the Shogun and his daimyo such as Asano and Date.

In all, 47 Ronin put my prior knowledge of Japan in 18th century into perspective because it forced me to apply my teachings on the matter to a particular story. I would recommend this novel to other students to learn about this time period because of its accuracy in depicting Japan and its government in these time periods. This novel is a great supplement, not substitute however, in learning about the history of civilization in Japan.