The Ako Vendetta
At the beginning of the 18th
century in Japan when the politics of the country were shifting towards a more
peaceful time there was one event that would be spoken about throughout the
country for years to come. The story of the 47 Ronin who went to avenge their
disgraced leader Lord Asano. Lord Asano was asked to entertain Lord Kira who
was an imperial emissary visiting from Kyoto. The story of what truly happened
during their encounter isn’t clear all that is truly known is that Lord Asano
was outraged at Lord Kira and drew his sword and cut Kira who wasn’t able to
draw his sword in time to defend himself. Lord Asano was sentenced to commit
seppuku for his actions against Lord Kira as well as his crime against the shogunate
by attacking someone who worked for the Shogun. Thus prompting the 47 now
masterless samurai to avenge Lord Asano and take the life of the person who had
caused their master’s land and domain to be taken away and redeem his disgraced
name. Were the 47 Ronin justified in taking the life of Lord Kira as they did? “The
Book of Rites states, ‘one should never live under the same sky with the enemy of
one’s ruler or one’s father.”[1]
This is because the book doesn’t forbid revenge because it’s rooted in ‘natural
and irresistible human feeling’[2]
and doesn’t condone revenge, therefore they had no choice but to cut down the
man who had become the enemy of their master.
The debate of
whether the Ronin were justified in killing has become an ongoing argument with
many siding against the samurai, but there are those who believe that they were
justified in their actions. There’s also a debate over whether Lord Asano was
justified in his attack against Lord Kira on the day that Kira went to Asano’s
domain. One argument was made by Asami Keisai a Neo-Confucian scholar who
decided not to serve under a daimyo, stating that Lord Kira was also to blame
for the actions of Lord Asano. Keisai wrote about the original incident saying “Due
to his selfish desires, Lord Kira did not care whether Takumi-no-kami (Lord
Asano) blundered through the great ceremony.
Nor was Lord Kira concerned whether Lord Asano was disgraced and
humiliated before the illustrious representatives of the Imperial Court.”[3]
Keisai stated that there was an underlying cause to the original attack in
which Lord Kira didn’t tell Lord Asano of his wrongdoing during the ceremony but
wanted him to fail because of an unwarranted cause. There’s speculation that
there was bad blood between Asano and Kira beforehand and this was partly the
reason for the attack but Asano had put their feud behind him for the sake of
the event. Okado Denpachiro was at the time overseeing the event in the Ako
Domain when the incident had taken place and though his account has been widely
disputed his statements make the possibility that the investigation about what
happened during the time of the attack may show discrepancies in how it was
handled, “If Lord Matsudaira alone arrived at the verdict, then I humbly
suggest that my recommendations be forwarded to the Shogun. The verdict is much
too one-sided. Any tozama daimyo
would be shamed by it. Please make my suggestions known to the Shogun
immediately. If the Shogun has deliberated the matter, then we will abide by
the verdict.”[4]
His request wasn’t fulfilled and Lord Asano was sentenced to
commit seppuku in front of witnesses without a proper investigation. If Lord
Kira was partially at fault then he should have felt the repercussions of his
actions instead he was favored because he worked under the Shogun. If Lord Kira
was truly to blame for what happened as well as Lord Asano then he should have
also received a sentence but as Okado Denpachiro
pointed out a full investigation was never done the day of the incident so the
truth of the situation was lost that day. The Shogun sentenced Lord Asano to
commit seppuku the same day without hearing Okado Denpachiro evaluation of the
bias nature of the investigation as well as the ability of the investigators
having to interviews so quickly after the attack. Denpachiro’s assessment of
the investigation was given to Lord Matsudaira who decided that instead of
postponing the verdict he placed Denpachiro under house arrest which further
suggests that there was a significant bias against Lord Asano during the time.
After the
investigation and the death of their master the 47 Ronin plotted in many ways
in order to avenge their master. The 47 Ronin were bound by honor and loyalty to
their master because of the way of the samurai. Yet before they decided on
taking the life of Lord Kira they worried more about the family that Lord Asano
left behind and what would become of his domain after his death but the land
was taken away and the family wasn’t allowed to retain it. When this happened
they believed that it was their duty to fight where their master could no
longer. The plot against Lord Kira took nearly two years for them to plan they
knew that they would have to work under the radar and slowly but that
ultimately they would reach their goal. The plot was carried out one year and
ten months after Lord Asano committed seppuku. Only 46 of the original 47 Ronin
took part in the killing of Lord Kira. The Ronin killed Lord Kira and severed
his head, “The Ronin next marched to
the Sengaku Temple, and presented Kira’s severed head at the grave of their
deceased master.”[5]
The Ronin decided not to commit seppuku instead opting to report what they had
done and wait for the verdict that would ultimately send them to their deaths. Sato
Naokata makes an interesting remark concerning the Ronin’s decision to let the
shogunate decide their fate saying that “on the contrary, one should say that
the righteousness displayed by the forty-six in not committing suicide, but
instead holding their necks out and entrusting their fates to the shogunate,
was something that they had learned from their lord’s life-long attitude of
loyal service toward the shogunate.”[6]
He demonstrates that even though they committed a crime against the verdict to
the shogunate they still have loyalties towards the Shogun though they chose to
avenge their master against what was done to Lord Asano. The Ronin were
sentence to death but they weren’t beheaded which means that in a way the
Shogun believed that they knew what would be the outcome of their actions
regardless of the fact that they left their fate in his hands.
The 47 Ronin who
walked up to Lord Kira and decided his fate were truly just in their actions if
they were judged based on their code of honor. They were samurai first and they
served a master in the same way the secret service work to protect the
President of the United States, samurai work in the same capacity. They work to
protect their lord and the domain that they live in. Yet there is a secondary
outcome of the Ako Vendetta that isn’t widely discussed and that is the fact
that Lord Kira’s own son was punished for not protecting his father and the sons
of the 47 Ronin really weren’t punished due to the fact that many of them
became monks. Sato Naokata also brings to light how others felt about Lord Kira
stating that “Examining the matter further, there is a
reason why people join their voices in praising the forty-six men as loyal and
righteous retainers (chãgi no shin):
Lord Kira was by nature a man of profound greed. The world hated his arrogance,
deceitfulness, and perverseness. Thus people ignored the crime of Lord Asano,
and felt pity over his death and disgust that Lord Kira still lived. Upon
hearing that the forty-six men had taken revenge, killing Lord Kira, they were
overjoyed, praising the forty-six men as loyal and righteous retainers.”[7]
Naokata’s view suggests that many people who lived within the domain that Lord
Kira lived in didn’t take to kindly to his actions and rejoiced when Lord Asano
attacked him and were saddened by Asano’s death. If these people didn’t have
loyalties to Lord Kira this could suggest that the actions of the 47 Ronin were
justified in their eyes.
There are many questions
that are left unanswered in regards to the original attack on Lord Kira and
what ultimately lead to his death. If so many hated him like Sato Naokata suggested
then why did he have the power that he had within the Shogunate? Could it be
that Lord Kira’s true intentions weren’t revealed to those he worked with? There’s
also an underlying question that wasn’t asked by any scholar and that is why
the investigation towards the original matter between Lord Asano and Lord Kira
was left without a proper investigation and rushed though the way it was at the
time? Considering all of the lack of evidence Lord Asano should have spoken out
against the injustice that had occurred against him. His men sacrificed
everything for the sake of their lord and this was the ultimate truth to the
way of the samurai because they were able to prove that they were more loyal
than any other samurai in the country.
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