Honor and Violence: Perspectives on the Akō Incident

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. McClory 1 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 McClory 3 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.

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