Ronin

Ronin are the freelance samurai warriors who were no longer attached to the feudal lords. These samurai were trained not only in warfare, but also in art and philosophy. The individuals and communities that hired the ronin could not only protect themselves from the bandit gangs that might raid their harvest, but also gained a scholar and philosopher.

By far the most famous ronin are the 47 Ronin who are buried at Sengakuji Temple on the south side of Tokyo. Their Lord Akano was insulted by Lord Kira while they were both in the shogun's palace in 1701, and Lord Akano drew his sword in outrage. It was a capital offense to draw one's sword in the shogun's palace, so Akano was obliged to commit seppuku (the formal term for ritual suicide; hara-kiri is the slang term meaning belly-slitting). His 47 samurai secretly vowed to avenge him. They withdrew their allegiance to their Lord's surviving family so as not to endanger his family and to throw Kira off guard - thus becoming ronin. A year later they attacked Kira in his Tokyo stronghold, overcame his men, and killed him. They took his head to Akano's tomb at Sengakuji Temple, where it may remain yet. Then they turned themselves in to the authorities, who were sympathetic but demanded their suicide. All 47 complied and are buried with their master. The youngest was the 15 yr old son of the ronin leader; the oldest was over 70. The final address of the ronin leader to his comrades before their mass suicide is said to "move all that read it to tears".

The 47 Ronin Story
By John Allyn

--Japanese proverb

Here at last is an entertaining account in English of the historical mass seppuku (disembowelment) of the forty-seven ronin, or masterless samurai, shortly after the turn of the 18th century in the feudal Tokugawa days of old Japan.

The forty-seven ronin were ordered to commit seppuku for their vindictive slaying of a corrupt court official whom they held ultimately responsible for bringing about the death of their master, Lord Asano. Asano was the brash young daimyo from the country whose ignorance of and unfamiliarity with the changing ways of the Edo court led not only to his own seppuku but also to the complete ruin and dissemination of his family and clan.

Though based on an actual incident, many details have been lost to history, and, as a result, several versions of the forty-seven-ronin story have been told. But the fact remains that they were given the death penalty for their deed, which, at the time, so embodied the Japanese's ideals of the noble samurai's devotion to his lord that the forty-seven ronin were enshrined at Sengaku Temple beside their beloved master. Thus came to a dramatic close the final chapter of what has been acclaimed the most famous vendetta in the annals of Japan.