Austin Bradt ENG 201 Research Project

Japanese culture and mythology has always sparked the interest of the Western world. The way they act, what they eat, how they live, and other aspects of their lives are just so foreign to western culture that it is hard for western people to comprehend. Japanese culture was around for hundreds of years before western cultures even began to develop; a culture as old as Japan has hundreds of myths related to its past. One of these myths is called Chushingura, or the Forty Seven Ronin. This myth is an actual historical event that has been retold countless times through history and it is very central to the Japanese code of honor, which they call Bushido. This myth is very central to Japanese culture as they see it as the ultimate expression of loyalty and honor. Hundreds of people a year make the pilgrimage to the graves of these forty seven men to pay homage to their great deeds. The concept of Bushido is ingrained in every aspect of a samurais life, and it is this concept that led the forty seven Ronin to the actions that they took. In addition, this concept is a part of Japanese culture, both today and in the past, and it is Bushido in Japanese culture that lets the people see the forty seven Ronin as heroes and not as villains. By looking at Bushido and all of its parts, we can see how this system affected every decision that the forty seven Ronin made, and how, through Bushido, the Ronin were in the right when they killed Kotsuke no Suke. The myth goes as follows: A man named Asano Takumi no Kami and another noble, Kamei Sama, were set in charge of a great feast for a high ranking official. Both men were to be instructed in the forms of etiquette by an advisor named Kira Kotsuke no Suke. Kotsuke no Suke was a greedy man and was insulted at the gifts the two nobles had given him, in retaliation,

Kotsuke no Suke began training the two nobles the wrong way and insulting them in every step of their training. Eventually, Takumi no Kami was so insulted that he drew his sword and tried to kill Kotsuke no Suke. For his affront Takumi was sentenced to commit hara-kiriritual suicide and all of his property and family was forfeit. The samurai under his command now became Ronin, or master less warriors; the majority of these men moved on to another daimyo or became merchants. Forty seven of these Ronin refused to step aside and ignore their masters insults; they made an agreement that Kotsuke no Suke would die for his affront to their master. For almost a year these forty seven Ronin, led by one Oishi Kuranosuke, waited for their time to strike. They became laborers, carpenters and masons; Kuranosuke even feinted debauchery and drunkenness to throw Kotsuke no Suke off his trail. On a cold winters night, these forty seven Ronin attacked Kotsuke no Suke in his home and took his head. When the deed was done, the forty seven Ronin took the head of their enemy to a nearby temple and presented it as an offering to their dead lord, then waited for the consequences of their actions. The Ronin were ordered to commit hara-kiri, and each man did so willingly, knowing what they had done was worth dying for. Each man was buried next to his master, forty seven small graves next to the master that they gave so much for (Mitford). Bushido is a way of life for Samurai. Inazo Nitobe wrote a book in 1905 about the concept of Bushido, how it was, and how it was turning out to be. This book is seen as the foremost source on Bushido and is still used today. Written in the Meiji Era of Japan, Nitobe has lived in the decline of Bushido from the Edo period, the feudal period, to the present (Turkington). Nitobe translates Bushido, literally, to Military-Knight-Ways (p.4). He continues to explain that Bushido was the code that military nobles should follow in order to maintain peace and focus in their daily lives. Bushido is not a written code, nor is it spoken as one; rather

it is an unwritten set of laws that lives in the heart of every samurai and every warrior. It was conceived over centuries of conflict, war, and battles (Nitobe, 5), using the experience and lives of past warriors as an anchor for future warriors. Bushido existed before feudal Japan, yet it was only with the rise of the samurai and the daimyo (lords) that this system came to the public light. The samurai first came to being as a warrior class, the word samurai translating to guards or attendants (Nitobe, 6). This warrior class needed a unified code of laws that bound it together, otherwise they would be ripping each other apart just because of what they were: warriors. Bushido allowed these warriors to serve their lords with honor and dignity without fighting for every second of their lives. Nitobe spells out, according to the code of Bushido, how men should act in their personal and public lives; he lays out eight characteristics that all men who follow Bushido should exemplify: Rectitude or Justice, Courage, Benevolence, Politeness, Veracity and Sincerity, Honor, Loyalty, and Self-control. Through these eight principles, samurai lived and died, ate and slept, breathed and communicated; these principles are what led the forty seven Ronin to act the way they acted, and why Japan sees these men as heroes and not villains. Bushido has its roots deep in Japanese culture and ideologies. Shintoism gave Bushido its sense of loyalty and love of country, while Confucius gave it his ethical doctrines (Nitobe). He gave Bushido the correct way to behave in relationships: master to servant, father to son, husband to wife, older to younger brother, and friend to friend. Bushido also shared that knowledge was not the main goal of its order, but wisdom; yet, knowledge was merely a means to gain wisdom if one were to pursue it far enough. If someone went too far down the path of knowledge, they may begin to become an intellectual. An intellectual specialist was considered a machine, explains Nitobe, he continues on to explain that knowledge is only knowledge when

it shows in the character of a person; book learning can only help you so much if you cannot take that knowledge and put it into practice. Beginning with the first principle of Bushido, Rectitude or Justice, we can begin to see how this problem between Takumi and Kotsuke no Suke developed. Nothing is more loathsome than underhand dealings and crooked undertakings, (Nitobe, p. 23). This is the key element that led to the dispute between these two noble lords; as Kotsuke no Suke insulted Takumi, Takumi saw it as the other lord trying to get out of teaching him the proper way to conduct himself. The English dictionary defines Rectitude as morally correct behavior or thinking; Kotsuke no Suke was not acting morally when he was insulting Takumi. He was thinking only of himself and of the inadequate sum of money that was given to him by Takumi. This incorrect moral reasoning led Takumi to attack Kotsuke no Suke and then have to commit hara-kiri; it was the forty seven Ronins sense of Justice that led them to take their vengeance on their masters enemy. Nitobe defines Rectitude as using a samurais morals or judgment to decide upon a course of action and then to pursue that action to the very end, even into death. The forty seven samurai chose their path when they refused to put down their swords; for almost a year they hid and waited, choosing their time to strike with care. The forty seven Ronin were called Gishi, or men of rectitude (Nitobe), for this reason. In addition, rectitude goes hand in hand with the samurais concept of Gi-ri, the Right Reason. This Right Reason was a samurais moral duty to their liegewhat society expects their duty to be. It was not a mere choice for the forty seven Ronin to attack Kotsuke no Suke, it was their moral obligation and duty to their liege and to society. The next characteristic on Nitobes list is courage. There are many definitions of courage, each one different from the next. Courage is the absence of fear; Courage is your ability to overcome fear; Courage is what you do when fear takes you; etc. . . . Confucius defines courage

as doing what is right; this ties into a samurais moral judgment and gi-ri. Paraphrasing the prince of Mitoanyone can run into battle and get killed; it takes real courage to live when you need to live and to die when you need to die. Samurai were often killed, or killed themselves, so this concept of courage in staying alive appealed to them. If it was most virtuous to stay alive when your shame or failure became too great, yet you stayed because your duty demanded it, then you were among the greatest of samurai. It is so with the forty seven Ronin; they stayed true to their master and fought when they were commanded to stand down. It would have been easy for them to do what they were supposed to do, but it was difficult and courageous to fight for their duty. Benevolence was seen as the highest quality for a leader to possess, yet every samurai must have it in some quantity. Benevolence was the samurais version of love, and it was seen as the highest virtue for all samurai; the virtue held in the highest regard. Mencius once said that, though men may come into power without benevolence, never has a whole empire been toppled by someone without it. True to this statement is the character of Kotsuke no Suke, a man in power with, seemingly, no benevolence. While this may not be true, the actions of Kotsuke no Suke speak for themselves in the death of Takumi. He was not possessed of what Nitobe calls Bushi no nosakethe tenderness of a warrior. Bushi no nosake was a concept of mercy as much as benevolence; this concept appealed to peasants as much as to samurai because it was mercy with meaning. It was mercy where it was not required, where it was not blind impulse, or required (in Christianity for instance); bushi no nosake took into full account, justice. This concept was so appealing because it was mercy where the samurai had the full powerlegal, physical, and rightto dispense justice. This concept is clearly shown when the forty seven Ronin finally corner Kotsuke no Suke and try to persuade him to commit hara-kiri. Even when

the noble will not commit himself to death, the Ronin take his head as is their right to do as samurai of a dead daimyo. This is part of the reason that these forty seven Ronin were seen as correct: they were only doing their duty to their liege lord. After, knowing full well the punishment for their actions, they waited for the legal consequences that were going to descend upon them. Courtesy is also a major part of Japanese society as well as another virtue of Bushido. Courtesy follows the previously mentioned guidelines laid down by Confucius; the way one acts depends on who you are interacting with. Courtesy was very important to the samurai because it helped the type A warriors avoid any unnecessary insult, which, in turn, cut back on the fighting between them. Just as Bushido was needed to keep the samurai from killing each other, the virtue of Courtesy was the key ingredient that kept the warriors apart. In its highest form, Courtesy was seen as approaching love, much like Benevolence. It was a samurais duty to always keep in mind who and what everyone around them was, and treat them with the respect that was due. This respect came from the social position that a person occupied; a peasant wouldnt require the same amount of respect and deference as a Daimyo, but each had the proper amount of Courtesy assigned. Samurai saw Courtesy as a poor virtue if it was only used to avoid offense to another; Courtesy should be used to show your genuine respect for another person. As Nitobe puts it, . . . a sympathetic regard for the feelings of others. In the tale of the forty seven Ronin, Kotsuke no Suke completely disregarded this concept as he willfully insulted Takumi. In Kotsuke no Sukes defense, Takumis gift may have been inadequate and may have merited Kotsuke no Sukes insults, but the tale is unclear and Kotsuke no Suke should still have treated Takumi with the respect he deserved. The leader of the forty seven, Oishi, treats Kotsuke no Suke with the correct Courtesy when he begs the lord to take his own life.

The next virtue, which is actually two, ties in very closely to Courtesy. Veracity and Sincerity were the glue that held the concept of Bushido together; without truth and accuracy in their actions, samurai would be lying to each other left and right and more offense would be given than was intended. Without Sincerity and Veracity, Courtesy would be a moot point; what use is there in being polite when you are lying to someones face? From Veracity and Sincerity came the Japanese concept of Bushi no ichi-gon- the Word of a samurai; its meaning is that a samurais word is more binding than written contract (Nitobe). When a samurai gives his word, thats as good as it gets. Some samurai were even insulted if someone suggested a written agreement. Samurai called lying ni-gon- double tongue; there are even some cases of samurai atoning by death for speaking with ni-gon (Nitobe). For a samurai, an oath was derogatory, following the same lines as a written agreementif they said they would do something, it would get done. In the story of the forty seven Ronin, Oishithe leader of the Roninswore that he would avenge his masters death by any means, and he did; he even divorced his wife and lived as a drunkard for the majority of a year in order to make it happen. The next virtue is possibly the most important of the virtues as it pertains to our studyHonor. For a samurai, honor was their . . . personal dignity and worth. . . (Nitobe, 72). Any insult was seen as an affront to a samurais honor, and any slight was taken very, very personally. It is because of honor that the samurai needed the other virtues such as Sincerity, Benevolence, and Courtesy. Life was worth less to a samurai than his honor, and that life was repeatedly laid down if honor could be attained. For something so important to a samurai to be insulted was a very serious offense and was handled immediately and efficiently. Hand in hand with honor was the feeling of shame. Shame was very big among samurai, both in a sense and as a fear; any offense to a samurais name was taken in shame. For example, there was an instance

of a samurai killing a peasant for telling him that there was a flea on his back. Fleas are parasites that only land on animals, so for the peasant to suggest that one landed on the samurais back was to suggest that the samurai was a beast. So, in the samurais mind, the peasant called him a beast, and therefore was worthy of death. In the myth, Kotsuke no Suke had his honor insulted by the inadequate gift that was given to him by Takumi; this insult was decided by Kotsuke no Suke, as he was the sole judge as to what was an adequate gift. In return, Takumi was insulted by Kotsuke no Sukes manners and tried to kill him. Along the same lines, Oishi saw his masters honor insulted and saw it as his duty to avenge it, his own honor making him follow this path. Without a lieges honor, the samurai were honor less themselves. Loyalty was the tie that bound the samurai to the daimyo. Without loyalty, the samurai would be lone warriors running around looking for something to fight and kill. Loyalty was distinctive to Bushido and feudal morality; it was the act of paying homage and fealty to a superior. All samurai saw loyalty as the primary human duty, and it is here we find, I believe, the main reason for the forty seven Ronin. It was their loyalty to their liege that led these forty seven men to exact their revenge; no sense of personal entitlement, personal vengeance, anger, or hate permeated the forty seven Ronins decision to kill Kotsuke no Suke. It was merely their loyalty to their liege. Loyalty was holding the interest of the family and its members over the duty of one person to another. In effect: the family, or the liege, was more important that any one samurai. There is an example where a samurai gives up his own son to die in place of the son of his lord. When asked why he did what he did, the samurai replied that his son knew exactly was he was doing and was honored to serve his lord (Nitobe). The forty seven Ronin did exactly what loyalty demanded of them, they placed their lives behind the honor of their lords.

The final virtue for a samurai is Self-control. If Takumi had maintained his selfcontrol, he would not have tried to kill Kotsuke no Suke and none of this story would have happened. Samurai considered it unmanly to show their emotions on their face, as a warrior should be calm and collected at all times. Calmness of behavior, composure of mind, should not be disturbed by passion of any kind, (Nitobe, 104). Emotions could lead to an insult between two samurai, and the entire concept of Bushido is wrapped around trying to prevent that. It was possible to take self-control too far, to void ones self of all emotion, but that was not the purpose. The purpose was to keep a level mind in all situations, no matter the time, place, or people. Oishi almost took his self-control too far when he was living as a drunk, waiting for his chance to strike. He was so devoted to his mission, so focused, that he forgot to be himself at all and became the drunkard who divorced his wife. Luckily, the time to strike came before Oishi was lost. Bushidos influence is unquestioned in Japan; it was ingrained in every part of society so that nothing was left untouched. It was because of this, because Bushido was looking out for Japan as a whole, that the Japanese people see what the forty seven Ronin did as correct. For where would Japan be if no criminal was put to justice as Takumi was? Where would Japan be if Takumi had not tried to kill Kotsuke for the infringement on his honor? And where would Japan be if the forty seven Ronin had not killed Kotsuke for their masters honor and then submitted to justice themselves? Bushido gave Japan a code for dealing with every situation that showed its face. The forty seven Ronin killed Kotsuke because they were supposed to; they were bound to avenge their lords honor. The forty seven Ronin are seen as heroes because, unconsciously, Bushido is still the driving force of Japan to this day and it is the goal of Japan to be Bushido for its people to be samurai and uphold all of the virtues that made the nation beautiful. Modern

Japan was created when Commodore Matthew Perry paraded his ships through Tokyo harbor and showed the wonders of technology to the feudal nation. The men who created modern Japan knew no other way than Bushido; it was in them as much as in their ancestors. Without even realizing it, the creators of Modern Japan were putting Bushido into the nation. For this reason, when the forty seven Ronin followed Bushido to the letter and did their duty, the Soul of Japan cheered for them and mourned their death, and the people of Japan still see these Ronin and heroes.

"Facts About Japan." Modern Japan. Web. 29 Mar. 2012 <http://www.facts-about-japan.com/modern-japan.html>. Freeman-Mitford, Algernon Bertram. "THE FORTY-SEVEN RNINS." Tales of Old Japan. 1910. The Gutenberg Project. 24 July 2004.0 Nitobe, Inaz. Bushid: Soul of Japan. Tky: Aishjmyzushuppan, 2001. Smith II, Henry D. "The Trouble with Terasaka: The Forty-Seventh Ronin and the Chushingura Imagination." Japan Review 16 (2004): 3-65.

Turkington, David. "A Chronology of Japanese History." Pilgrimage on Shikoku Island. Web. Mar. 2012. <http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com/japanhistory/edohistory.html>.