'Kurahashi Densuke Kiyohara no Takeyuki Flashing A Lantern' by Yoshitoshi, 1868

'Kurahashi Densuke Kiyohara no Takeyuki Flashing A Lantern' by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1868. From the series 'Portraits of True Loyalty and Chivalrous Spirit'. This image is also available on:

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The tale of the Forty-Seven Ronin is one of the most famous incidents Japanese history. In brief, the Shogun's Master of Ceremonies, Kira Yoshinaka, was instructed to teach a minor lord called Asano Naganori, of Ako Domain, in court etiquette in advance of an audience with the Shogun. However, Kira Yoshinaka demanded a huge bribe for his services and when Asano wouldn't pay he publicly insulted him, until he finally provoked Asano into attacking him. An assault on a Shogunal official, especially within the bounds of Edo castle, was an automatic death sentence. Asano was forced to commit suicide, his property was stripped from his family, and his retainers became ronin: masterless, dishonored samurai. A ronin normally had to choose between reclaiming his honor by following his master into death, or try to make it as a commoner and endure society's contempt.

However, forty-seven of Asano's three hundred samurai secretly swore to avenge their master. For over a year they pretended that they had fallen into disgrace, taking menial jobs - often in trades that would give them access to Kira's fortified mansion in Edo. Their leader, O-ishi, hung around geisha houses drinking and publicly humiliating himself. Hearing of this, Kira believed that Asano's samurai had given up, and he could reduce the expensive guard on his mansion. The Forty-Seven Ronin saw their chance, and struck. This print shows Kurahashi Densuke, who had been masquerading as a cloth merchant, using a lantern to signal the start of the attack. The ronin stormed Kira's mansion, cut down his reduced guard, and dragged Kira out of a hidden room. They gave Kira the chance to commit suicide honorably, but he was paralyzed by terror, so O-ishi gave up and beheaded him himself. They then carried the head to their master's grave, and there awaited judgement. The Shogunate was incensed by the extra-judicial killing of an official, but given that the ronin had been following samurai precepts of loyalty they were ordered to commit suicide, which had the important distinction that unlike an execution the victim kept their honor. In fact, only forty-six of the ronin died; the forty-seventh had been sent home to Ako to bring news of their success, and was later pardoned. Such was the public approval for the ronin's actions the Asano clan eventually had their lands restored, while the Kira family fell from favor.

The forty-seven samurai became instant folk heroes, and plays about them started appearing in theaters only two weeks after the assault on Kira's mansion. Yoshitoshi created this picture over a hundred and fifty years after the incident, and the tale was still popular enough to be worth a full series of forty-seven prints. Even today the story is still being told in TV and film (although Keanu Reeves' 2013 version is fairly loose with historical accuracy; to the best knowledge of historians, Kira was not a dark wizard).

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Tote bag printed on one side with three color options.

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Size: 15" x 16.5" (38cm x 42cm)

Capacity: 21 pints (10 liters)

Available Colors: Natural, Black, White

Average Delivery Time: 4 - 6 working days

- Reinforced stitching on handles
- One-sided print
- 100% cotton

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