47 Ronin

This gets 5 out of 5. The 47 Ronin Story has to be one of the best stories I have ever read. It puts you right into 16th, 17th, and 18th century Japan capturing the very essence of traditional Japanese culture meeting today's modern Japanese. The story's arranger John Allyn does a very good job balancing entertainment and translational, historical, accuracy. It displays many subtle but devastating and drastic changes of the attitudes, society, and culture of Japan as its feudal era began to come to an end. Honor, Loyalty, Service, Revenge, Truth, Justice, Patience, Wisdom, Perfection. Those are just a few of the words that describe some of the greatest warriors of our time: the samurai.

This book is a credible modern version of the Japanese saga of the 47 ronin (ex-samurai), for whom honor and loyalty to their master were the prime sense of their life. When their master is slain because he fights against corruption (high taxes, briberies) and silly laws (the `Life Preservation Laws' of the Shogun, making animals more privileged than human beings), their only life goal becomes revenge, `bringing peace to their master's soul', because `a samurai cannot live under the same sky as the slayer of his lord'. But at the end only 47 of his former soldiers remain loyal to their cause and will try to seek revenge for their master's execution. This book doesn't attain the high standards of well-known Japanese classics (e.g., The Tales of Genji) and flirts sometimes with melodrama. But it is a worth-while read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is based on an 18th century historical event, which has been retold many times. Mr. Allyn writes a very readable story that emphasizes duty, honor, betrayal and loyalty. Mr. Allyn's version of this story is not only exciting but he also does an effective job describing the rigid social structure of this period in Japan. And he does so in a simple and elegant prose. In this story, the admirable Lord Asano goes to visit the Shogun at his palace. While preparing to meet the Shogun, he insults a greedy scheming sycophant, who plots revenge and traps the fiery but naive Lord Asano into taking an action which leads to his demise. As a result, the Shogun also takes the lands of the dead Lord and banishes his wife. Hearing of his death, his samurai, who are now ronin, plot the death of the sycophant. To tell more is to spoil it but suffice it say that this book not only tells an exciting story but illustrates a society where the code of behavior is very different than the one in which we live. I recommend this book. Read it and then go watch the Seven Samurai for the full effect.

John Allyn here presents for English language audiences one of the most oft-told episodes in Japanese history. In March 1701, Lord Asano of Ako, having been summoned before the Shogun in Edo (modern Tokyo), was provoked into attacking a corrupt official, Kira, the Shogun's Master of Ceremonies. Asano was forced to commit seppuku, ritual suicide, and his lands were forfeit. His death left his samurai masterless, or ronin , but when they learned that Kira had survived his wounds they determined to avenge Asano, following the Confucian edict that : [N]o man may live under the same sky with the murderer of his lord.After biding their time until Kira was in an exposed position--no longer protected by the Shogun's forces--forty seven of Asano's former samurai attacked his castle (December 14, 1702) and killed him, despite the almost certain death their actions were likely to bring : [S]ome people live all their lives without knowing which path is right. They're buffeted by this wind or that and never really know where they're going. That's largely the fate of the commoners--those who have no choice over their destiny. For those of us born as samurai, life is something else. We know the path of duty and we follow it without question.Their action proved so popular that the Shogun allowed the forty seven to commit seppuku rather than be executed as criminals. Their gravesite, at Sengaku-ji Temple, remains a national shrine; the story is a staple of Japanese theater under the title Chushingura; and there are several film versions, including one which was used as WWII propaganda by the government.In Allyn's capable retelling, the story is brisk and thrilling, with a minimum of extraneous philosophizing or psychoanalyzing. The action, though terrible, takes on a logic of its own, as the ronin seek to redeem their master and preserve their own obligations of honor, loyalty, and duty. The tale and its continuing resonance reveals much that is admirable, but also unfortunate, about the Japanese character. You can't help but admire the devotion with which they adhere to their moral code, but at the same time there is something chilling about the automatic, unthinking nature of their actions and the degree to which they are influenced by external factors, like how others will judge them, rather than by internal ethical considerations. Most disturbing though is the question of whether this loyalty is a one way street, or whether the masters would be similarly willing to sacrifice themselves for their underlings, and whether each samurai would so sacrifice himself for a mere comrade.Obedience, particularly blind obedience, be it to a man or to a code of conduct, is a very dangerous trait for any culture to glorify, both because it absolves the obedient of moral responsibility and because it stifles innovative thought. The same qualities which seem so laudable here and which have made Japan a homogenous, orderly

The story of the 47 ronin is THE national story of Japan and the key to understanding Nihon Kokoro, the japanese mind. Just as the United States has the legend of the Alamo, Japan has the story of the 47 Ronin. The popularity of the story comes from the fact that the heroes had become an ideal. They embody all that a Nihonjin, a Japanese person strives to be. It also illustrates the cultural chasm between the asian cultures and western cultures regarding duty, honor and death (the japanese consider seppuku a very honorable way to die). The heroic warriors were offered a chance to live, but in a solemn and dramatic ceremony, each man, in turn, knelt down and ran his thumb over the blade of a razor sharp Katana (sword blade)in order to draw blood. One by one, they then impressed their thumbprint on a document swearing loyalty to the end to Asano, Lord of Ako. More than three hundred fifty men in all executed the blood oath, and forty-seven would avenge him. The Ronin were buried next to their Lord and his wife on the grounds of a buddhist temple, a site of ritual pilgramige to this day. A must read for anyone studying martial arts, this book is the key to understanding the spirit and the drive of the Japanese people.