Kanadehon-Chushingura-Stage-3-Utagawa-Kuniteru

was a '' kōke'' (master of ceremonies). His court title was '' Kōzuke no suke (上野介)''. He is famous as the adversary of

Asano Naganori was the ''daimyō'' of the Akō Domain in Japan (1675–1701). His title was ''Takumi no Kami'' (). He is known as the person who triggered a series of incidents retold in a story known as ''Chūshingura'' (involving the forty-seven rōnin), o ...

in the events of the

Forty-seven rōnin The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is on ...

. Although his name (義央) has been long pronounced as "Yoshinaka" especially in dramas and novels, , written by an anonymous contemporary in 1703, recorded that his name was "Yoshihisa."

Life

Family and early life

Born in 1641, he was the eldest son of Kira Yoshifuyu. His mother was a member of the high-ranking

Sakai clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Nitta branch of the Minamoto clan, who were in turn descendants of Emperor Seiwa. Serata (Nitta) Arichika, a samurai of the 14th century, was the common ancestor of both the Sakai ...

. On the death of his father in 1668, Yoshinaka became the 17th head of the household, inheriting lands evaluated at 4200 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

''. His wife was from the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

, and his eldest son was adopted by

Uesugi Tsunakatsu was the 3rd ''daimyō'' of Yonezawa Domain in Dewa Province during the Edo period Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, and 19th hereditary chieftain of the Uesugi clan. His courtesy title was ''Harima-no-kami''. Biography Uesugi Tsunakatsu was they ...

, the head of the Dewa

Yonezawa Yonezawa City Hall is a city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 81,707 in 33,278 households, and a population density of 150 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Yonezawa is most famous for ...

han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

'', taking the name Tsunanori. Yoshinaka named his second son as his heir, but when that heir died, Yoshinaka adopted Tsunanori's second son, strengthening the connection between the Kira and the Uesugi.

Career

As a ''kōke'', Kira oversaw matters of

protocol Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technolog ...

. In 1701, he was assigned the task of tutoring

in matters of protocol in preparation for an upcoming visit by representatives of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

. According to the stories, Kira was corrupt and demanded bribes for the tutoring, which Asano refused to pay. Kira then began to publicly insult Asano, calling him an ignorant and unmannered rural boor. On the day when the envoys were scheduled to meet the shōgun at

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established the ...

, Asano drew his

wakizashi The is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (''nihontō'') worn by the samurai in feudal Japan. History and use The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:

and attempted to kill Kira in retaliation for the insults. For this, Asano was sentenced to commit

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

, his house abolished and his retainers branded

rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...

, while Kira went unpunished.

Assassination

On the night of January 30, 1703 (14th day, 12th month, year

Genroku was a after Jōkyō and before Hōei. The Genroku period spanned the years from the ninth month of 1688 to the third month of 1704. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415. The period was ...

-15, according to the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...

), Asano's retainers broke into Kira's mansion, after almost two years of careful and secret planning, and killed him in revenge. They then surrendered themselves to the shogunate authorities and were ordered to commit seppuku for the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. The

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

condemned the grandson of Yoshinaka to death for being incapable of protecting his family like a ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

''; the Kira were also dispossessed and lost the rank of '' koke''. After the death of Uesugi Tsunakatsu, the revenues of the Uesugi were reduced from 300,000 koku to 150,000 koku. On the other hand, the brother of Asano Naganori was re–established, received a revenue of 5,000 koku and the rank of ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

''.

In popular culture

The ghost of Kira appears in Episode 113 of ''

Lupin III Part 2 ''Lupin the 3rd Part II'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by TMS Entertainment. Part of the ''Lupin III'' franchise, it is the second anime television adaptation of the ''Lupin III'' manga series created by Monkey Punch. Althou ...

''. He meets Lupin in the lobby of a theater where the ''Chuushingura'' play is being performed, and employs him to look for a treasure. Eventually, it turns out the treasure is Kira's false teeth, which he needed to cross over into the next world.

References

Sources

*新井政義（編集者）『日本史事典』。東京：旺文社１９８７(p. 115) * 竹内理三（編）『日本史小辞典』。東京：角川書店１９８５(p. 314) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kira, Yoshinaka 1641 births 1703 deaths Samurai Assassinated Japanese politicians Assassinated military personnel