Ukiyo-e prints depicting the forty-seven rōnin
The 47 rōnin (四十七士 Shi-jū-shichi-shi) were a group of 47 leaderless samurai who avenged the death of their master, Asano Naganori, who was compelled to perform seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka. The incident is also known as the Akō incident (赤穂事件 Akō jiken) or Akō vendetta and has since become legendary. After waiting and planning for a year, the rōnin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira. In turn, they were themselves obliged to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder.
Fifty years after the incident, Chūshingura was written, a fictionalized accounts of the Forty-seven Rōnin. The story was popularized in numerous plays, including bunraku and kabuki, becoming the most famous and performed kabuki play in Japanese history.
