Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年

On the night of January 30, 1703, a group of masterless samurai (known as the “Forty-Seven Ronin”) attacked the mansion of Lord Kira of Kosuke, who had intrigued to force their master to commit suicide. Kobayashi Heihachiro, one of three samurai who defended the villainous Lord Kira to the death during the battle, is here disguised in his nurse’s kimono, which he borrowed when the night attack began.

This popular story, called the Treasury of Loyalty (Chushingura), extols the virtues of the masterless samurai. Do you think that Yoshitoshi thinks of Kobayashi Heihachiro as a hero or villain?

Kobayashi Heihachiro is seen here bravely defending his master, Lord Kira, against an unseen assailant, one of the famed forty-seven loyal retainers who sought vengeance for the death of their master, Lord Asano. Their tale is recounted in the Chusingura, The Treasury of Loyalty, and these heroes are known as the “forty-seven ronin” (“masterless samurai”).