The Faithful Samurai (Seichu gishi den)

The True Story of the Faithful Samurai

During the Tokugawa era, the shogun required his daimyo (feudal lords) to visit him in Edo to take part in ceremonies and official events. In 1701 Lord Asano Takumi-no-Kami of Ako was ordered to participate in a ceremony that required frequent rehearsals and special protocol taught by Kira Kozuke-no-Suke, the shogun's chief chamberlain. The chamberlain either insisted on bribes that were not forthcoming, or was unhappy with the small gifts presented to him, so he became increasingly insulting and humiliating towards the daimyo.

Unable to take the insults any longer, Lord Asano drew his sword and struck Kira, an act of violence forbidden within palace grounds. Although the wound was not fatal, Lord Asano was arrested and forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). His lands were confiscated, and his retainers dispersed, becoming ronin (leaderless samurai).

Oishi Kuranosuke, Lord Asano's chief councilor, surrendered the castle and dispersed the household as ordered, but he secretly recruited a band of samurai from Ako to avenge their master's honor. The ronin patiently waited and planned for more than a year, knowing that if their plan succeeded, they would face seppuku themselves. On a snowy night in December 1702, the band of forty-seven ronin attacked Kira's castle and beheaded him. They took Kira's head back to Lord Asano's grave and awaited their arrest. In 1703 the shogun ordered all of the ronin to commit seppuku, and they were buried in Sengakuji temple next to their master, whose death they had finally avenged.

The adventure of the forty-seven ronin immediately captured the imagination of the Japanese public, who revered the warriors as heroes expressing the utmost in loyalty, bravery, and sacrifice to the code of honor. Just weeks after the culmination of the event, stories and plays were already being written about the bravery and loyalty of the forty-seven ronin.

The most famous account was the Kandehon Chushingura, originally written for the puppet theater in 1748 and later adapted for kabuki. To satisfy the censors, the actual names and locations were changed. The setting moved from the 18th century to the 14th, Lord Asano became Lord En'ya Hangan, and Kira became Lord Moronao. Oishi Kuranosuke, the leader of the plot, was called Oboshi Yuranosuke.

Woodblock prints of the drama also became popular, depicting both individual characters and acts from the kabuki play. The incredible popularity of the play and woodblock print images continued throughout the 19th century, and still olds fascination for viewers today.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861)

One of the last recognized masters of ukiyo-e, Kuniyoshi was born and raised in Edo (modern day Tokyo) during the final phase of the Tokugawa Shogunate. His father worked as a silk dyer, so Kuniyoshi was exposed to the arts at a young age. He apprenticed with the great woodblock print artist Toyokuni in his early teens, and as a young man developed his own bold and original style.

While Kuniyoshi did a range of subjects from bijin to landscapes and actors prints, his favorite themes were those of warriors and legends. Kuniyoshi designed more than twenty triptychs based on the tale of the forty-seven ronin, and many series of the individual ronin. By far his most famous series was the present, Seichu gishi den, begun in August 1847 and completed in January 1848. Kuniyoshi’s series The Faithful Samurai is an absolute masterwork and considered the ultimate forty-seven ronin series among collectors and scholars alike. Few other printmakers ever matched Kuniyoshi's detail and artistry, and his ability to capture the passion and intensity of these famous warriors.

Shop our inventory now
for a beautiful selection of 47 Ronin prints!

Prints from this Series

Click on any image below to zoom in on the image.

Oboshi Yuranosuke Yoshio seated on a campstool beating a drum	Oboshi Rikiya Yoshikane seated, helmet and cape attached to his spear	Yato Yomoshichi Norikane drinking from a decorated cup
Fuwa Katsuemon Masatune examining the cutting edge of his sword	Shikamatsu Kanroku Yukishige wringing water from his sleeve	Yoshida Sadaemon Kanesada fending off arrows
Sakagaki Genzo Masakata seated on a broken slab	Yukukawa Sampei Munenori warding off a lantern with his sword	Onodera Junai Hidetomo on one knee, shading his eyes
Isoai Juroemon Masahisa wielding his naginata	Okano Gin-emon Kanehide, arm extended, holding a lantern	Senzaki Yagoro Noriyasu running with his weapons
Yazama Jujiro Moto-oki blowing a whistle	Otaka Gengo Tadao taking careful aim	Kataoka Dengoemon Takafusa leaning on his bloodstained spear
Nakamura Kansuke Tadatoki dodging bundles of firewood	Okashima Yasoemon Tsunetatsu defending himself behind a fireplace cover	Teraoki Hei-emon Nobuyuki extinguishing the fire in a brazier
Uramatsu Handayu Takanao falling backwards into the snow	Tokuda Sadaemon Yukitaka in a straw rain mantle	Oribe Yahei Kanamaru holding a banner emblazoned with name and clan membership
Kiura Okaemon Sadayuki poised to strike	Katsuka Shinemon Taketaka holding a lantern aloft, discovers a dog at his heels	Takebayashi Sadashichi Takashige tying his waistband
Kurahashi Zensuke Takeyuki, a wall scroll draped over his sword	Aihara Esuke Munefusa trampling over a screen	Tominomori Suke-emon Masakata sustaining a blow from a charcoal brazier
Ushioda Masanojo Takanori fastening his wrist strap	Hayami Sozaemon Mitsutaka quenching his thirst from a water kettle	Onodera Toemon Hidetome tying his sandal on a tipped go-board
Chiba Saburohei Mitsutada holding spear, helmet, and cape	Oboshi Seizaemon Nobukiyo rushing on toward his next adversary	Sugenoya Sannojo Masatoshi entangled in the streamers of a kusudama
Oribe Yasubei Taketsune with Moronao's robe in hand	Hayano Wasuke Tsunenari piercing a cord-bound chest	Yata Goroemon Suketake amidst flowers and pieces of shoji
Tokuda Magodayu Shigemori beside a tall painted screen	Kono Musashi no Kami Moronao cowering in fear	En'ya Hangan Takasada in a threatening stance
Yazama Shinroku Mitsukaze with flag on his back bearing death name	Mase Magoshiro Masatatsu smashing an earthen vessel with a mallet	The lay priest Ryuen Uramatsu Kihei Hidenao, behind a rack of kimonos
Yazama Kihei Mitsunobu with helmet and cape on blunt end of naginata	Mase Chudayu Masa-aki aiming with deadly precision	Sumino Juheiji Tsugufusa with his arm under Moronao's quilt
Hara Goemon Mototoki with sword in one hand, spear in the other	Hayano Kampei Tsuneyo as a ghost-like figure	Kaida Yadaemon Tomonobu using a koto as a shield
Miura Jiroemon Kanetsune falling backward into a hearth	Yoshida Chuzaemon Kanesuke pointing with a battle fan	Jinzaburo, retainer of Shikamatsu Kanroku, offering refreshments
Oboshi Rikiya Yoshikane standing, holding a spear (alternate state)