1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to This 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast where we dust off 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: a little piece of history and placed it ever so 5 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: gently on your brainshelf. Every day today is January. The 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: day was January oh three. A group of forty six 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: ronan or samurai without a master, avenged the death of 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: their deceased master by killing Kida Yoshinaka. Though the event 9 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: occurred on January thirty based on the Western calendar, Japan 10 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,840 Speaker 1: used a lunar calendar at the time. According to contemporary dating, 11 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: the event took place in Genroku fifteen, on the fourteenth 12 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: day of the twelfth month. This difference in calendars has 13 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: caused some confusion over the date of the event. That said, 14 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: the Japanese temple where the Ronan were buried holds a 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: festival commemorating the event every year on December fourteen. During 16 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: the Tokugawa period, which lasted from sixteen o three to 17 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty seven, Japan was under the rule of the shogunate, 18 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: or a military government. The shogun or chief military commander 19 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: ruled in the name of the Emperor daimyo or feudal 20 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: lords were vassals of the shogun, though they were limited 21 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: from gaining too much independent power. Samurai no longer had 22 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: to engage in battle since Japan was at peace, but 23 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: each daimyo did hire an army of samurai to protect 24 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: their families and property, and samurai still had codes of 25 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: honor and conduct known as bushido, that they abided by. 26 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: Ronan often became masterless because they didn't fulfill their duties, 27 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,919 Speaker 1: because they were defeated in battle, or because their master 28 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: fell from power or die. If a samurai's master died 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: or was deposed, the samurai could choose to serve the 30 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: new damyo, but if his master was defeated or killed 31 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: in battle, or if he did not want to transfer 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: his allegiance, the samurai may choose to die by suicide. 33 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: Those who chose to live as ronan often did so 34 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: in disgrace. The story of the forty seven Ronin, one 35 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: of the most well known in Japanese history, began when 36 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: Emperor Higashi Yama sent imperial envoys from Kyoto to the 37 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:27,119 Speaker 1: Shogun's court at Edo or present day Tokyo. A high 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: official named Kita Yoshinaka was in charge as master of 39 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: ceremonies for the visit. Asano Naganori, a daimio from Ako, 40 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: was one of the damio assigned to receive the envoys. 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: Kita said about training him and another daimio in court etiquette, 42 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: but Kitta allegedly treated Asano poorly, possibly because of Asino's 43 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: inexperience or because the presents Asino offered weren't good enough. 44 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: Either way, Asino attacked Kita. Kitta wasn't hurt badly, but 45 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: Asino's action was considered a huge offense. Asano was ordered 46 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: to die by sappuku, or a form of ritual suicide 47 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: by disembowment. After Asino's death, forty seven of his samurai, 48 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: led by Oishi Yoshio, chose to become a ronan and 49 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: seek revenge by killing Kida. They started gathering information on 50 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: Kidda's house, and they split up, taking jobs as laborers 51 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: and merchants to throw Kida and other shogunate officials off 52 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: their trail. Awishi began to drink alcohol heavily and frequent 53 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: geisha houses to alleviate suspicions. Kita and his agents began 54 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: to think that the ronan were harmless. But on the 55 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: night of January seventeen o three, the forty seven Ronan 56 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: met near Edo. One of the Ronan, teda Saka Kichiemon, 57 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: was sent to Ako to announce that the raid on 58 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: Kita's mansion was happening. Other accounts of the incident say 59 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: that he left after the battle, But on this snowy night, 60 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: the Ronan told Kida's neighbors of their plans to attack 61 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: his mansion, and they went forward with their plan. After 62 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: killing and wounding many of Kitta's samurai, they found Kara 63 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: hiding and beheaded him. All the Ronans survived the attack, 64 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 1: which lasted into the pre DoD hours of the next morning. 65 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: They then took Kitta's head to Asano's grave at the 66 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: Sangha Kuji temple, and the story of their revenge spread. 67 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: The Ronan were praised by many for their loyalty and 68 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: for killing Kitta. They had avenged the death of their master, 69 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: but their actions were still illegal. Instead of ordering them executed, 70 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: the shogun allowed them to commit seppuku, a more honorable 71 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: way to die. Forty six Ronan did so and were 72 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: buried at the Sanga Kuji temple in Etto Many sources 73 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: say that the Ronan was pardoned, lived to an old age, 74 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: and was buried near his fellow Ronan. The graves at 75 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: the temple are now a site of commemoration. The tale 76 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: of the forty seven Ronan, also known as the a 77 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: co Incident, has inspired many plays, poems, essays, TV shows, 78 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: and films. Fictionalized accounts of an incident are known as Tushinghuda. 79 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: I'm Eves Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little 80 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. Have a 81 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: hard time staying present as you mindlessly scrolled through social media. 82 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: Lucky for you were stuck in the past at t 83 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: d i h C podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, 84 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: or if you are so inclined, you can send us 85 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: a message at this day at i heart media dot com. 86 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, Mary History to all, and to all 87 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: a good night. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, 88 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 89 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.