47 Ronin

1701年春、江戸城内で赤穂藩主浅野内匠頭（あさのたくみのかみ）が積年の恨みをはらすべく吉良上野介（きらこうずけのすけ）を切りつけた。吉良に命の別状はなかったものの、浅野内匠頭は切腹させられる。喧嘩両成敗の法に反すると、これを不服とした47人の赤穂藩士が自ら浪人となり亡き主人の敵を討つと誓い合う。命をかけて忠誠心を貫くその姿は、今もなお多くの日本人の心を惹きつける。300年に渡り演劇や小説などでいく度となく再現されたこの実話に基づく物語は、2013年ついにハリウッド映画となって上映された。

When Lord Asano drew his sword on Lord Kira one spring day in 1701, it began a story that is now a national legend in Japan. Lord Kira lived, but Lord Asano died, and after his death, his samurai became ronin, samurai without a master. And so began their long plan for revenge on Kira. Their loyalty to their dead master made him famous, and people in Japan remember them to this day. The story of the fortyseven ronin has been told and retold for 300 years - in plays, novels, and films. A major Hollywood film was made about the forty-seven ronin in 2013.