Asano Naganori

Asano Naganori (1667-1701) was the lord of the domain of Akō in Harima Province (present-day Akō City, Hyōgo Prefecture), and he is remembered in history for the “Matsu Corridor blade attack” of Genroku 14 (1701). He drew a blade on Kira Yoshinaka (Kōzuke-no-suke), the shogunate's ceremonial protocol instructor, and was ordered to commit seppuku the same day. This incident became the trigger for the following year's raid on Kira's residence by the Akō rōnin (Chūshingura), and it has been passed down to later generations as a story that symbolizes Japanese bushidō and the spirit of righteousness.

Naganori was born in Kanbun 7 (1667), the eldest son of Asano Nagatomo. In Enpō 3 (1675), upon the death of his father Nagatomo, he succeeded to the headship of the house at just nine years old and became lord of the 50,000-koku Akō domain. The Dokai Kōshūki (a contemporary record of daimyo reputations), compiled around Genroku 3 (1690), describes Naganori as “wise and clever,” while also recording that he left the governance of the domain to his chief retainers (karō).

On 21 April 1701 (Genroku 14/3/14), in the Great Corridor (Matsu Corridor) of the Honmaru of Edo Castle, he suddenly drew his sword and struck at Kira Yoshinaka, who was instructing the protocol for the reception of imperial envoys. Kira suffered a minor wound, but a blade attack within Edo Castle, where the shogun was present, was regarded as a grave crime, and Naganori was ordered to commit seppuku that same day. He ended his life at the young age of 35. There are various theories about the reason for the incident, but the most widely accepted view is that he had been subjected to insults and harassment from Kira.

In connection with the Japanese sword, Naganori is one of the figures who most dramatically embodied the relationship between a samurai's honor and his sword. In the Matsu Corridor he struck at Kira with a wakizashi, but he managed only to wound Kira on the forehead and back before being restrained. Naganori and the Akō rōnin were laid to rest at Sengaku-ji temple (Minato Ward, Tokyo), and the Akō Gishi Memorial Hall on the temple grounds houses items associated with the loyal retainers. The blade attack incident of Naganori is inscribed in Japanese cultural history as one of the most dramatic episodes, showing that the Japanese sword was a symbol into which the samurai staked his life and honor.