* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kira Yoshinaka
吉良義央
"Kira Kōzuke-no-suke" — master of shogunal ceremony and the central counterpart of the Akō incident
Description
Origins and Service as a Kōke
Kira Yoshinaka (1641-1703) was born the son of Kira Yoshifuyu, a hatamoto of the Edo shogunate who served as a kōke. His name is traditionally read "Yoshihisa," though in popular usage it is also read "Yoshinaka." His common name was Kōzuke-no-suke. The Kira family was a distinguished house descended from the Ashikaga clan, and as a kōke of the shogunate it was a family charged with ceremonial and protocol matters in dealings with the imperial court. Yoshinaka served as kōke kimoiri (the senior-most of the kōke), handling the reception of imperial envoys and instructing in the shogunate's ceremonial protocol, and for many years he carried out the practical work linking the imperial court and the shogunate. His court rank rose to Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade, and his office reached Provisional Lesser Captain of the Left Inner Palace Guards.
The Attack in the Pine Corridor
On the 14th day of the 3rd month of Genroku 14 (21 April 1701), in the Pine Corridor of the Honmaru at Edo Castle, Asano Naganori (Takumi-no-kami), lord of the Akō domain who had been ordered to serve as host to the imperial envoy, suddenly attacked Yoshinaka with a blade, and Yoshinaka was wounded. The fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, ordered Naganori to commit seppuku the same day, and the Akō domain was forfeited, but Yoshinaka suffered no punishment. This ruling was perceived as "one-sided justice," and this perception became a distant cause of the later incident. Regarding the motive for the attack, there are various theories, including a misunderstanding over instruction in the hospitality duties, a long-standing grudge, and Naganori's mental derangement; no definitive consensus has been established.
The Raid and Death
Late on the night of the 14th day of the 12th month of Genroku 15 (30 January 1703), the forty-seven rōnin of Akō, led by Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio, raided the Kira residence in Honjo. Yoshinaka was discovered hiding in a charcoal storehouse, and although he drew his short sword and resisted, he was killed. His head was placed before the grave of Asano Naganori at Sengaku-ji, and afterward it was returned to the Kira family. In the 2nd month of Genroku 16 (1703), the rōnin were ordered to commit seppuku.
Reputation in His Domain and Later Image
In Kira-no-shō, Mikawa Province (present-day Nishio, Aichi Prefecture), which was Yoshinaka's domain, however, there is a tradition that he was a lord who devoted himself to building the Ōgon embankment (Kogane-zutsumi) and developing new fields, and locally he has been spoken of as a wise lord; yet these accomplishments cannot be corroborated by records from the period. Because in the "Chūshingura" works, beginning with the puppet theater and kabuki drama Kanadehon Chūshingura, he has consistently continued to be portrayed as the villain, his image has swung widely between historical fact and fiction. The raid by the Akō rōnin, one of Japan's three great vendettas, is also a subject repeatedly discussed in the history of swords and in the history of samurai culture.