I particularly enjoyed the story of Oishi’s involvement with a geisha. Not to mention they were noisy.Ĥ7 Ronin has many interesting scenes and nice action. Dogs were dangerous back then and would often attack people. However, 47 Ronin stays true to the samurai perspective with the negative view of Tsunayoshi and his dogs. Samurai viewed compassion as a weakness (something Allyn points out in the story), so Laws of Compassion were quite a shift ( Bodart-Bailey, 2006). For example, child abandonment became a severe crime, as did victimizing other weak people. The religious Tsunayoshi’s laws had revolutionary humane elements. 47 Ronin portrays Tsunayoshi in a fairly negative light. The Shogun was born on the Year of the Dog. Known as the “Dog Shogun,” Tsunayoshi declared dogs as protected and also issued edicts protecting various types of animals. The story also takes place during the time of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709). Readers not familiar with events will find the foreword helpful. The foreword by Stephan Turnbull lays out the history of the events the book covers. 47 Ronin is a fictionalized account that pulls from both history and the famous kabuki play, Kanadehon Chushingura.

The rest of the story follows the vendetta’s planning and the actions of Oishi, Lord Asano’s loyal retainer. Several of Lord Asano’s samurai take offense to this injustice and seek to avenge their lord by killing the official. As a consequence, Lord Asano’s lands and house are all forfeited to the Shogunate. The official survived Lord Asano’s attack. The Lord Asano is executed when he attacks a shogunate official for an insult. Unless you are familiar with the dress and culture of Japan under the Tokugawa shoguns, you will have problems visualizing the environments and characters. However, the viewpoint shifts can be off putting, and there is scant description. The effect is jarring until you get used to it.Ĥ7 Ronin tells an excellent story. 47 Ronin jumps from the eyes of one character to another sometimes within the same paragraph. Modern readers are used to seeing through the eyes of a single character with chapters or scene breaks marking a change of viewpoint. Originally published in 1970, Allyn’s writing has some jarring elements common to books published at that time. John Allyn’s version of Japan’s classic story shows some of its age.

The forty seven ronin story john allyn