Chûshingura Prints

In 1702, Lord Asano of Akô was provoked by Kira Kozukenosuke Yoshinaka into drawing his sword in the shogun’s palace, for which he was forced to take his own life, and his estate was confiscated. Forty-seven of Lord Asano’s retainers, who were now rônin (samurai without masters), planned, and carried out a successful attack on Kira’s palace. Kira’s head was cut off with the same dagger Lord Asano used to commit seppuku. (The term “hara-kiri”, although more common in English than “seppuku”, is considered in Japan to be a vulgar and disrespectful description of an honorable act.). The 46 surviving rônin were forced to take their own lives. These events were made into the kabuki play, “Kanadehon Chûshingura”.

Series	Date	Robinson*	Robinson‡
Comic Paper Lantern Chûshingura (Dôke Chôchingura)	1830	unlisted	unlisted
Kanadehon Chûshingura	1835	unlisted	unlisted
The Monsters’ Chûshingura	1839-1842	unlisted	unlisted
Kanadehon Chûshingura	1847	169	unlisted
Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai (Seichû gishi den)	1847-1848	72	S54
Origins of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai (Seichû gishi hottan)	1848	72	S55
Stories of Faithful Hearts and True Loyalty (Seichû gishin den)	1848	72	S56
Comparison of the High Renown of the Loyal Retainers and Faithful Samurai (Chûshin gishi kômei kurabe)	1848	78	S57
Stories of the Faithful Samurai of the Red Castle (Sekijô gishi den)	1848	83	S58
Mirror of the Faithful Samurai and Loyal Retainers (Gishi chûshin kagami)	1848	82	S59
Untitled series of Chûshingura diptychs	1849	unlisted	unlisted
Chûshingura	1849	unlisted	unlisted
Mirror of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Retainers (Seichû gishin kagami)	1851	unlisted	S71
The Fifty-three Post-stations of the Chûshingura (Chûshingura gojûsan tsuji)	1851	unlisted	S72
Twelve Acts of the Lantern Chûshingura (Ju-ni dan shoku Kanadehon Chûshingura)	1852	218	unlisted
Portraits of the Faithful Samurai of True Loyalty (Seichû gishi shôzô)	1853	79	S78
True Portraits of the Faithful Samurai (Gishi shinzô)	1853	75	S80
‘Kanadehon Chûshingura’ (かなで本忠臣蔵) is available on another website	1854-1855	69	S86
Mirror of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Retainers, Individually (Seichû gishin meimei kagami)	1857	77	S90
Miscellaneous Chûshingura prints		206

* “Robinson 1961” indicates listing in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).

‡ “Robinson 1982” indicates listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

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