The forty-seven ronin It recounts the most famous case involving the samurai code of honor, bushid?. The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official. The ronin avenged their master’s honor after patiently waiting and planning for two years and in turn, the ronin were themselves forced to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. The popularity of the story is still high today. With ten different television productions in the years 1997–2007 alone, it ranks among the most familiar of all stories in Japan.
Home / Questions / Which incident in 18th century Japan that involved a group of revenge-seeking leaderless samurai has been dramatized in several accounts and was called the country’s ‘national legend’?