Cody Mosblech

Final Written Verdict of Junior Counselor Makino

For the last week we have deliberated on the issue of the 47 ronin who avenged their

master after he was sentenced to death following an assault on another government official. This

issue is complicated by multiple larger issues that I will first express my opinions on.

First is the issue of the 47 ronin directly challenging the shogun's previous decision to

punish only Asano, and not Kira as well. On this issue I still believe it is important to make the

distinction between directly and indirectly challenging the shogun's authority, as I said in my

speech to the council. The 47 ronin first tried legal means of maintaining the integrity of the

Asano family and domain. This shows that their respect for the shogunate and it's authority came

first before any acts of violent revenge. Further, they did not hesitate to turn themselves in after

they had killed Kira. Their willingness to comply even after they had broken the law shows that

ultimately they knew the shogunate's authority was above their act of revenge, and that their

quarrel was with Kira alone. I suggest that the shogun not take their violation of the law

personally, as a direct challenge of authority.

Now regardless of the points made above, there is no denying that these samurai broke

the law. They knew that by killing Kira they would be violating laws already put in place by the

shogunate, as also evidenced by their attempt to try legal means first. Therefore, they did in fact

challenge the shogunate's authority, but indirectly, and no more than any other criminal has

under the current system.

The next issue is that of the samurai's supposed honorable actions. These samurai waited

two years to act. They spied, waited for the right conditions when they would be as stealthy as

possible, used range weapons in their attack, all this suggesting they were concerned with self-

preservation over their own personal honor.(Ikegami)

It could and has been argued that it doesn't matter how these samurai accomplished their

goals, that it only matters that they did accomplish them. This argument appears valid, but is only

a convenient way to shut down opposing opinions by dismissing them as overly critical. The

problem with this counter-argument is its basis on the fact that the end result is what matters

most in determining the honor of an action, when in fact it is the action itself that determines the

honor associated with it. The actions of these 47 ronin would have been considered more

honorable in accordance with traditional samurai values had they acted immediately. Even if they

had not succeeded in killing Kira, their attempt would have taken precedence in determining the

honor of their action.(Ratti)

Another point that is of personal interest to myself, is that of the imperial family and it's

bearing on the case. The emperor has said that the samurai class is vulgar and unrefined, and

views the case of the 47 ronin as a prime example of this.(Turnbull) It has been pointed out by

the grand chamberlain that the imperial family praised the shogunate on its swift decision

regarding the Ako incident that sparked this whole situation, however this is irrelevant, as it

refers to a previous incident, and the emperor has since expressed his opinions ever more firmly.

Adding to the severity of this issue is the fact that the original offense by Asano was carried out

in preparation for a ceremony to receive imperial ambassadors. The revenge act could be seen

by the emperor as further insult to his domain and could perceive it as general hostility from the

samurai class as a whole. This could promote conflict in the future, and so it is important that

swift decisive action once again be dealt to these samurai, to show that the shogunate will not

tolerate offenses to the imperial family as well as to it's own rule.

The shogun himself has expressed his opinion that as the shogunate is a separate political

structure from the emperor with different laws, the emperor has no bearing on shogunal affairs.

However, I urge the shogun to consider that regardless of how trivial he sees the imperial rule as

being, it still exists as something that affects the entire nation, and to improve relations would

benefit the shogun on a national level and increase his influence on the emperor, with no ill

effects.

Based on these three critical issues, my final opinion is that the 47 ronin be sentenced to

commit honorable seppuku. This compromise will most equally deal with all issues at hand. It

will show that violation of the law regardless of intent will not be tolerated, and reinforce the

shogunal law as supreme. It will still somewhat uphold the traditional honor ideals of the

samurai warriors who came before us, and allow them to see that the shogunate is not entirely

dismissing the ideals our current society is built upon. Finally, it will also deal with potential

future political issues, by improving the imperial families current image of the samurai class. I

humbly thank the shogun for his consideration of my opinion.

-Junior Counselor Makino, Honor Rank 4-

Ikegami, Eiko. The taming of the samurai: honorific individualism and the making of

modern Japan. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995. Print.

Turnbull, Stephen R.. The revenge of the 47 Ronin: Edo 1703. Oxford: Osprey, 2011.

Print.

Ratti, Oscar, and Adele Westbrook. Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts

of feudal Japan. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1973. Print.