goes by. And the last even was when he took the honor to do the seppuku ritual in the vicinity of his beloved lord
‟s grave. The acts of loyalty of Oishi Kuranosuke could be seen from the very
moment he received the news of the death of Lord Asano, by Kira‟s scheme. It
was said that “Lord Asano had been like his brother; his loss was insupportable Allyn, 1970:4
3.” From this statement, it could be said that Kuranosuke‟s dedication and commitment to Asano, was indeed surpassing those of common
master- servant‟s. His loyalty to Asano, as his master, was even so added by the
charity that he shared. It could also be said that his sense of brotherhood had strengthened their bonds.
The condition that Kuranosuke lived in was not an easy one. In fact, the highest commanding leader at that time was corrupted. The highest leader that
both Asano and Kuranosuke served was the Shogun, Tsunayoshi Tokugawa. He bended evens a sacred belief as a mean to execute his self-defined policy. The text
mentions “Tsunayoshi took Buddhism only what suited his own purposes and this
le ft his policies open to question by anyone bold enough to do so” Allyn,
1970:47. The shogun misused the belief of the people for his own advantage. Wrong as it might, his loyal subjects were obligated to do the instructions given
by the unifier of the land whether they liked it or not. Having different qualities than the great shogun, Asano was a noble leader.
Asano in the eyes of Kuranosuke, was someone he worth dying for. In the waking of his memory upon his beloved master, it was said that:
“Oishi was thinking that he had known Lord Asano all his life and that in spite of his occasional outbursts of temper, there was no more worthy
daimyo in all Japan. This section of the country was known for its strong adherence to the traditional virtues of the samurai and there was no one
more generous, more brave, more earnest in trying to live up to those ideals that Lord Asano. Oishi would follow such master anywhere, even to
the grave if necessary, and he would have no hesitation in drawing his dirk and joining him at this very moment if he thought the gesture would
accomplish anything” Allyn, 1970:51.
He was ready to trade his pride, and set aside his aspirations as a samurai, and becoming a ronin. At the time of difficulties, financial welfare was of high
importance, even more so for a father with a whole family to be supported. He had to bring balance to his family needs and the fate of the daughter of Asano, as well
as the Asano name whom he loyally served. Kuranosuke however set aside his personal nee
ds and gains, for the sake of his master‟s, he was determined to fight on and continue the best plan that he could:
“Suddenly the immensity of what was going to happen to himself personally struck home for the first time. He would no longer be a
respected samurai; he would be a ronin, a man without a master, one of those pitiful ones whose days of usefulness and glory were gone. He
would be forced to become a soldier of fortune or drop out of the military ranks altogether. Either choice was a miserable one. Perhaps Hara was
right and he should ignore the orders of Daigaku and Toda. It would be better to go down fighting than to watch his family starve and sink into the
bottomless, honorless pit of poverty” Allyn, 1970:52-53.
Confucianism influenced the principle of bushido loyalty. From the way it was defined, the principle of loyalty was similarly equal in idea to filial piety for
both demands obedience and total devotion. The concept of this vengeance for loyalty was in also featured in the story, as written in the following paragraph:
“Does not even the peaceful Confucius say that no man may live under the same sky with the murderer of his lord? … „You forget yourselves … your
loyalty is to the house of Asano. Our first duty is to follow the command of our lord‟s brother and the rightful heir to this fief … Does not
Confucius also say that of the five virtues, loyalty dwarfs all other moral obligations?” Allyn, 1970:59.
2. Oishi Kuranosuke’s Self Control
Self control in bushido is believed to be a master pillar which supported the three main frameworks of bushido itself, namely: wisdom, benevolence, and
courage. In keeping his code of honor, a samurai was required to maintain self- control as long as his service was required. Self-control in bushido equaled to total
control of oneself. At this point, self-control required a samurai to discipline himself in
learning martial arts and peaceful arts. In short, the mastery of sword sharpened the samurai
‟s sensitivity and fierceness. The art of swordsmanship and calligraphy altogether nurture the samurai
‟s decision making skill. Even though the class of samurai was heredity caste, but the whole process to gain the skill and
manner as the true samurai needed long period of life. It deal firstly to carefully de
cide what‟s best for the needs of all, thus it supported the nurturing of wisdom. It deal secondly to always be calm and kind on all the situations faced, thus it
nurtured benevolence. It encouraged the samurai to bravely make decision, thus it nurtured courage.
The self-control of Oishi Kuranosuke also could be seen throughout the point after he lost his master. It could be seen from the very night he received the
grim news befalling the house of Asano, up to the post-war moments when he finally managed to avenge his master. The self control owned by Oishi is
prominent as he successfully decided every single plan he took in his road to
vengeance such as: his divorcement and his acting as loser ex-samurai to focus more only in the revenge. It was due to his remarkable self control that he
managed to show the Shogunate, the wrongs of its ways, that the seemingly kind law made by the shogun was in fact had blown a great damage to the wellbeing of
the people, and invited corruption to the land and its government. It was due to his self control also that Oishi Kuranosuke managed to stay leader of his group, and
successfully led these men of various purposes and motivation, desperate enough to become villains, to reach their honorable dreams in a good way.
There were two questions that could be used as proofs of Kuranosuke‟s
self control. These first two questions were interestingly uttered by Kuranosuke immediately after he received the word that Kira was the one to blame behind his
master‟s death. The logical emotional respond would be to immediately assault the man. While covered in grief and anger, however, Kuranosuke responded the
matter calmly by asking these two questions instead. The first one is, as a sign of grieve that he was not by his master‟s side the
moment his master was executed, and that how he regret everything has happened so fast: “and the sentence was carried out so soon? Allyn, 1970:44”. This
question was asked as if Kuranosuke was trying to say that if only he could have done something to preven
t his master‟s death. This meant that he did not directly being angry to Kira, whom he did not know for certain if he was indeed the
culprit. He directed his anger to his incapability to serve his master at the moment instead. He understood that as the head of the Asano army, his respond to the
matter would decide the future of many people. This was a sign of a good self control based on the loyalty he had.
The second one was that he directly checked the wellbeing of Lady Asano by asking: “What about lady Asano?” Oishi asked quickly. “Do you know what‟s
happened to her? Allyn, 1970:44” He could have asked for who was the culprit
instead, and Hara would have responded him thoroughly. The way that he put his lord
‟s family wellbeing above his own urge and needs was a proof that Kuranosuke did have a good self control. What he did immediately after asking
those responsible questions was even more remarkable. It was said that he then, worried about Asano‟s little daughter. As quoted:
“Oishi felt a stab at his heart as he thought of the little girl asleep in a nearby room, waiting trustfully for her mother and father. Suddenly he was
overwhelmed by the enormity of the tragedy that had struck the house of
Asano and all its members Allyn, 1970:44.”
From the following chapters it could be seen how Kuranosuke continued to protect the girl by adopting her. In this case, his self control had begotten even
another act of charity towards his late master. How he managed to take a good care of the Asano‟s daughter is also worth to be noted as due to this tragedy he
lost his job, and his family too struggled financially. Apart from being benevolent, Kuranosuke was also a responsible chief
retainer of the Asano army, all thanks to his good self control. As quoted: “Oishi felt his own stomach knot in despair and frustration but he refused
to give away to an emotional outbreak. He was in charge, the others looked to him as an example, and he must remain coldly in charge of
himself if his decisions were to have the merit of his best thinking. Allyn,
1970:45”
Being faced with imminent danger, his ability to lead his men was tested. Should he decided to unleash his discontent, his followers would also act rashly,
and such spontaneous action might bring danger to the member of the Asano family. He chose to wait and to plan carefully for the next three years.
A samurai with good self control would think deeply before he decided the best course of action, instead of acting rashly based merely on emotional urge.
In chapter four, there was a moment where Kuranosuke and his fellows learned that Kira was still alive. Most of his angry colleagues were all agree to make an
immediate move to kill Kira, yet Kuranosuke showed a quality, different from his friends‟ by saying these words:
“ I agree that Kira should die,” he said finally. “There‟s nothing I‟d like more than to launch an assault on him this very minute. But … we should
not be hasty in rushing into action. I hardly think that this group is sufficient in size or armament to undertake a punitive expedition to Edo to
attack someone behind the walls of the Shogun‟s castle. We‟ll leave such discussions until later. At this meeting we are only concerned with the
coming surrender of the castle and I have certain recommendations to make in this regard Allyn, 1970:58-
59.”
It should be noted that if there was someone who was most enraged upon Asano‟s death, it should be Kuranosuke himself. He, among all of the servants of
the house of Asano who presented at that meeting, was the closest to Asano. Yet, instead of being furious and blindly charge Edo castle, Kuranosuke saw a bigger
picture on how to carefully decide and plan what to do next. This was a proof of him being patiently self-controlled. Everything that he did afterwards was pointed
after restoring the honor of the house of Asano. “Oishi would be glad to have the old man‟s counsel, but he knew that from
now on all decisions must come from him as chief retainer. He had no fear
of not being strong enough to make them and to see that they were carried out; he only hoped that his judgments would carefully arrived at and truly
best for the house of Asano and the spirit of his departed master” Allyn, 1970:47.
One of his companions, however, questioned his carefully planned decision by calling him as being hesitated and inquiring him why did not take the
decision to immediately act to defend the castle of Ako Allyn, 1970:48. Yet once again Kuranosuke showed a good self control upon the matter, by replying:
“We‟ll be ready for whatever comes, don‟t worry. Now I think the best plan for all of us is to try to get some sleep. I must have more time to think
before I can make any sort of worthwhile plans” Allyn, 1970:48-49.
This was but the right decision to do according to Kuranosuke as he did also believe this was the best decision in responding to the push of surrender by
Daigaku Asano. He also admitted how hard it was to make the decision by saying that
“When there were two valid viewpoints to reconcile, it was not always easy to choose the side that was right” Allyn, 1970:50. The result on his considerate
manner was good as he managed to indeed restore the honor of the name of Asano. This was a self control to choose the best among two available decisions
without refusing one of them directly. He made the right one amidst his grief and anger. It was clear that he based his self control on his pure loyalty towards his
beloved master, and it was maintained by tremendous focus on restoring the honor he had been looking forward to carry.
“If only I‟d been with you‟, Oishi cried as he knelt with his hands pressed together and lifted upward in a gesture that asked for forgiveness. Then he
dropped his hands to his knees and cast his eyes down in humility” Allyn, 1970:51.
