New header theme for December – 47 Ronin Day!

The “holiday season” header (for December thru January) at the top o’ the page this time celebrates everyone’s favorite invented winter holiday – 47 Ronin Day!!!

47 Ronin Eve and 47 Ronin Day are December 13th and 14th. These are “holidays” celebrating the loyal 47 (or 46) Ako ronin (masterless samurai) of Tokugawa Japan who finally achieved their long-sought-after revenge in 1702. The subject of the 47 ronin is very important and interesting to me, I did extensive research on the 47 ronin and films about them at one point in my life. Anyway, you won’t get a stocking full of candy but you may be inspired to go for your own goals (no matter how long it may take!)

Revengeance™!!!

Another group of “heroic losers,” the Shinsengumi, were somewhat fond of the 47 as well, they even wore similar outfits.

Some interesting tidbits:

• While the Shinsengumi are more popular with women, the 47 Ronin are more popular with men. I guess it’s because the Shinsengumi was mostly made up of young, available men. Go figure T_T;;

• The youngest of the 47 ronin, Chikara Ooishi, was only 16 or so at the time of the attack. Wow!

• The 47 ronin is one of the most-filmed and most-dramatized-for-TV of all Japanese historical subjects. Some of the 47 ronin films and dramas available with English subtitles include:
  • “The Fall of Ako Castle” (USA DVD title: Swords of Vengeance) (Akojou Danzetsu, 1978 ) Directed by the man behind “Battle Royale” and many yakuza films, it presents a more crime-drama sort of take on the story with lots and lots of action! **This is a good one to watch FIRST**
  • “Chushingura 1/47″ 忠臣蔵１／４７(2001) Kimura Takuya the teen idol plays rebellious ronin Yasubei Horibe. Very modern, “democratic” look at the story with plenty of drama and action. Some thoroughly modern and prominent female characters too.  Highly inaccurate, but fun to watch.
  • “Chushingura“忠臣蔵 (1962) The famous Toshiro Mifune plays a side character in this version, which is a different type of look – it presents individual ronins’ and side characters’ tales. A distinctly sympathetic, postwar perspective.
  • “The 47 Ronin” 元禄忠臣蔵(Genroku Chuushingura, 1941-2) Famous director Kenji Mizoguchi was commissioned by the WW2 government in Japan to make the 47 ronin story into a “morale-boosting” 2-part film. The result is quite far from standard propaganda, as it presents the story in a quiet, architecture-centered Japanese aesthetic. The biggest surprise? No attack scene. This one is very long and slow, I don’t recommend it unless you really like Japanese film or Mizoguchi. It’s pretty historically inaccurate as well (some of which was done for the purposes of propaganda). It was based on a 1920s adaptation of the original (highly fictionalized) 47 ronin kabuki play (Chuushingura) into a more “historical” one, “Genroku Chuushingura.”
  • Most of these DVDs were bought from samuraiworldvideo.com but that site no longer exists. The 1962, 1978, and 1941 films are the only ones I know of with legit USA releases elsewhere. Start with the 1978 film, it’s the easiest to follow. If you can’t get that one, read up on the story and get the ‘62 film.