You know the story of the 47 samurai who avenged their lord, then were all ordered to commit ritual suicide? You can see the movie anywhere in the world, but only in Japan can you visit the place where the REAL 47 rōnin are buried! If you want to see a piece of truth that really is stranger than fiction, let’s go to Sengaku-ji Temple. This is the site of the most famous (true) story in Japan.
In case you missed the movie: In 1701, Lord Asano was tricked into drawing his sword inside Edo Castle by his malicious mentor, Lord Kira. The emperor was outraged, and sentenced Asano to death by ritual suicide. Asano’s title and lands were stripped from his family, and all the samurai who served him were out of a job. The 47 loyal samurai plotted for two years, and in December of 1702 they avenged Lord Asano by cornering Lord Kira and beheading him. They marched his head to Lord Asano’s grave, wrote out a full confession and were sentenced to death by ritual suicide.
They’re buried at Sengaku-ji, along with Lord Asano.
Let’s go burn some incense!
Before we go inside the big gate, that towering green statue on the right is Kuranosuke Oishi, the 47 ronin’s fearless leader.
Once we’re through the gate, the main temple sanctuary is straight ahead, but we’re going to turn left and go up the hill to the graveyard.
As we climb the steps, be on the lookout for this (on the right):
It doesn’t look like much now, but this is the actual well where the 47 ronin washed Lord Kira’s head before they presented it to Lord Asano’s grave! At the top of the steps, let’s buy a bundle of incense from the attendant. He’ll light it for us…
and put it in a special incense-carrier.
Just past the incense guy’s hut on the right is a grand gravesite. This is where Lord Asano is buried.
His 47 ronin were laid to rest inside the granite fence beyond. The wooden hut in the corner is the grave of Oishi Kuranosuke, their leader.
Let’s walk around and leave a stick or two on the little stone altar in front of each grave.Notice that many of the graves have fresh wooden staves sticking up behind them lettered in sanskrit, as well as fresh flowers in the vases. These graves are still tended by family members, even after three hundred years!
Now let’s check out the museum. It’s small, but it has awesome stuff in it, like the actual letter of confession signed by the conspirators
and the receipt for Lord Kira’s head.
The ticket also includes admission to the second floor of the building across the walkway, where there are wooden statues of all the conspirators. The bios are in Japanese, but you can read the numbers to tell how old they were when they died. The youngest was Oishi’s son—he was only sixteen.
Each figure is different and tries to capture the personality of the warrior. So many kabuki plays are based on imagining the adventures of these 47 men in the two years while they were biding their time, it’s like going to a museum and seeing statues of the actual Cinderella or Snow White!
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Sengaku-ji Temple
Open: Every day
Temple hours: 7:00 – 16:00
Admission: Free
Open: Every day
Museum hours: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Museum admission: ¥500
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And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 