Sengaku-ji and the 47 Ronin

On a wintry night in 1703, the 47 loyal retainers of Lord Asano fought their way into the home of Lord Kira and struck him down. With the decapitated head of their enemy in tow, they slowly walked back through the streets of Edo. Once in Shinagawa, they filed into the Sengaku-ji temple and laid Kira’s head at the foot of Lord Asano’s grave. Their mission of revenge complete, the 47 ronin would soon take their own lives.

The true story of the 47 Ronin, or the Chūshingura as it’s known in Japan,...