About the Images

The images displayed on this site are from two separate productions of the play Kanadehon Chūshingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), as performed by the National Bunraku Troupe in Osaka in 1976 and 1978, and photographed by Barbara C. Adachi.  The story depicted in the play has been told and retold in various forms – puppet theater, kabuki, woodblock print, film, and television drama – since the events depicted took place, 1701-1703. A young lord is goaded by a rival into misbehaving in the Shogun's palace and is forced to kill himself in penance.  His retainers, now rōnin, lordless samurai, pretend to scatter, some of them appearing to live dissolute lives. In the end, however, we learn that they have been planning their revenge all along. Two years after their lord's death, they storm the mansion of the instigator, killing him and thereby avenging their lord. The shogunal government, compelled to punish such illegal actions, sentences the rōnin to death. But in honor of their loyalty and courage, they are allowed to commit ritual suicide rather than be executed. The temple where they are buried remains a tourist sight today.