Samurai Ideals in Shingura

Even before the Kamakura period the Japanese warrior had begun his ascent to a higher social status. During the Heian period collateral branches of the imperial line, the Minamoto and Taira clans, represented two of the greatest warrior associations. Wars and battles that broke out during the eleventh century in the Kanto area presented the local warriors and the powerful clans with the chance to continue to build up their power (Schirokauer 181). During Kamakura period the provincial warrior class had managed to consolidate political power at the expense of the nobility. Under the Minamoto clan leader, Yorimoto, the Taira clan was defeated in the Gempei War, a bakufu or "tent government" was established Ð'- which demonstrated the military origins of his power - and the emperor named him shogun. The shogun had delegated power under the control of the emperor Ð'- which by this time was merely theoretical Ð'- and would represent an institution in Japanese politics that would last until the nineteenth century (Schirokauer 289). The shogun maintained his power through the loyalty of vassals - warriors who vowed service to a lord in exchange for military protection and land rights. This loyalty would become the characteristic ideal of the samurai warrior.

The warrior class would rule society and politics in Japan until the Tokugawa Shogunate in the nineteenth century. A samurai was a member of the Japanese elite and his lifestyle was dictated by a series of strict moral codes and ideals. True loyalty to his lord was expected, if not always followed through in its ideal form. In 1703 a vendetta carried out by forty-six former vassals avenging their lord's death would come to be viewed as the embodiment of samurai ideals. Playwrights and storytellers have used the story of the valiant and devoted retainers many times since, due to the tale's immense popularity in Japan. What would go on to be called "the most famous and popular work in the entire Japanese theatrical repertory" is one particular version of the story, ChÐ"»shingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers) (Keene xi).

Written in 1748, the puppet play is set in the fourteenth century and the names of the characters were changed in order to evade the laws of censorship that forbade the depiction of recent political events in the theatre of the time. But the shift in time period does little to change the strength of the play's message, rather it manages to depict a time when such samurai ideals of loyalty and resolute action were more than mere theories and ideas of a bygone era. While a samurai traditionally spent his time defending his lord and fighting battles, in the eighteenth century many were forced to take up bureaucratic positions in the government due to a peace which lasted nearly one hundred years. Their ideals, which had once distinguished the samurai class, had been all but forgotten. On January 30, 1703, however, the forty-six rÐ"Ò'nin (masterless samurai) and their "sudden dramatic gesture came as a heartening reminder of what being a samurai had once meant" (Keene 2).

ChÐ"»shingura tells the story of the forty-six rÐ"Ò'nin, led by Ð""boshi Yuranosuke, who avenge the death of their lord Enya Hangan by attacking the mansion of general KÐ"Ò' no Moronao who had provoked and ultimately caused their lord to commit seppuku (the ritual suicide of the samurai). It is a story full of examples of true samurai loyalty to their masters and the accepted ideal of feminine virtue in samurai society. Yuranosuke is without a doubt the protagonist of the play and is the personification of a samurai's loyalty to his lord. Kakogawa HonzÐ"Ò' Yukikuni's loyalty to his master, Momonoi Wakanosuke Yasuchika, is also noteworthy, if made slightly less admirable for its prudent and calculated nature. By going against his master's orders he is successful in saving his master's life, but manages to discredit himself through his use of bribery and his disobedience. Donald Keene, the translator of the play, points out in his introduction that, "[w]e cannot imagine Yuranosuke offering a bribe, even under the same circumstances" (Keene 18). A third example of samurai loyalty in ChÐ"»shingura is that of Hayano Kampei, former vassal to Lord Enya. Kampei fails Enya when he is most needed and spends the rest of his life trying to obtain forgiveness and the right to join the loyal retainers in their vendetta. It is not until he commits seppuku, "the ultimate proof of fidelity," that he is able to become an honorary member of the loyal rÐ"Ò'nin (Keene 17-18).

Kampei was not present to prevent his lord from losing his temper because he was off with Okaru. This is an uncharacteristic action for the ideal samurai and he will be punished for it. Immediately after Kampei's indiscretion he shows the remorse a samurai who has done wrong should have:

I was not with my master when he needed me most. On top of that, he's been sent home in a closed palanquin like a common criminal, and the gates of the mansion have closed on him. And all this time I, his retainer, was indulging in fleshy pleasures. I abandoned him (Keene 62).

In the manner of the most loyal of samurai he sacrifices everything he holds important Ð'- he allows his wife to be sold into prostitution and he resorts to crime when he shoots a man, albeit accidentally, and proceeds to steal his wallet to regain his honor. In Act Six he makes the absolute sacrifice by killing himself, ultimately regaining his honor and his honorary presence in the league of loyal retainers Ð'- his "long cherished wish has become a reality" (Keene 101).

As he lays dying Kampei tells his mother-in-law, "please do not grieve. Father's death and my wife's becoming a prostitute have not been in vain" (Keene 101). This statement is indicative of a woman's social status in samurai society. Women were expected to possess feminine virtue which