Description

The first print appearing in Volume 1 of Gishi taikan, edited by Fukumoto Nichinan.

As written in the commentary accompanying the print, "The Chiyoda Castle shown in the illustration is the Edo Castle, which was originally the stronghold of the Edo Shogunate and the residence of the Tokugawa clan." The commentary goes on to provide, in its own words, "a very frank and accurate description of the castle in Chiyoda during the Genroku era [Oct 23, 1688 – Apr 15, 1704], a period of Japan’s power and prosperity." [1] Today the Castle ruins are part of Tokyo Imperial Palace.

On April 21, 1701 the Castle's Great Pine Corridor (Matsunoroka Corridor) was the scene of the attack on the elderly Kira Yoshinaka, the shogun's master of ceremonies, by Asano Naganori, young lord of the Akō domain, during shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's hosting of the annual ceremonies featuring "Tsunayoshi's welcoming emissaries bearing New Year's greetings from the emperor, Higashiyama, and retired emperor, Reigen, who resided in the imperial capital, Heian (modern Kyoto)." [2]

[1] my translation of the commentary, the original of which is shown below. 

[2] The Forty-Seven Rōnin: The Vendetta in History, John A. Tucker, Cambridge University Press, 2018, p. 1.

Print Details

Artist Profile