Description

The twentieth and final print appearing in Volume 1 of Gishi taikan, edited by Fukumoto Nichinan. 

The artist presents us with the leader of the Forty-seven Ronin, Ōishi Yoshio (Kuranosukei), sake cup in hand and apparently inebriated. 

In his commentary on this print (see Print Details below) Fukumoto writes: "It may have been during the time when Ōishi Kuranosuke was living in Yamashima that he wrote the five laws of drinking in a cup - 1. Do not quarrel or argue (喧嘩口論堅く無用); 2. Do not set a full cup down (盃下に置くべからず); 3. Do not spill (したむべからず ); 4. Do not force others to drink-depending of course upon the person (おさへざる事 尤ぬ相手によるべし);  5. Do not drink alcohol poured for others, but if a woman needs help, you may help her (助申すまじくこと。ただし、女には苦しからず). Fukumoto goes on to tell us that the five rules of drinking were formulated by Ōishi during a celebration with his comrades, filled with song and dance, after they made their "secret plan" of revenge.[1]  

The "secret plan' referenced by Fukumoto may be the September 1702 (by the Gregorian calendar) meeting held by Ōishi of local rōnin dedicated to direct action against Kira. This meeting, which came to be known as the Maruyama meeting was held shortly after Ōishi learned that "the Asano line would not be restored", smashing his hopes that the bakufu would allow the Asano line to continue in Akō.[2]

There are a number of extant sake cups that are purported to be designed by Ōishi while in Yamashima. Fukumoto relates that the original cup "is still kept in the family of Baron Yasuba [member of the House of Peers, d. 1930]."[3] The most famous of these cups resides in Ōishi Shrine in Akō City. Examples of two extant cups are shown below.

[1] my transcription and translation from the commentary, the original of which is shown below on the right. 

[2] The Forty-Seven Rōnin: The Vendetta in History, John A. Tucker, Cambridge University Press, 2018, p. 73.

[3] from the commentary, the original of which is shown below on the right. 

Print Details

Artist Profile