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The eighteenth print appearing in Volume 4 of Gishi taikan, edited by Fukumoto Nichinan. 

The chief priest of Rinnō-ji in Nikkō, a former Imperial Prince, has been summoned by shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa 徳川綱吉 (1646-1709) for a consultation regarding the death sentences meted out by the bakufu to the Righteous Samurai. Tsunayoshi tells the priest, "There is nothing more painful in the world than to be in charge of politics. You may have heard of the retainers of the late Asano Naganori, whose loyalty and fervor were unparalleled in modern times. I wish I could do something to help them, but if I did, I would not be able to govern."

Tsunayoshi felt deep sympathy for the gishi, but was concerned that if he pardoned them it would damage his authority. He had hoped that the chief priest would plead for the lives of the gishi, allowing him to pardon them, but the priest remained silent, later to say, "I made up my mind to inspire the great compassion of the Buddha and let the royal law take its course. Since they achieved their aim, it is better for them to bequeath the lesson of their honor by committing seppuku rather than to live on polluted by the dirt of vulgarity."

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Sources: Genroku kaikyoroku, Fukumoto Nichinan, Keiseisha, 1910, chapter 280; https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/Buddhism/Cloistered%20Imperial%20Prince%20Koben.html

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