Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshio on the whole appears to come off looking much better than his lord Asano Naganori from a purely historical standpoint. As Asano left the governing of his province to his vassals, Oishi as his chief retainer must get the credit for running the province in an effective and relatively smooth manner. Oishi seemed to be an intelligent man and a good judge of human nature-his management of the Ako ronin, 46 (actually more, but several dropped out over the course of the plan) other men with varying motivations and degrees of commitment (there is a report prepared by Oishi examined by scholar Henry Smith that rates the degree of commitment each of the plotters had in his estimation, one more piece of evidence that the men involved were not all acting out of loyalty to a failed lord), showed a shrewd ability to plot and implement a plan that required juggling many variables. Oishi's much celebrated act of being a drunken womanizer after becoming a ronin appears to have largely fiction, as none of the metsuke reports on his behavior mention him carrying on such a charade. It is possible that since it is documented that Asano’s retainers were promoted and rewarded based on their abilities to procure women and provide entertainment that the legend of this "charade" was based on Oishi's everyday behavior.
Despite these positive qualities, Oishi must shoulder the burden of having purposely neglected Asano's training and education, leading to a lack of discipline on Asano's part that resulted in the poorly executed attack on Lord Kira Yoshinaka in the Shogun’s castle. Indeed, Oishi is singled out in the Shogunal report Dokai Koshuki for this failing. It appears Oishi enjoyed being the "power behind the throne" and was reluctant to prepare Asano in the carrying out of these duties, fearing losing his postion of power and authority. As the de facto chieftain of Ako, Oishi also was the mastermind of a plan to issue devalued currency that was backed by only 60% cash. While Ako was far from the only fief that engaged in such a practice, it demonstrates contempt for the people of Ako and the merchants who were forced to accept this devalued currency, resulting in a loss of 40% to anyone who was stuck with the notes. Finally, Oishi has to take responsibility for leading a raid that killed both guards and innocent unarmed household staff alike (whose only crime was working for Lord Kira). Despite the fact that Oishi’s men outnumbered Kira’s sleeping guards by a ratio that is commonly put at 47 to 5 (and by some accounts, 47 to 3), they still felt the need and justification to kill unarmed civilians.
Oishi Kuranosuke in Fiction
Film
Television
Books
Sources
- Bodart-Bailey, Beatrice M The Dog Shogun:The Personality And Politics Of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi Honolulu:University Of Hawai’i Press, 2006
- Kanai Madoka, editor “Dokai Koshuki” in “Edo Shiryo Sosho” Tokyo:Jinbutsu Oraisha, 1967
- Tokutomi Ichiro “Kinsei Nihon Kokuminshi” vols 11-19, Tokyo:Minyusha, 1935-1936
- Sato Naokata “Yonjuroku Nin No Hikki” NST, Vol 27
- Bito Masahide “The Ako Incident, 1701-1703” in “Monumenta Nipponica” 58:2 (Summer 2003)
- Sakata Moroto, “unpublished memoirs-Kai Shosho Yoshiyasu Ason Jikki” vol 30, Genroku 15, property of University Of Tokyo
- Sato Hiroaki “Legends Of The Samurai” The Overlook Press, 1995