Sengaku-ji
On the first day, when we were getting our bearings, Andy had shown me the town maps to the west of Shinagawa station, and pointed out the shrine of Sengaku-ji, so I knew that we’d go back through Shinagawa station and turn away from the Takayama Inari shrine, then walk up the road for a while. In this direction the atmosphere seemed completely different. We passed some little shops and restaurants, and then walked along by the railway yards. On the other side of a huge road were apartment blocks with occasional small buildings in front of them. First we went to Shokyo-ji Temple that Andy had noticed, according to the map in the middle of a housing estate. There were no signposts, but just as the road seemed to be leading nowhere, it opened out into a square with a temple building and a huge bell. Part of the yard was in use as a car-park. Andy said it was important to see the way temples fit into everyday life before going to the famous one.
Then we went back to the main road and walked another block then back uphill a little. I could tell this was the entrance to the shrine because it was full of trinket shops, selling charms. In the old days these were pilgrim charms, but now everyone, including Andy, seems to have one or more on their mobile ‘phones. We’d come to Sengaku-ji because it’s where the Forty-Seven Ronin are buried, and their story would be important in understanding the Yasukuni shrine Sue wanted to see later in the week. It’s the most famous samurai story.
It centres on Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshio, samurai and retainer of Asano Takumi no kami Naganori, one of a small group tasked with entertaining representatives of the imperial family on behalf of the Asano family. His tutor in matters of etiquette was one Kira Kozukenosuke Yoshinaka, and the two grew to dislike each other. Although an elephant never forgets, I have trouble with the Japanese names, so I'll refer to them by their family names, Oishi, Asano and Kira.Kira took every opportunity to embarrass Asano in public and one day Asano was goaded into drawing his blade and attacking Kira. Kira was wounded and Asano was arrested. In his defence all he would say was that he bore the emperor no ill-will and only regretted failing to kill Kira. He was sentenced to death and ordered to commit seppuku at once.
His castle at Akô was also forfeit, and when news reached them, this put his retainers in a quandary. Eventually they decided to give up the castle and restore the Asano family's good name, whilst preparing revenge on Kira. So a band of retainers, led by Oishi and now ronin or leaderless samurai, hid a cache of weapons and then took manual work or letting it be known that they had no further interest in the matter. Oishi pretended to be a drunkard and legend has it that a Satsuma samurai spat on him in the street. Eventually Kira dropped his guard and the ronin attacked Kira's mansion in Edo. Kira fled, eventually being discovered in an outhouse.
He refused the chance to commit suicide and Asano beheaded him, then took the head in a bucket to as a trophy Sengaku-ji where Asano was buried. The ronin were arrested and divided up into four groups for imprisonment, but Kira's assassination left the sshogunate with a real problem: the decision to order Asano to commit suicide and leave Kira unpunished had been unpopular and the ronin had, after all, lived up to the samurai ideal. Accordingly they were granted the honour of being allowed to commit seppuku, and re-united in death in burial at Sengaku-ji. The legendary Satsuma samurai who had insulted Oishi is said to have come here to s lit his throat. That's the story and it's remained important to the Japanese for four hundred years.
When we arrived, two businessmen in suits were putting incense sticks in front of each of the graves. Andy waited until they had finished before taking pictures, and then did the purification right just like yesterday. I asked him to get a bunch of incense sticks for us. The incense-seller took a huge bunch and lit it from a great big brazier, fanning it to get it properly alight. Then Andy went round the graves, laying an incense stick on a grooved stone in front of each grave. It was very peaceful, but eventually it was time to return to the hustle and bustle outside the grounds. Andy bought me a medallion with the names of all the Ronin embossed on it. I have even more problem with the names when they’re in Kanji.