4 7 RONIN

A Samurai Story from Japan

The story of the forty-seven ronin is a very famous one

in Japan. It is a true story about real people, but many
of the facts are now lost in time . Soon after the ronin
took their revenge, the story was retold in plays, known

n
as Chushingura. Since then the story has been retold in

io
song, story, drama, television plays, visual art, and many
films. Each time the story is retold, the details change .
at
But one thing does not change - this story is still as
ic
famous in Japan today as it was 300 years ago.
bl

The story begins in Edo (now modern Tokyo) in spring

1701, in the Shogun's palace. Lord Asano is taking
Pu

lessons in palace ceremony from Lord Kira, one of the

lords in the Shogun's palace . Kira has only hard words
al

for Asano, and by the end of that terrible day, Lord

Asano is dead. Asano's samurai are now ronin- samurai
ng

without a lord or master. They have no home, no place

in the world. They have only loyalty to their dead lord.
Ja

This is the true story of the forty-seven ronin . . .

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBR ARY

True Stories

47 Ronin
A Samurai Story from Japan

n
Stage 1 (400 headwords)

io
at
ic
bl
Pu
al
ng
Ja

Series Editor: Jennifer Bassett

Founder Editor: Tricia Hedge
Activities Editors: Jennifer Bassett and Christine Lindop

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 N O T E S A B O UT S A MUR A I

Samurai
Warriors, famous fighting men in the old days in
Japan . They lived by a special set of rules, the samurai
code of honour (bushido in Japanese) .

Ron in

n
Samurai without a daimyo (a lord or master) .

io
In Japan today ronin are more often called roshi.

Seppuku
at
ic
Ritual suicide - killing yourself by cutting your
stomach open with a knife . This was part of bushido,
bl

the samurai code of honour, and for samurai, it

Pu

was better to commit seppuku than to live a life

without honour.
al

Daimyo
A lord, a powerful ruler of a region in Japan in the old
ng

days. Daimyo often had their own armies of three or

four hundred samurai to guard their castles and land.
Ja

Shogun
The military ruler of Japan in the old days, under
the Emperor.

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 JENNIFER BASSETT

47 Ronin
A Samurai Story from Japan

n
io
at
ic
bl
Pu

Illustrated by
Dragon76
al
ng
Ja

�
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6DP, United Kingdom

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade
mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

©Oxford University Press 2014

The moral rights of the author have been asserted
First published in Oxford Bookworms 2014
10 9 8 7 6 s 4 3 2 1

No unauthorized photocopying
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

n
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as

io
expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the
appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the ELT
at
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must
ic
impose this same condition on any acquirer
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
bl

contained in any third party website referenced in this work

ISBN: 978 0 19478612 6

Pu

A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of

47 Ronin: A Samurai Story from japan is available in an audio pack ISBN: 978 o 194786041

Printed in China

Word count (main text): 6,0 79 words

al

For more information on the Oxford Bookworms Library,

visit www.oup.com/eltfgradedreaders
ng

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

nlustrations by: Dragon 7 6/Dutch Uncle Agency

Ja

The publishers would like to thank the following for their permission to reproduce photographs:
Alamy Images p.42 (Grave of Asano Naganori at Sengaku-ji temple/pf); Getty Images p.1
(Three samurai warriors in armour, circa 1880/Kusakabe Kimbei/Hulton Archive).

Jangal.com
 CONTEN TS

STORY INTRODUCTION

NOTES ABOUT SAMURAI IV

PEOPLE IN THIS STORY Vlll

Samurai 1
1 The death of Asano 2

n
io
2 The plan 9
3 The long wait 16
4 The attack
at 25
ic
5 The revenge 33
bl

6 The punishment 37
Sengaku-ji 42
Pu
al

GLOSSARY 43
ng

ACTIVITIES: Before Reading 46

ACTIVITIES: While Reading 47
Ja

ACTIVITIES: After Reading 48

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 52
ABOUT THE BOOKWORMS LIBRARY 53

Jangal.com
 PEOPLE IN THIS STO RY

In the old days, important men in japan were often called

by their court titles, not by their real names. In this story
real names are used.

Lord Kira Yoshinaka, a lord in the Shogun's palace

n
(court title: Kira Kozuke-no-suke Yoshinaka)

io
Lord Asano Naganori, the daimyo of Aka Castle
(court title: Asano Takumi-no-kami Naganori)
at
Oishi Yoshio, captain of Lord Asano's samurai
ic
(court title: Oishi Kura-no-suke Yoshio)
bl

Daigaku, Lord Asano's younger brother

Pu

Chikara, Oishi's son

Riku, Oishi's wife
al
ng

Hayami }
Kataoka }
Ja

Hara }
Mimura }
Horibe } Ten of Lord Asano's samurai (later, ronin)
Okuda }
Yoshida }
Isogai }
Terasaka }
Hazama }

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 1

n
io
at
ic
bl
Pu
al
ng
Ja

In the old days in Japan, the samurai were warnors,

fighting men. They served a daimyo, one of the great
Japanese lords. They lived in his castle, fought for him,
and died for him. They fought with long swords and
short swords, spears, and bows and arrows. They were
brave, fierce men, famous for their loyalty to their lord.

Jangal.com
 2

CHAPTER 1

The death of Asano

'Good morning, Lord Asano. '
The speaker was Lord Kira Yoshinaka, a tall man, in
black. He stood in the middle of a room in the Shogun's
palace. He watched Lord Asano, and waited.

n
Lord Asano Naganori was a younger man, thirty-four

io
years to Lord Kira's sixty years. He walked slowly across
at
the room from the door, and stopped in front of Kira.
ic
'Lord Kira,' he said coldly. 'Good morning. ' And then
bl

he bowed, just a small bow of the head.

Lord Kira bowed too, an even smaller bow. He smiled,
Pu

but his eyes were cold.

'Are you ready for your next lesson, Lord Asano?' he
al

said. 'You have much to learn about palace ceremony,

ng

and you are a very slow student. Shall we begin?'

Lord Asano bowed again, but did not speak. His
Ja

mouth was a thin, hard line. Every day Kira called him
'slow ', or 'stupid', or 'difficult', and he did not like it.
In the Shogun's palace at Edo in the year 1701,
ceremony was very important. The right words, at the
right time of day. The right bow, small or deep, for
different people. The right clothes, at different hours of
the day. The right presents, for the right people . . . This
was the way of life in the Shogun's palace, and Lord Kira
was the teacher of ceremony - for this Shogun, and for

Jangal.com
 The death of Asano 3

n
io
at
ic
bl
Pu
al
ng
Ja

Lord Kira bowed too, an even smaller bow.

Jangal.com
 4 47 Ronin: A Samurai Story from japan

many Shoguns before him. After forty years as a teacher,

Kira knew everything about the ceremony of the palace.
But Lord Asano knew nothing. He was a daimyo from
the country, from Ako Castle, a place seventeen days'
journey by horse to the south-west of Edo. The daimyo
were powerful men in Japan at this time, and were rulers
in their own part of the country. But daimyo must also

n
serve the Shogun, and every year the Shogun called two

io
of them to his palace at Edo.
at
'Every day is the same,' said Asano angrily, at his
ic
house in Edo that evening. 'Every day I must do this
bl

ceremony, or that ceremony, I must stand here, or there,

bow to this person, or that person. And I must do six
Pu

months of this! Every day Kira calls me bad names! I

make mistakes because he is a bad teacher!'
al

Hayami, one of Asano's samurai, helped him with his

ng

ceremonial clothes. Hayami was very good with the bow

and arrow, but not so good with words.
Ja

'Lord, I heard something about Kira,' he said.

'What?' said Asano.
'He likes presents, and money. The other daimyo gives
him presents or money, and then Kira is happy, and the
lessons go well. Why don't you give him a present?'
'No!' shouted Asano. 'I am Lord Asano of Ako, and I
do not give presents to the Shogun's servants! His job is
to teach me ceremony, not to ask for presents!'
Hayami said nothing more, but he was afraid for his

Jangal.com
 The death of Asano 5

master. Every day Asano came back from the palace

with an angry face, and angry words.
'How is this going to end?' Hayami said to Kataoka,
another of Asano's samurai. 'Four more months of this.
What can I do? We need Oishi here. Lord Asano doesn't
listen to me, but he listens to Oishi sometimes.'

n
io
at
ic
bl
Pu
al
ng
Ja

Every day Asano came back from the palace with an angry face.

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 6 47 Ronin: A Samurai Story from japan

But Oishi Yoshio was at Ako Castle, a long way away.

He was the captain of Lord Asano's three hundred
samurai. When Lord Asano came to Edo, most of his
samurai came with him, but Oishi stayed behind at Ako
to take care of everything there.

-------
It ended suddenly on a spring day in 1701.

n
The day began well, with a blue sky and the song of

io
birds in the palace gardens. Lord Asano arrived at the
at
palace, put on his ceremonial clothes, and went for his
ic
lesson with Lord Kira.
bl

Perhaps Kira was tired that day. Perhaps he was

angry because there were no presents from Lord Asano.
Pu

Perhaps he just did not like the young lord from Ako.
'You must wait,' he told Asano. 'I have another, more
al

important meeting first. ' He turned his back on Lord

ng

Asano. 'What a stupid man!' Kira said. Usually, he said

things like this in a quiet voice, but today he did not
Ja

speak quietly, and everybody in the great palace room

could hear him. 'I hear Asano's wife is stupid too, and
his children,' Lord Kira said to the room.
Something broke inside Lord Asano. 'Lord Kira, stop
a moment,' he cried.
'Well, what is it?' said Kira, turning back to Asano.
People remembered this moment for many years.
Asano drew his sword, and attacked Lord Kira. With a
cry, Kira put his hand to his head, but he did not fall.

Jangal.com
 The death of Asano 7

n
io
at
ic
bl
Pu
al
ng
Ja

Asano drew his sword, and attacked Lord Kira.

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 8 47 Ronin: A Samurai Story from japan

Asano lifted his sword again, but now there were palace
guards around him. They pulled him to the floor, and
held his sword arm. Lord Kira ran away. There was a
deep cut on his face.
The Shogun's palace was a place of ceremony, not a
place for fighting. It was a terrible thing to do - to draw
a sword and attack someone inside the palace.

n
The attack happened at about midday. At one o'clock

io
the guards took Asano to the house of another daimyo.
at
At four o'clock an order came from the Shogun. 'Lord
ic
Asano must die, but because he is a daimyo, he can die
the samurai way, with honour. He can commit seppuku.'
bl

And so it happened. At six o'clock that same day Lord

Pu

Asano of Ako committed seppuku. He took out his long

knife, and cut into his stomach from left to right.
al

Outside the palace Lord Asano's samurai, Kataoka,

ng

knew nothing of this. He waited for his master to leave

the palace at the end of the day, but Asano never came.
Ja

At last another daimyo told Kataoka the terrible news.

Kataoka ran back to Asano's house in Edo, and called
for Hayami and the other samurai. 'Our lord is dead,'
he cried. 'Get the horses ready! We must ride to Ako
at once!'

Jangal.com
 9

CHAPTER 2

The plan
At that time, it was usually a journey of seventeen days
from Edo to Ako, but Kataoka and Hayami did the
journey in ten days. When they arrived at Ako Castle,
they were tired, dirty, hungry, and thirsty.

n
io
at
ic
bl
Pu
al
ng
Ja

Kataoka and Hayami were tired, dirty, hungry, and thirsty.

Jangal.com
 10 47 Ronin: A Samurai Story from Japan

Oishi Yoshio, the captain of the Ako samurai, was not

pleased with them. 'Look at you!' he said. 'What kind of
samurai are you? Dirty clothes, dirty horses . . . '
But Oishi forgot about that when he heard the terrible
news of Lord Asano's death.
'And that's not all,' said Hayami. He pushed the hair
out of his eyes. 'The Shogun's government is going to take

n
Lord Asano's castle, his land, his money - every thing!

io
Can they do that, Oishi?'
at
ic
bl
Pu
al
ng
Ja

'They're taking Lord Asano's body to the temple of Sengaku-ji. '

Jangal.com
 The plan 11

'Yes,' said Oishi. 'They can. To draw a sword in the

Shogun's palace is a crime. But why did Lord Asano
attack Kira? What happened? Did they fight?'
'We don't know,' said Kataoka, 'we weren't there! But
Lord Asano was angry every day because of Lord Kira. '
'But Asano didn't kill Kira?' said Oishi.
'No,' said Hayami. 'Kira is alive and well. People say

n
that he just has a cut on his head.'

io
'And where is Lord Asano's body now?' asked Oishi.
at
'They 're taking it to the temple of Sengaku-ji,' said
ic
Kataoka, 'just outside Edo. Some of our samurai went
bl

with the body. Then they are coming back to Ako. '

-'"----
Pu

"

During the next days, Lord Asano's samurai made the

journey down to Ako. Some of them brought news.
al

'Lord Asano's younger brother, Daigaku, is under

ng

house arrest in Edo,' Yoshida told Oishi. Yoshida was

one of the older samurai. He and Oishi were old friends.
Ja

'Did you see Daigaku?' asked Oishi.

'Yes, just for two minutes. They 're going to send him
away, to Hiroshima, to the Asano family there. '
Soon there were nearly three hundred of Asano's
samurai at Ako, and Oishi Yoshio called a meeting. It
was a noisy, angry meeting.
Horibe was a famous swordsman. He was a fierce
fighter, and a brave man, but he did not often stop to
think before he spoke. He was the first to speak.

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 12 47 Ronin: A Samurai Story from japan

'Lord Asano is dead because of Kira,' he shouted to

the meeting. 'Kira is a killer. A man cannot live under
the same sky as the killer of his lord. This is the code of
the samurai! When do we attack Kira?'
The samurai began to talk, but Oishi held up his
hand. 'Nobody questions your honour as a samurai,
Horibe. But we are not samurai now, we are ronin. We

n
have no master, no lord. The Shogun's government killed

io
Lord Asano because of a crime - the crime of drawing
at
a sword in the palace. And why did this crime happen?
ic
Because of Lord Kira. We want revenge for our lord's
death, and that means Kira must die. But he knows that,
bl

and he has many friends in the government. So we must

Pu

be careful, we must be clever. '

'Careful? Clever?' shouted Horibe. 'What kind of
al

samurai are you? We must attack Lord Kira at once! In

ng

Edo, people in the streets are saying that. They know we

must take revenge for Asano's death. People want us to
Ja

do that! It is the samurai way !'

'So you want to die a dog's death outside the palace?'
called Yoshida. 'How many guards are there at the
palace? Eh? Tell me that! Hundreds! We can't get near
Kira - he knows we want him, so he has hundreds of
guards around him, day and night. '
'The government is going to take Ako Castle away
from the Asano family,' called another samurai. 'When
the government soldiers come here, can we fight them?

This is a prieview . Limited Version

 The plan 13

n
io
at
ic
bl
Pu

1\ man cannot live under the same sky as the killer of his lord.'
al

Can we hold Ako Castle for Daigaku? He's the head of

ng

the Asano family now. '

Kataoka answered this question. 'For a week, perhaps.
Ja

But not longer. No, the Asano family at Ako is finished.

We must leave Ako Castle and begin new lives as ronin. '
'So what can we do?' called Okuda, one of Horibe's
friends. 'Tell us, Oishi! What can we do?'
'What do you want?' said Oishi. 'Do you want
revenge? Revenge has a price, and the price is death. We
cannot hope to live after we take our revenge on Kira.
We must commit seppuku - everyone of us. '
'We are samurai!' cried a man called Hara. 'Death with

Jangal.com