Who Is Lord Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka (Kira Yoshinaka)?
Master of ceremonies targeted by the ronin
Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka
Lord Kira Kozuke-no-Suke was a shogunate retainer (hatamoto) at the center of the koke, the officials who managed ceremony and protocol for the Edo shogunate. He was the man Asano Takumi-no-Kami slashed in Edo Castle and whom the Ako ronin later killed. His given name, written 義央, is read both Yoshihisa and Yoshinaka.
In the Pine Corridor he was cut from behind while in the middle of a discussion, but his wounds were light, he survived, and the shogunate did not punish him. This difference in treatment fueled the anger of Ako's retainers. He later moved his residence to Honjo in Edo, and on the night of the 14th day of the twelfth month of Genroku 15 the ronin stormed it. Kira had vanished from his bedroom; he was found hiding in a charcoal shed and killed.
Chushingura usually casts him as the villain, but there is no solid evidence that he bullied Asano. In his former fief of Kira in Mikawa Province (now Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture), he is remembered as a good lord who built embankments. In the play Kanadehon Chushingura he appears as Ko no Moronao.
Episodes featuring this character5
NEWEpisode 1
He Drew His Sword. No One Ever Knew WhyThe Pine Corridor Incident
Edo Castle, the 14th day of the Third Month, 1701. Lord Asano is already strained by the great duty of hosting the Emperor's envoys. In the Pine Corridor he suddenly draws his blade on Lord Kira, the master of ceremonies who has been tutoring him in the ritual. Kajikawa happens to be standing there and grabs him from behind, and the blow falls short. Asano tells no one why he did it.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
385 Miles to Deliver the Worst NewsLord Asano's Seppuku and the Express Palanquin
On the very day he drew his sword inside Edo Castle, Lord Asano is ordered to commit seppuku, and he meets his end with quiet dignity. Meanwhile, Hayami and Kayano tie themselves into an express palanquin and race some 620 km to Ako in four and a half days. When Oishi Kuranosuke finally hears all of the news, he says only two words.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 5
He Was Late Once. He Won't Wait AgainHoribe Yasubei and the Duel at Takadanobaba
Years ago, the swordsman Horibe Yasubei arrived too late to save the man who raised him in a duel. Now he pushes Oishi, the chief retainer who keeps telling everyone to wait, to strike Kira down as soon as possible. When Kira moves house and retires, Yasubei sees his chance. He storms into Yamashina, and in front of Oishi, his hand goes to his sword.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 7
Take Back Your Oath, and Walk Away AliveThe Maruyama Conference and the Returned Oaths
The last hope of restoring their late lord's house is gone, and in Maruyama, Kyoto, Oishi decides to strike down Lord Kira. First, though, he hands back the sworn oaths. Some comrades accept theirs and leave. Others throw them back and stay. Terasaka, the foot soldier who carried the box of oaths for the two messengers, is finally handed the last sheet: his own.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 10
Their Enemy Was Shivering in the DarkThe Raid on Kira's Mansion
Dawn is closing in, and Lord Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka is still nowhere to be found. In a dark charcoal shed behind the kitchen, the ronin find only a frail old man in a white nightrobe, trembling. When the hunt that lasted a year and nine months finally ends, nobody cheers. There are only quiet tears.
19 pages