Who Is Oishi Chikara Yoshikane (Oishi Yoshikane)?
Youngest of the 47 Ronin
Oishi Chikara was the eldest son of Oishi Kuranosuke and the youngest of the 47 Ronin. At the time of the raid he was about 15 or 16 by the traditional Japanese count.
When the Asano house was abolished he was still a boy who had not yet come of age, but he chose to join his father in the attack. He parted from his mother Riku and his younger siblings and went down to Edo ahead of his father. On the night of the raid he was the nominal commander of the rear-gate unit, fighting with the support of senior men such as Yoshida Chuzaemon.
After the raid he was placed in the custody of the Matsudaira family of the Matsuyama domain in Iyo, and he committed seppuku on the 4th day of the second month of Genroku 16, the same day as his father. Father and son rest together at Sengakuji Temple.
Episodes featuring this character9
NEWEpisode 3
An Army at the Gate. Orders: Don't Fight.The Surrender of Ako Castle
Episode 3 of the series. Their lord is dead and his house abolished, and the retainers of Ako Castle are split between fighting and dying. Oishi Kuranosuke decides that now is not the time to draw swords. A senior retainer slips away, the domain's paper money is about to become worthless, and hotheads ride in from Edo. Through all of it, Oishi hands over the castle without spilling a single drop of blood.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
His Lord Is Dead. He Parties Every Night.Oishi Kuranosuke, "The Daytime Lantern"
Episode 4 of the 47 Ronin series. His lord is dead and his house abolished, yet chief retainer Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshio still hopes the clan can be restored. Meanwhile he spends every night in the pleasure quarters, and the townsfolk and his own comrades all laugh at him. For one moment, in the shadows behind the party lights, he shows a stone-cold sober look. Was it an act, or the real man? Dawn comes with no answer.
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 8
He Learned Tea to Steal a Single DateThe Ronin in Hiding & Ōtaka Gengo
To protect his family, Oishi divorces his wife Riku, and the Ako ronin slip into Edo disguised as townsfolk. Otaka Gengo becomes a pupil of tea master Yamada Sohen and learns the day Kira will host a tea gathering at his mansion. Without a word, the ronin begin saying their goodbyes.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 9
We Broke In. His Bed Was Still Warm.The Raid on Kira's Mansion
On a snowy night in the twelfth month of Genroku 15, the ronin, after nearly two years of patient waiting, gather in Honjo. Before dawn they storm Kira's mansion from two sides, the front gate and the back gate. They show every courtesy to the neighbors and watch a young retainer die defending his lord. But when they burst into the bedchamber, all they find is a bed that is still warm.
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
NEWEpisode 11
They Had the Head. They Didn't Run.The March to Sengaku-ji
The raid is over. With the head of their enemy, Lord Kira, raised on a spear, the ronin march through the snowy streets of Edo to the grave of their late lord. Along the way, one foot soldier, a dried persimmon from a comrade tucked in his robe, quietly slips out of the line. At the grave, Oishi weeps for the first time.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 12
47 Ronin. Only 46 Graves.The Seppuku of the 47 Ronin and Sengaku-ji
After the raid, the forty-six ronin are placed in the custody of four daimyo houses. At the Hosokawa mansion, Horiuchi Den'emon listens to their stories and is eventually entrusted with a letter from Oishi Kuranosuke to his son Chikara. On a spring day the verdict arrives: seppuku. At the graves of Sengaku-ji, the aged storyteller Terasaka Kichiemon finishes his tale, and the story passes on to the stage as the curtain rises on Kanadehon Chushingura.
19 pages