Kira Yoshinaka

Assault on the Kira Residence

Kira Yoshinaka ( Japanese 吉 良 義 央 , popularly also Kira Kōsuke-no-suke (吉 良 上 野 介); born October 5, 1641 in Edo ; died January 31, 1703 in Edo) was a Japanese court official.

Live and act

Kira Yoshinaka was born in Edo . He belonged to a group of families responsible for keeping the protocol of the shogunate. Kira was also friends with the upstart Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu (柳 沢 吉 保, 1658-1714).

In early 1701, Daimyō Asano Naganori (浅 野 長 矩; 1667-1701), who had taken up a temporary service in the Shogun residence, was charged with bringing gifts to Emperor Higasgiyama . He was noticed because he had not properly adhered to the ceremony. In April 1701, Asano attacked Kira in the Shogun residence, out of anger that Kira had deliberately not properly informed him of the details of the protocol. This happened on the “Matsu no roka” (松 の 蘆花) in the spacious residence.

The use of weapons in the Shogun residence was a major violation of the rules applicable there. Asano then had to commit seppuku . Kira got away without reprimand for his insidious behavior, but later had to give up all positions.

Asano's subjects swore vengeance, ambushed Kira at his residence in January 1703 and killed him.

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Remarks

1. ^ Woodcut by Utagawa Kuniyoshi .
2. ↑ Of these families, (高家, Kōke) called, there were 26 in the Edo period . They had ancestors back to the Muromachi period and had daimyo status.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Kira Yoshinaka . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 789.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Kira is the family name, Yoshinaka the first name.