Night attack of the loyal retainers (47 ronin)

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art of Japan

Description

The night attack of the forty-seven ronin on Kira Yoshinaka's mansion in the winter of 1703 was the most celebrated act of samurai loyalty in Japanese history. Kuniyoshi's version emphasizes the organized chaos of the assault — torches in the snow, disciplined formations of armoured men pressing through darkness — with the compositional control he brought to all nocturnal battle scenes. The subject's combination of historical weight, dramatic action, and moral clarity made it the ideal warrior-print subject.

More Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe

c. 1830

Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper

Yan Qing (Roshi Ensei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"

Poem by Abe no Nakamaro, from an untitled series of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets

Hu Sanniang (Ko Sanjo Ichijosei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"

More Night Scenes Prints

Evening in East Africa

Woodblock print

Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"

Teradomari no yau

1921

Color woodblock print; oban

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"

1947

Color woodblock print; oban

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"

March 1933

Color woodblock print; oban

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Japanese Ghost and Yōkai Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Night attack of the loyal retainers (47 ronin) was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳).

Night attack of the loyal retainers (47 ronin) depicts night scenes and warriors.