Who was this person?
Lord of the Akō domain in Harima in the early Edo period. Becoming lord as a child, he served as host to Korean envoys and imperial messengers and as a fire-fighting lord in Edo. In 1701 he attacked Kira Yoshinaka in the Pine Corridor of Edo Castle and was ordered to commit seppuku that same day. This became the origin of the Akō incident, the later raid by the Akō rōnin.
| Name | Asano Naganori (浅野長矩) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1667 – 1701 |
| Period | Edo period |
| Main achievements |
|
He was born at the Asano residence in Teppōzu, Edo, the eldest son of Asano Nagatomo, heir to the Akō domain in Harima, now Akō in Hyōgo Prefecture. The Asano descended from Asano Nagamasa, who had served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Akō was a prosperous domain thriving on salt making.
His mother Hachi, who came from the Naitō family, died. Naganori was still very young and probably had almost no memory of her. He was raised among retainers under his father, who had become lord of the domain.
His father Nagatomo also died, and the young Naganori succeeded as the third lord of the Akō Asano. That year he had his first audience with the fourth shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna, presenting a sword left by his father. His betrothal to Aguri, daughter of his relative the lord of Miyoshi, was also approved by the shogunate.
He was granted the junior fifth rank by the court and given the post of Takumi no Kami, as his grandfather had held. From then on he was known as Asano Takumi no Kami. That year his uncle Naitō Tadakatsu attacked another daimyo with a sword during a memorial service at a temple and was ordered to commit seppuku, a family tragedy close to Naganori.
The shogunate chose him as one of the hosts for the Korean embassy, and he entertained the envoys at Mishima in Izu. The Korean embassies were missions sent by the king of Korea to the shogun, and daimyo shared the duty of hosting them along the route. It was a weighty task for a young lord.
He served as an imperial envoy reception officer, hosting the emperor's envoys in Edo. His instructor in etiquette was the master of ceremonies Kira Yoshinaka, later his fateful adversary. That same year he entered his domain of Akō for the first time and met the retainers there, including the chief retainer Ōishi Yoshio.
Together with his younger brother Nagahiro, he submitted a pledge to become a pupil of the military scholar Yamaga Sokō. Sokō had once been held in custody at Akō, and his Yamaga school of military science, which taught the way of the warrior, deeply influenced the Akō retainers. Sokō died in Edo the following year.
He was ordered to take charge of firefighting in Honjo, Edo, and thereafter often served as a firefighting daimyo. Edo, crowded with wooden houses, suffered many great fires, and daimyo were assigned firefighting duties. Naganori is said to have been keen in directing the fire brigades.
When the Bitchū Matsuyama domain, now Takahashi in Okayama Prefecture, was abolished, he was ordered to take over its castle. Naganori left Akō leading some 3,500 men and completed the handover without incident. He then left the chief retainer Ōishi Yoshio at the castle to manage it.
He fell ill with smallpox and was for a time in danger of death, so, having no children, he formally named his younger brother Nagahiro as his heir. He later recovered. He and his wife Aguri had no children, and this was a precaution to protect the house. The decision would later bear on the fate of the Asano family.
While serving a second time as imperial envoy reception officer, he attacked his instructor Kira Yoshinaka with a short sword in the Pine Corridor of Edo Castle's main enclosure. His reasons remain unclear and are disputed. The shogun Tsunayoshi was furious, and Naganori was ordered to commit seppuku that very day and passed away. Kira, by contrast, went unpunished.
With Naganori's death the Akō domain was abolished, and Akō Castle was quietly surrendered under the chief retainer Ōishi Yoshio. At the end of the following year, Ōishi and forty-seven former retainers raided Kira's mansion to avenge their lord. This Akō incident has been retold as Chūshingura, making Naganori's name widely known.
A. Lord of the Akō domain in Harima in the early Edo period. Becoming lord as a child, he served as host to Korean envoys and imperial messengers and as a fire-fighting lord in Edo. In 1701 he attacked Kira Yoshinaka in the Pine Corridor of Edo Castle and was ordered to commit seppuku that same day. This became the origin of the Akō incident, the later raid by the Akō rōnin.
A. Period: Edo period. Born in 1667, died in 1701.
A. The exact reason is unknown. One theory holds that he bore a grudge while receiving guidance from Kira in his duties as host to the imperial envoys, but Naganori died without explaining his reasons. Various theories remain today.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Toyotomi HideyoshiAsano NagamasaYamaga SokoTokugawa IetsunaTokugawa TsunayoshiŌishi Kuranosuke (Yoshio)
Takarai KikakuTokugawa IenobuOgata KenzanOgyū SoraiAmenomori HoshuŌoka TadasukeTokugawa YoshimuneIshida Baigan
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.