For those who’ve only heard of this though the recent film, no this has nothing to do with Keanu Reeves. It has no supernatural elements and no dragons. What an unfortunate number of people in cinemas don’t realise is that this is not some version of the Hobbit with samurai but a famous Japanese folk tale.
The story is famous for its involvement of bushido, symbolising the themes of loyalty and the importance of honour within feudal Japan. While there are many versions and variations of this tale, this being just one, they all share common elements: An incident in the Shogun’s Palace results in the death of Lord Asano, who is provoked into attacking the court official Kira Yoshinaka. Following him committing seppeku, his retainers soon depart and are disbanded, some such as Asano’s chief retainer Oishi falling into drunken disgrace. However, not all is at it seems, and many still loyal to Asano are playing a long game to achieve retribution…
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