赤穂義士四十六士遺髪塔跡：2024年8月31日（土）

私の通勤途上で，自転車で毎日通る堀川通り沿いには歴史を物語る史跡や社寺が数多くある。

　京都市の堀川紫明の交差点を少し下がったところの，SCREENホールディングス（半導体製造装置等で世界的にも有名な企業）本社の隣に，赤穂義士四十六士遺髪塔跡がある（上の写真は筆者撮影(2024.8.30)）。赤穂義士四十七士のうち，切腹をしなかった寺坂吉右衛門信行が刻名されていないため，「四十六士」となっている。遺髪塔そのものは京都市山科区の瑞光院（この場所から1962(昭和37)年に移転）に祀られている。

　1701（元禄14）年3月14日（旧暦），赤穂藩主浅野内匠頭長矩が江戸城の松之大廊下で江戸幕府奥高家の吉良義央（上野介）に刃傷に及んだ。これに第五代将軍徳川綱吉が激怒したため，浅野内匠頭長矩は切腹することになり，所領の播州赤穂没収のうえ改易された。その際，吉良上野介にはお咎めなしの処分を不服とし，大石内蔵助良雄筆頭に赤穂浪士四十七士が，1702（元禄15）年12月14日（旧暦）に吉良邸に討ち入りした後に，四十六士が切腹した。いわゆる「赤穂事件」であり，これをもとにして創作された人形浄瑠璃『仮名手本忠臣蔵』，歌舞伎の『忠臣蔵』もの，講談，映画，テレビドラマなどがたくさんあり有名である。

　私は，江戸幕府奥高家の吉良義央（上野介）の所領があった三河国幡豆郡吉良庄の近くの生まれであり（私の実家(愛知県豊川市)にある先祖の墓には，元禄年間のものがあり，私の先祖が赤穂事件についてどのように思っていたのか分からないが），少々，複雑な気持ちで，毎日，この塔跡の前を通り過ぎている。

The Site of the Memorial Tower for the Hair Relics of the Forty-Six Loyal Akō Retainers:  August 31st(Saturday), 2024

Along Horikawa Street, which I pass by bicycle every day on my way to work, there are many historical sites and temples that tell the story of Kyoto's history.

A little south of the Horikawa Shimei intersection in Kyoto City, next to the headquarters of SCREEN Holdings (a globally renowned company known for semiconductor manufacturing equipment), there is a Site of the Memorial Tower for the Hair Relics of the Forty-Six Loyal Akō Retainers (the photo above was taken by the author on August 30, 2024). The reason it is called "46 Samurai" instead of "47 Samurai" is that Terasaka Kichiemon Nobuyuki, who did not commit seppuku, is not inscribed. The memorial tower itself is enshrined at Zuikoin in the Yamashina district of Kyoto City (it was relocated from there in 1962).

On March 14, 1701 (in the old lunar calendar), Asano Naganori, the lord of the Akō Domain, attacked Kira Yoshihisa (Kōzuke no suke), an official of the Tokugawa shogunate, in the Great Corridor of Edo Castle. Infuriated by this, the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, ordered Asano Naganori to commit seppuku, confiscated his territory in Akō, and abolished the domain.

Dissatisfied with the fact that Kira Yoshihisa received no punishment, the 47 Akō Rōnin, led by Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshitaka, raided Kira’s residence on December 14, 1702 (in the old lunar calendar), and 46 of them subsequently committed seppuku. This event is known as the "Akō Incident," and it inspired famous works like the puppet play Kanadehon Chūshingura, the Kabuki play Chūshingura, as well as various stories, films, and TV dramas.

I was born near Kira Shō, in Hadzu District, Mikawa Province, where Kira Yoshihisa(Kōzuke no suke), an official of the Tokugawa shogunate, had his domain. In the cemetery of my family’s ancestral home in Toyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture, there are gravestones from the Genroku era. Though I can't be certain how they might have felt, I pass by this site of tower every day with somewhat mixed emotions.