Kira Yoshinaka
Kira Yoshinaka was a Japanese kōke. His court title was Kōzuke no suke . He is famous as the adversary of Asano Naganori in the events of the forty-seven rōnin. Although his name has been long read as "Yoshinaka" especially in dramas and novels, Ekisui Rembeiroku, written by an anonymous contemporary in 1703, recorded that his name was "Yoshihisa".
Life
Family and early life
Born in 1641, he was the eldest son of Kira Yoshifuyu of the Kira clan. His mother was a member of the high-ranking Sakai clan. On the death of his father in 1668, Kira became the 17th head of the household, inheriting lands evaluated at 4,200 koku. His wife was from the Uesugi clan, and his eldest son was adopted by Uesugi Tsunakatsu, the head of the Dewa Yonezawa han, taking the name Tsunanori. Kira named his second son as his heir, but when that son died, he adopted Tsunanori's second son, strengthening the connection between the Kira clan and the Uesugi.Career
As a kōke, Kira oversaw matters of protocol. In 1701, he was assigned the task of tutoring Asano Naganori in matters of protocol in preparation for an upcoming visit by representatives of the emperor. According to the stories, Kira was corrupt and demanded bribes for the tutoring, which Asano refused to pay. Kira then began to publicly insult Asano, calling him an ignorant and unmannered rural boor. On the day when the envoys were scheduled to meet the shōgun at Edo Castle, Asano drew his wakizashi and attempted to kill Kira in retaliation for the insults. For this, Asano was ordered to commit seppuku, his house abolished, and his retainers branded rōnin, while Kira went unpunished.Assassination
On the night of January 30, 1703, Asano's retainers broke into Kira's mansion, after almost two years of careful and secret planning, and killed him in revenge. They then surrendered themselves to the shogunate authorities and were ordered to commit seppuku for the murder.The Tokugawa shogunate condemned the grandson of Kira to death for being incapable of protecting his family like a samurai; the Kira clan were also dispossessed and lost the rank of koke. After the death of Uesugi Tsunakatsu, the revenues of the Uesugi were halved from 300,000 koku to 150,000 koku. On the other hand, the brother of Asano Naganori was re–established, received a revenue of 5,000 koku and the rank of hatamoto.