The historical facts are that in 1701 the lord of Ako, Asano Naganori, was appointed to carry out certain duties for the Shogun at his court in Edo (modern day Tokyo). One of the Shogun's officials, Kira Yoshinaka, treated Naganori with such contempt and insulted him to the degree that as a matter of honour Naganori attacked Yoshinaka. The Shogun commanded him to commit seppuku, which he did immediately. The 47 samurai who constituted Naganori's bodyguard, lost their lord and became ronin. They pretended to accept the dishonour and for two years they bided their time while plotting revenge. In 1703, when the time came for them to act, the 47, with the exception for one who was in his eighties, carried out their plan. They entered Yoshinaka's estate, found him hiding in an outhouse and killed him, along with a small number of his men. Once this was completed, they took his head to Naganori's grave in a temple outside Edoi. Then they surrendered to the Shogun and committed seppuku. They ranged in age from 15 to 77. As one had been ordered to stay behind, there were only 46 ronin, not 47. The one who survived was not the son of Oishi but the elderly samurai.

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