Ako City has started to hold the online exhibition Head of the Loyal Warriors: Oboshi Yuranosuke (「義士の頭領・大星由良之助」) from Saturday, November 14, using the Virtual Institute platform of the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC).

Ako City and the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, have been promoting the digital archiving of ukiyo-e with the theme of Chushingura and have made the ukiyo-e collection of Chushingura held by Ako City open to the public.

Since 2019, the ARC and Ako City have been working to hold digital exhibitions centered on the works in its database for the purpose of developing database operation methods and promoting their utilization.

In this exhibition, we are introducing a collection of works depicting Oboshi Yuranosuke (or Oishi Kuranosuke), the protagonist of the play Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers). Based on a historical event, Chushingura tells the story of forty-seven loyal retainers from the Ako domain led by Yuranosuke who avenged their lord's death. This year, the second online exhibition entitled Head of the Loyal Warriors: Oboshi Yuranosuke has been now made available to the public.

You can enjoy various "cool" images of Yuranosuke, such as scenes when he appears, scenes of the famous actors playing the role of Yuranosuke, and scenes depicting him in the act of revenge.

>> Click here to enter the Ako City Chushingura Ukiyo-e Digital Exhibition.

>> Click here for the Ako City Chushingura Ukiyo-e Database.