The Ako City "Chushingura" Ukiyoe Database is based on an academic exchange agreement with the Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University, which jointly established a database of approximately 2,000 Chushingura ukiyo-e owned and managed by the City of Ako. The database became operational in July 2018. Since April 1, 2023, approximately 600 additional items have been added to the database.
　Through this database, detailed data including images of all ukiyo-e of Chushingura owned and administered by Ako City can be accessed on the Internet 24 hours a day.
The database is not only beneficial for the preservation of the original artworks, but is also expected to further contribute to the advancement of research in Japan and abroad, and to be used as a familiar tool for the general public to experience the world of Chushingura ukiyo-e.
The database has also been impactful in expanding the use of these images in publishing, broadcasting, and other media, a trend that continues to grow from one year to the next.
　In addition, since 2018, we have been holding digital exhibitions of works in the database in order to pioneer new methods of database operation and promote its use. The first exhibition, "Aspects of Images of the Raid," and the second exhibition, "The Head of the Loyal Warriors, Oboshi Yuranosuke," are currently available on the website.
　The third digital exhibition, "Chushingura Ukiyo-e from Kamigata," will present a collection of works published in Osaka and Kyoto. This digital exhibition is based on the special exhibition held at the Ako City History Museum from November to December 2022, featuring works included in the Ako City "Chushingura" Ukiyo-e Database, with the addition of works held by the Art Research Center of Ritsumeikan University.
　In the 70 years from the Kansei era, when single-sheet ukiyo-e were first published, to the end of the Edo period, plays related to Chushingura were performed more than 200 times in the Kamigata area, and numerous actor prints were created in connection with these plays.
　Kamigata-e have a uniqueness that is different from that of Edo-e, and the rich individuality of these works is highly appreciated in Europe and the United States. This exhibition, focusing on Yakusha-e (actor prints) and shibai-e (theatre prints), introduces various aspects of the development of a Chushingura culture in Kamigata that also included prints made to serve as toys and a variety of other works.

　November 2023

Murei Masatoshi
Mayor of Ako City