Sengaku-ji

On December 14, 1702, forty-seven former retainers of the Ako domain broke into Kira Yoshinaka's Edo mansion and killed him, avenging their lord, Asano Naganori, who had been ordered to commit seppuku after drawing his sword on Kira inside Edo Castle. They carried Kira's head to Sengaku-ji, the Asano family temple, and laid it at their lord's grave. After their own seppuku on February 4, 1703, they were buried here beside him. About fifty years later kabuki turned it into Chushingura, film and television kept retelling it, and visitors still leave incense at the graves; the temple asks a 500 yen incense fee if you pray there. Count the stones and you get 48: one is a memorial to Kayano Sanpei, who killed himself before the raid. The temple was founded in 1612 and moved to Takanawa after a fire in 1641, and the main hall is a 1953 rebuild after wartime bombing. On the grounds, the Ako Gishi Memorial Hall shows the ronin's belongings and a video on the story, and the wooden statue hall holds figures of all 47 carved between the late Edo period and 1869. One ticket covers both: 500 yen, 9:00 to 15:30, with a possible midday break. Expect crowds at the Gishi-sai, held December 12 to 14 in 2026.