One of the forty-seven. Mase Magokurō was among the rōnin who waited, plotted, and struck on that snow-covered night in 1703. When their lord was forced to commit seppuku after drawing his sword in the shogun's palace, forty-seven of his retainers refused to accept it as the end. They spent two years living in carefully constructed disgrace - drinking, gambling, appearing broken - while secretly planning their revenge. Magokurō was one of them, bound by oath to restore their master's honor no matter the cost.

Yoshitoshi captures him in stark, dramatic simplicity - dressed entirely in black with patterned leggings, face wrapped and hooded for the night raid, wooden club raised and ready to strike. His two swords are thrust through his sash, but he carries that club for practicality - quiet, brutal, effective. Shattered roof tiles scatter around his feet, evidence of the assault already underway. His body is coiled with purpose, every line suggesting controlled violence about to be unleashed. This is a man who's waited two years for this moment.

This is from Yoshitoshi's 1869 series depicting each of the forty-seven rōnin individually. The Chūshingura story obsessed Japanese audiences because it asked an impossible question: what do you owe to honor when the law says let it go? Magokurō and his brothers answered with steel, knowing they'd die for it.

This is Mase Magokurō Minamoto no Masatoki (間瀬孫九郎源正辰), from the series Seichū gishi meimei gaden (誠忠義士銘々画傳, Biographies of Loyal Retainers of Chushingura) 1869.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年, 1839-1892)