The 47 Ronin incident immediately inspired a succession of kabuki and bunraku plays; the first; 'The Night Attack at Dawn by the Soga' appeared only two weeks after the ronin died. It was shut down by the authorities; but many others soon followed; initially in Osaka and Kyoto; farther away from the capital. Some even took the story as far as Manila; to spread the story to the rest of Asia.

The most successful of the adaptations was a bunraku puppet play called Kanadehon Chushingura (now simply called Chushingura; or 'Treasury of Loyal Retainers'); written in 1748 by Takeda Izumo and two associates; it was later adapted into a kabuki play; which is still one of Japan's most popular.

In the play; to avoid the attention of the censors; the events are transferred into the distant past; to the 14th century reign of shogun Ashikaga Takauji. Asano became Enya Hangan Takasada; Kira became Ko no Moronao and Oishi became Oboshi Yuranosuke Yoshio; the names of the rest of the ronin were disguised to varying degrees. Pictures From History