The Abe Clan

A Choice between Loyalty or Duty of the Samurai Can the heartlessness of society crush the honor of an individual In the spring of the 18th year of Kanei Hosokawa Tadatoshi feudal lord of the Higo area died Although Tadatoshi forbade his vassals to follow him in death before he died they still committed seppuku one after the other The new feudal lord Mitsunao Tadatoshis son also gave the order forbidding seppuku Abe Yaichiemon obeyed his former lords last wish but is now being called a coward by his comrades and finally decided to follow Tadatoshi in death in order to save his familys honor Mitsunao upset by Yaichiemon actions punished the Abe family unfairly Objected to this the Abe family shut themselves up in their manor as the lords troops moved in This is the true story of what happened within the Hosokawa clan in early Edo era