Editing Forty-seven rōnin (section)

==Criticism==
The ''rōnin'' spent more than 14 months waiting for the "right time" for their revenge. It was [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]], author of the ''[[Hagakure]]'', who asked the well known question: "What if, nine months after Asano's death, Kira had died of an illness?" His answer was that the forty-seven ''rōnin'' would have lost their only chance at avenging their master. Even if they had claimed, then, that their dissipated behavior was just an act, that in just a little more time they would have been ready for revenge, who would have believed them? They would have been forever remembered as cowards and drunkards—bringing eternal shame to the name of the Asano clan. The right thing for the ''rōnin'' to do, writes Yamamoto, was to attack Kira and his men immediately after Asano's death. The ''rōnin'' would probably have suffered defeat, as Kira was ready for an attack at that time—but this was unimportant.<ref name="Yamamoto, T 1979">[[Yamamoto Tsunetomo|Yamamoto, T.]] (Kodansha, 1979). ''[[Hagakure]]'', p. 26.</ref>

Ōishi was too obsessed with success, according to Yamamoto. He conceived his convoluted plan to ensure that they would succeed at killing Kira, which is not a proper concern in a samurai: the important thing was not the death of Kira, but for the former samurai of Asano to show outstanding courage and determination in an all-out attack against the Kira house, thus winning everlasting honor for their dead master. Even if they had failed to kill Kira, even if they had all perished, it would not have mattered, as victory and defeat have no importance. By waiting a year, they improved their chances of success but risked dishonoring the name of their clan, the worst sin a samurai can commit.<ref name="Yamamoto, T 1979"/>