The ronin attack the principal gate of Kira's mansion 

This woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai depicts the attack on Kira's mansion by ronin, masterless samurai. Made in Japan, Hokusai was working within a culture deeply shaped by its feudal past. This image is not just an action scene; it’s steeped in the samurai code of honor, known as Bushido. By the time Hokusai created this, the samurai class was technically defunct. Yet they maintained their cultural relevance in the popular imagination. The print is of a historical event that occurred in 1703, and by recreating it Hokusai comments on the social structures of his own time through the lens of the past. To understand this print fully, you could delve into the history of the Tokugawa shogunate, the samurai class, and the artistic conventions of ukiyo-e prints. These resources reveal how the story and the visual codes used here resonated with audiences then, and continue to fascinate us today.