was the chamberlain (karà Â) of the Akà  Domain in Harima Province (now Hyà Âgo Prefecture), Japan (1679 - 1701). He is known as the leader of the Forty-seven Rà Ânin in their 1703 vendetta and thus the hero of the Chà «shingura. He is often referred to by his pseudonym ('), .
He served daimyà  Asano Naganori as the head chamberlain () for the Akà  estate, supervising the daily running of the castle and the samurai. Due to the Tokugawa rules which required all the daimyà  to spend every other year in Edo (now called Tokyo) the chamberlain was a very important man and the de facto ruler of the estate when the daimyà  was away from his home province. Having attained this office at a rather young age, he is said to have had the implicit trust of his lord.
When Asano committed seppuku as punishment for his failed attempt to kill Kira Yoshinaka in Edo castle and the Tokugawa shogunate abolished the house of Asano of Akà Â, à Âishi was in Akà  and managed all its administrative issues. He persuaded other samurai to peacefully yield control of the castle to the agents of the Shogunate. During the next two years many people wondered what à Âishi would do as he had a reputation as an honourable and capable man.
He attempted to get the permission to re-establish the house of Asano of Akà  but failed. He then began a careful plot to kill Lord Kira, but to throw off suspicion, first spent time (and money) in the geisha houses of Kyoto. This type of ruse is referred to as â appearing to be serving no useful purposes, and this term is frequently applied to à Âishi. He carried out his role well â and secretly coordinated the movements of the remaining loyal Asano samurai. Nearly two years passed before the attack was launched.
In January 1703 (by the old Japanese calendar, the 12th month, 14th day) he, with 46 other Akà  rà Ânin, attacked Kira at his residence in the Honjo neighborhood of Edo. Kira was killed and decapitated. After à Âishi dispatched Terasaka Kichiemon to inform Asano's widow Yà Âzeiin of the deed, he and the remaining 45 rà Ânin went to Sengaku-ji in Shinagawa where Naganori was buried and there they were arrested.
He and the other rà Ânin were ordered to commit seppuku. Since it was an honourable sentence rather than merely decapitation, everyone accepted this sentence as an honour.
After death, à Âishi became famous as the example of ideal samurai behavior. His ultimate goal of reestablishment of the Akà  Asano clan was realized as the Tokugawa shogunate did restore some lands (about 1/10 of the original holdings) to the Asano clan.
In the famous kabuki play Kanadehon Chà «shingura, Yoshio (Kuranosuke) is known as à Âboshi Yuranosuke.