Film costume worn in the film 47 Ronin, designed by Yoshio Ninomiya, 1994.

The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin, also known as the Akō incident or Akō vendetta, is a famous event of the early 18th century. A group of samurai were left leaderless (becoming rōnin) after their daimyō (lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official Kira Yoshinaka. After waiting and planning for a year, the rōnin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira. In turn, they were themselves obliged to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor of the samurai. The emphasis of Kon Ichikawa’s 1994 film is on the preparation for and the attack on Kira's castle. Ken Takakura plays the leading role of Oishi Kuranosuke, Asano's chamberlain and the head of the 47 samurai.

The British Film Institute (BFI) acquired its costume collection for display at the Museum of the Moving Image, which existed on the South Bank in London between 1988 and 1999. The collection is made up of British, European, American and Japanese films and covers the period from the silent film era to the mid-1990s. It contains a wealth of historic and significant film costumes worn by major performers and designed by some of the 20th century’s most important film costume designers. The collection was transferred to the V&A in 2015.