, also called , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near the end of World War II) to restore honor for themselves or for their families.Frank, Downfall pp 319–320Fuller, Hirohito's Samurai
The practice dates back as far as the Heian period (794 to 1185), when it was done by samurai who were about to fall into the hands of their enemies and likely be tortured. By the time of the Meiji era (1868 to 1912), it had taken on an association with honor, and had also become a capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offenses, sometimes involving a ritual imitation of cutting oneself (with a wooden dirk). The ceremonial disembowelment, which is usually part of a more elaborate ritual and performed in front of spectators, consists of plunging a short blade, traditionally a tantō, into the belly and drawing the blade from left to right, slicing the belly open. If the cut is deep enough, it can sever the abdominal aorta, causing death by rapid exsanguination.
One of the earliest recorded cases of seppuku was that of Minamoto no Tametomo, who had fought in the Hōgen warPerez LG. Hara-kiri (Seppuku). In: Japan at War. Bloomsbury Publishing USA; 2013. p. 110 and, after being defeated, was exiled to Ōshima. He decided to try to take over the island. Minamoto's enemies sent troops to suppress his rebellion, so facing defeat, he committed seppuku in 1170. The ritual of seppuku was more concretely established when, in the early years of the Genpei war, Minamoto no Yorimasa committed seppuku after composing a poem.
Sometimes a daimyō was called upon to perform seppuku as the basis of a peace agreement. This weakened the defeated clan so that resistance effectively ceased. Toyotomi Hideyoshi used an enemy's suicide in this way on several occasions, the most dramatic of which effectively ended a dynasty of daimyōs. When the Hōjō clan were defeated at Odawara in 1590, Hideyoshi insisted on the suicide of the retired Hōjō Ujimasa and the exile of his son Ujinao. With this act of suicide, the most powerful family in eastern Japan was completely defeated.
Etymology
The term seppuku is derived from the two Sino-Japanese roots ("to cut", from Middle Chinese tset; compare Mandarin and Cantonese chit) and fuku ("belly", from MC pjuwk; compare Mandarin fù and Cantonese fūk). It is also known as harakiri (, "cutting the stomach"); often misspelled or mispronounced "hiri-kiri" or "hari-kari" by American English speakers. Harakiri is written with the same kanji as seppuku, but in reverse order with an okurigana. In Japanese, the more formal seppuku, a Chinese on'yomi reading, is typically used in writing, while harakiri, a native kun'yomi reading, is used in speech. As noted by Christopher Ross,
It is commonly pointed out that hara-kiri is a vulgarism, but this is a misunderstanding. Hara-kiri is a Japanese reading or Kun-yomi of the characters; as it became customary to prefer Chinese readings in official announcements, only the term seppuku was ever used in writing. So hara-kiri is a spoken term, but only to commoners and seppuku a written term, but spoken amongst higher classes for the same act.Ross, Christopher. Mishima's Sword, p.68.
While harakiri refers to the act of disemboweling oneself, seppuku refers to the ritual and usually would involve decapitation after the act as a sign of mercy.
The practice of performing seppuku at the death of one's master, known as oibara ( or , the kun'yomi or Japanese reading) or (, the on'yomi or Chinese reading), follows a similar ritual.
The word means "suicide" in Japanese. The modern word for suicide is ; related words include , and . In some popular western texts, such as martial arts magazines, the term is associated with the suicide of samurai wives. The word was introduced into English by Lafcadio Hearn in his 1904 book Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation, which he describes as "piercing the throat with a dagger so as to sever the arteries". This understanding has since been translated into Japanese. Hearn described the term jigai to be the female equivalent of harakiri, which Japanologist Joshua S. Mostow notes is a misunderstanding. Mostow's context is analysis of Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly and the original Cio-Cio San story by John Luther Long. Though both Long's story and Puccini's opera predate Hearn's use of the term jigai, the term has been used in relation to western Japonisme, which is the influence of Japanese culture on the western arts.
Ritual
The practice of seppuku was not standardized until the 17th century. In the 12th and 13th centuries, such as with the seppuku of Minamoto no Yorimasa, the practice of a kaishakunin had not yet emerged; thus, the rite was considered far more painful. The defining characteristic was plunging either the tachi (longsword), wakizashi (shortsword) or (knife) into the gut and slicing the abdomen horizontally. In the absence of a kaishakunin, the samurai would then remove the blade and stab himself in the throat, or fall onto the blade from a standing position with it positioned against his heart.
During the Edo period (1600–1867), carrying out seppuku came to involve an elaborate, detailed ritual. This was usually performed in front of spectators if it was planned, as opposed to one performed on a battlefield. A samurai was bathed in cold water (to prevent excessive bleeding), dressed in a white kimono called the , and served his favorite foods for a last meal. When he had finished, the knife and cloth were placed on a sanbo and given to the warrior. Dressed ceremonially, with his sword placed in front of him and sometimes seated on special clothes, the warrior would prepare for death by writing a death poem. He would probably consume a ceremonial drink of sake and would also give his attendant a cup meant for sake.
With his selected kaishakunin standing by, he would open his kimono, take up his tantōheld by the blade with a cloth wrapped around so that it would not cut his hand and cause him to lose his gripand plunge it into his abdomen, making a left-to-right cut. The kaishakunin would then perform kaishaku, a cut in which the warrior was partially decapitated. The maneuver should be done in the manners of dakikubi (), in which a slight band of flesh is left attaching the head to the body so that the head can dangle in front as if embraced. Because of the precision necessary for such a maneuver, the kaishakunin was a skilled swordsman. The principal and the kaishakunin agreed in advance when the latter was to make his cut. Usually, dakikubi would occur as soon as the dagger was plunged into the abdomen.
Over time, the process became so highly ritualized that as soon as the samurai reached for his blade, the kaishakunin would strike. Eventually, even the blade became unnecessary and the samurai could reach for something symbolic like a fan, and this alone would trigger the killing stroke from his kaishakunin. A fan was likely used when the samurai was too old to use a blade or in situations where it was too dangerous to give him a weapon.
This elaborate ritual evolved after seppuku had ceased being mainly a battlefield or wartime practice and became a para-judicial institution. The kaishakunin was usually, but not always, a friend. If a defeated warrior had fought honorably and well, an opponent who wanted to salute his bravery would volunteer to act as his kaishakunin.
In the Hagakure, Yamamoto Tsunetomo wrote:
A specialized form of seppuku in feudal times was known as , in which a retainer would commit suicide in protest of a lord's decision. The retainer would make one deep, horizontal cut into his abdomen, then quickly bandage the wound. After this, the person would then appear before his lord, give a speech in which he announced the protest of the lord's action, then reveal his mortal wound. This is not to be confused with , which is any suicide made to protest or state dissatisfaction.
Some samurai chose to perform a considerably more taxing form of seppuku known as , in which there is no kaishakunin to put a quick end to the samurai's suffering. It involves a second and more painful vertical cut on the belly. A samurai performing was expected to bear his suffering quietly until he bled to death, dying with his hands over his face.
Female ritual suicide Female ritual suicide (incorrectly referred to in some English sources as jigai) was practiced by the wives of samurai who had performed seppuku or brought dishonor.
Some women belonging to samurai families died by suicide by cutting the arteries of the neck with one stroke, using a knife such as a or kaiken."Did you know the wives of samurai could also perform ritual suicide?". history.info. April 7, 2024. The main purpose was to achieve a quick and certain death in order to avoid capture or rape. Before dying, a woman would often tie her knees together so her body would be found in a "dignified" pose, despite the convulsions of death. Invading armies would often enter homes to find the lady of the house seated alone, facing away from the door. On approaching her, they would find that she had ended her life long before they reached her.
History
Stephen R. Turnbull provides extensive evidence for the practice of female ritual suicide, notably of samurai wives, in pre-modern Japan; one of the largest mass suicides was the 25 April 1185 final defeat of Taira no Tomomori, in the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
, the wife of Onodera Junai of the forty-seven rōnin, is a notable example of a wife following a samurai husband's seppuku: she is said to have starved herself to death after her husband's death. Her grave is located at the site where , a sub-temple of the , once stood, in current-day Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto.
A large number of "honor suicides" marked the defeat of the Aizu clan in the Boshin War of 1869, leading into the Meiji era. For example, in the family of Saigō Tanomo, who survived, a total of twenty-two female honor suicides are recorded among one extended family.
Religious and social context Voluntary death by drowning was a common form of ritual or honor suicide. The religious context of thirty-three adherents at the funeral of Abbot Jitsunyo in 1525 was faith in Amida Buddha and belief in rebirth in his Pure Land, but male seppuku did not have a specifically religious context. By way of contrast, the religious beliefs of Hosokawa Gracia, the Christian wife of Hosokawa Tadaoki, prevented her from committing suicide.
As capital punishment While voluntary seppuku is the best known form, in practice, the most common form of seppuku was obligatory seppuku, used as a form of capital punishment for disgraced samurai, especially for those who committed a serious offense such as rape, robbery, corruption, unprovoked murder, or treason. The samurai were generally told of their offense in full and given a set time for them to commit seppuku, usually before sunset on a given day. On occasion, if the sentenced individuals were uncooperative, seppuku could be carried out by an executioner, or more often, the actual execution was carried out solely by decapitation while retaining only the trappings of seppuku; even the laid out in front of the uncooperative offender could be replaced with a fan (to prevent uncooperative offenders from using the as a weapon against the observers or the executioner). This form of involuntary seppuku was considered shameful and undignified. Unlike voluntary seppuku, seppuku carried out as capital punishment by executioners did not necessarily absolve or pardon the offender's family of the crime. Depending on the severity of the crime, all or part of the property of the condemned could be confiscated, and the family would be punished by being stripped of rank, sold into long-term servitude, or executed.