Seppuku

Seppuku ( lit."stomach-cutting") is a Japanese word that means ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku is better known in English as hara-kiri () and is written with the same kanji as seppuku but in reverse order with an okurigana. However, in Japanese hara-kiri is considered a colloquial and somewhat vulgar term. The practice of committing seppuku at the death of one's master is known as oibara (?? or ???); the ritual is similar.

In pop culture

Seppuku features prominently in Western depictions of pre-Meiji Japan in books, movies, videogames, etc. such as The Last Samurai or the novel Shogun. Some video games give players the option of committing seppuku: ' adds a new "Fatality" feature to the series called "Hara-kiri," which allows a defeated player to kill himself in a graphic manner before his opponent can. In the video game "Tekken", the character Yoshimitsu can perform a move called "Hari Kari" in which he plunges his sword into his stomach, draining his own health, the player can then make the character spin towards their opponent, causing damage to the opponent.

Related Topics:
The Last Samurai - Shogun - Tekken - Yoshimitsu

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In American media, particular television and film from the 1940s-1960s era, the term "hara-kiri" was often mispronounced as "Harry Carry". (See, for example, the TV series McHale's Navy).

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For the most part, seppuku is depicted in popular culture as marking a true warrior's ethos and the (stereotypical) mystical Eastern understanding of death. The dutiful suicide of seppuku is often seen as a uniquely Japanese cultural trait, although the Western tradition has its share of historical figures who have killed themselves when facing dishonor, death or both at the hands of their enemies.

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The television adaptation of Shogun, produced in 1980, sparked an upswing of interest in all things Japanese, including the ritual of seppuku; in one dubious reference to the practice, the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes featured an episode in which Gary Coleman's character Arnold Drummond dresses in Japanese robes and announces his intent to commit seppuku (though this is done in a humorous fashion).

Related Topics:
1980 - Sitcom - Diff'rent Strokes - Gary Coleman

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In Raymond Benson's James Bond book The Man with the Red Tattoo, the main villain, Yami Shogun Goro Yoshida commits seppuku just before Bond could capture him. Yasutake Tsukamoto, yakuza leader and Yoshida's secundant, tells Bond that Yoshida won, because he "robbed Bond of the ultimate victory". Bond tells Tsukamoto that he does not care about it, because "he's bloody dead and that's all that matters."

Related Topics:
Raymond Benson - James Bond - The Man with the Red Tattoo - Yakuza

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In Giacomo Puccini's opera, Madame Butterfly, the heroine Cio-cio-san, commits Seppuku at the end of the final act.

Related Topics:
Giacomo Puccini - Madame Butterfly

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In the computer game Warcraft III the night elf demon hunters commit ritual suicide as part of their death animation.

Related Topics:
Warcraft III - Night elf

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In the console fighting game Soul Caliber II, the character Yoshimitsu has a move wherin he turns away from the enemy and stabs his sword through his stomach and out his back. If the sword connects with Yoshimitsu's opponent, it causes devastating damage to them, and minor damage to Yoshimitsu himself. However, if it misses, it can drain almost half of Yoshimitsu's life, meaning that it can easily kill him, or make a match almost impossible to go in his favour.

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The website ninjaburger.com, a parody of fast food delivery services, states on their webpage: Guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or less, or we commit Seppuku!

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In the American film Harold and Maude, the character Harold, a young man obsessed with death, fakes his own suicide in a multitude of ways. At one point, he brings out a blade and educates a woman in the art of "hara-kiri" before going through with the (faked) ritual.

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Seppuku is depicted twice on the American film The Last Samurai, at the beginning of the movie after the general of the Japanese newly formed army faces defeat in the hands of Katsumoto's (played by Ken Watanabe) forces, and later, near the end of the film, with Katsumoto committing seppuku after his army is killed to the last man (all but Nathan Algren (played by Tom Cruise)). In the first instance we see Katsumoto in the role of kaishaku, beheading General Hasegawa to quickly end his suffering. This action comes as a shock to Algren, who sees it as a barbaric form of execution. Finally, defeated on the battlefield it is Algren who helps Katsumoto to end his life with honor by pushing the dagger all the way into his friend's stomach.

Related Topics:
The Last Samurai - Ken Watanabe - Tom Cruise

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