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.

Ritual

In time, committing seppuku came to involve a detailed ritual. Dressed ceremonially, with his sword placed in front of him and sometimes seated on special cloths, the warrior would prepare for death by writing a death poem. With his selected attendant (kaishakunin, his second) standing by, he would open his kimono, take up his wakizashi (short sword) or a tanto (knife) and plunge it into his abdomen, making first a left-to-right cut and then a second slightly upward stroke to spill out the intestines. On the second stroke, the kaishakunin would perform daki-kubi, a cut in which the warrior is all but decapitated (a slight band of flesh is left attaching the head to the body). Because of the precision necessary for such a maneuver, the second was often a skilled swordsman. The principal agrees in advance when the kaishaku makes his cut, usually as soon as the dirk is plunged into the abdomen.

Related Topics:
Death poem - Kaishakunin - Kimono - Wakizashi - Tanto - Intestine - Decapitate

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The second was usually, but not always, a friend. If a warrior had fought honourably and well but lost, an opponent who wanted to salute his bravery would volunteer to act as his second.

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In the Hagakure, Yamamoto Tsunetomo wrote:

Related Topics:
Hagakure - Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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:From ages past it has been considered ill-omened by samurai to be requested as kaishaku. The reason for this is that one gains no fame even if the job is well done. And if by chance one should blunder, it becomes a lifetime disgrace.

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:In the practice of past times, there were instances when the head flew off. It was said that it was best to cut leaving a little skin remaining so that it did not fly off in the direction of the verifying officials. However, at present it is best to cut clean through.

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Some samurai chose to perform a considerably more taxing form of seppuku known as jumonji giri, in which there is no kaishakunin to put a quick end to the samurai's suffering. A samurai performing jumonji giri was expected to bear his suffering quietly until perishing from loss of blood. The last person known to have performed this ritual historically is General Maresuke Nogi in 1912.

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