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Seppuku (切腹, literally "cutting the stomach") is a
Japanese word that refers to
ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku is better known in
English as hara-kiri (written with the same
kanji in reverse order 腹切), which has frequently been mispronounced as
"hari-kari." Of the two terms, hara-kiri is considered more vulgar.
Seppuku was a key part of
bushido, the code of the
samurai warriors; it was used by warriors to avoid falling into enemy
hands, and to rid oneself of shame. Samurai could also be ordered by their
daimyo (feudal lord) to commit seppuku. In later years, disgraced
warriors were sometimes allowed to commit seppuku rather than be executed
in the normal manner.
Given enough time, comitting seppuku involved 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. His selected attendant (kaizoe
介添え, his second) standing by, he would open his kimono,
take up his
wakizashi (脇差, short sword) and plunge it into his abdomen, making
first a left-to-right cut and then a second slightly upward stroke. On the
second stroke, the kaizoe would behead him with one stroke of his sword.
To distinguish the decapitation from a common
execution, a trusted and skilled
samurai was chosen to strike the blow, from behind, leaving the head
attached to the body by a flap of skin at the front of the neck. The
second was usually but not always, a friend; e.g. 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.
Samurai women could also commit ritual suicide, but this was usually
done by slashing the throat with a small knife.
Seppuku was traditionally used as the ultimate protest when one's own
morals stood in the way of executing an order from the master. It was also
permissible as a form of repentance when one had committed an unforgivable
sin, either by accident or on purpose. Finally, in the feudal period (1190-1867)
it was the form of punishment preferred in cases where the subject
required an honourable, but necessary, death sentence, such as the
47 Ronin.
There is a great deal of ritual associated with seppuku, particularly
when it was done as a protest, or as an honourable punishment. In such
cases it might be performed in a spiritually clean temple or similar
location, but other locations (e.g. on the field of battle, for members of
the losing side) were also common.
Seppuku was officially abolished during the
Meiji Restoration in
1868, but did not completely die out. Dozens of people are known to
have committed seppuku since then, including a large group of military men
who committed suicide in
1895 as a protest against the return of a conquered territory, to
China; by
General Nogi and his wife on the death of
Emperor Meiji in
1912; and by numerous soldiers and civilians who chose to die rather
than surrender at the end of
World War II.
The last known people to commit seppuku were famed author
Mishima Yukio (also known as
Yukio Mishima) and one of his followers, who committed public seppuku
at the
Japanese Self-Defence Forces headquarters after an abortive
coup attempt in
1970. Mishima committed suicide in the office of
General Kanetoshi Mashita. His second, a 25 year-old named Morita,
tried three times to ritually behead Mishima but failed; his head was
finally severed by
Hiroyasu Koga. Morita tried to follow Mishima in committing seppuku;
although his own cuts were too shallow to be fatal, he gave the signal and
he too was beheaded by Koya.
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