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Seppuku (Hara-kiri) Ritual Suicide
The Japanese formal language term for ritual suicide. Hara-kiri is
the common language term. Hara-kiri (its Japanese kanji is on the
top of this page), which literally means "stomach cutting". It is
a particularly painful method of self-destruction. Only samurai
class was allowed to commit seppuku.
"Live briefly but gloriously, One's evanescent life is but a
preparation for death. The fall of the blossom is as moving as its
beauty on the limb and the final moment, as ceremonialized in the
ritual of seppuku, is indeed the moment of truth" (From Jack
Seward's "Hara-Kiri" - TUT 1968 - a good introductory guide.)
History
The early history of Japan reveals that the Japanese were far more
interested in living the good life than in dying a painful death.
It was not until after the introduction of Buddhism from Korea
(550A.D.), with its theme of the transitory nature of life and the
glory of death, development of suicide became possible.
Without enough reliable sources, many historians believe that the
earliest tales of seppuku were dramatized and glorified by authors
based on other dramatized tales. The first eyewitness account of
seppuku was in 1170, a warlord Tametomo killed himself after his
forces had been nearly annihilated in a battle. In 1603, Ieyasu
Tokugawa, the founder of Japan's last great shogunate dynasty,
issued an edict to forbid both secondary and primary samurai
committing seppuku. In 1663, the shogunate government issued
another, stronger edict, prohibiting the ritual suicide.
Reason
In Japan, a man who is respected as being a person of high moral
character is said to "have stomach", meaning that he is a man of
definite principles. People used to respect the abdomen because it
was considered to be the receptacle of the spirit, so when when
they assumed responsibility as warriors for some action or course
of conduct and had to die, they would cut open their abdomen.
According to the Bushido, a glorious death of samurai is more
respectful than a coward live. However, samurai committed seppuku
only for particular reasons. Seppuku was regarded not simply as
right, but as the only right course.
- Assume responsibility as
warriors for some action or course of conduct and had to die.
- Disgrace and defeat were atoned
by committing hara-kiri or seppuku.
- Protest against injustice, as a
mean to get their lord to reconsider an unwise or unworthy
action and as a mean to save others.
- Upon the death of a daimyo
loyal followers might show their grief and affection for their
master by it.
This was the demonstration of their
honor, courage, loyalty, and moral character.
Location
There were two possible places to commit seppuku.
1). When samurai was defeated in battlefield, he would commit
seppuku in the battlefield with little formal preparation.
2). Otherwise, an officially ordered seppuku ceremony was often
performed at temple, in the garden or villa, and inside home.
However, the ceremony would not be performed in Shinto Shrines
because blood is considered dirty in term of Shinto. The ceremony
could be conducted indoor or in the yard was based on the social
standing of the samurai. Also, the size of the area available was
also important, as it was prescribed precisely for samurai of high
rank. For example, a comparatively high rank samurai took 36
square shaku(1 shaku is about 14 inches) as the place of
disembowelment. As the following two pictures show, thick straw
mats were used to cover the surrounding area when the ceremony was
hold outdoor.
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Participator
Samurai was allowed to die by his own hand in order to show
respect for his character and honor. To avoid mishaps occurring
during the act of seppuku and to cut short needless suffering,
another person would be standing by to cut off the head of the
person as soon as he had cut open his abdomen. Therefore, seppuku
required a minimum of two participants. Other than the samurai who
committed seppuku, a kaishaku was needed. Kaishaku, an assistant
or was called the "second", was responsible for cutting off the
samurai's head after he had sliced his abdomen open. The person
was generally a close friend or associate of the condemned.
Usually, as we see in the pictures above, there would be about two
attendants from the samurai's lord and/or the shogun. They were
called kenshi, or inspector. They were sent by the Shogun and
responsible to observe the ritual and to file a report.
 
The kaishaku was
responsible for cutting off the samurai's head
Procedure
As I mentioned above, there was little formal preparation for the
samurai if he committed seppuku in a battlefield. The samurai
would "just" slit the veins in his neck. Otherwise, a seppuku
ceremony took around 30 minutes to hours long.
PLEASE DO NOT READ IT IF YOU HAVE A WEAK
STOMACH AND ARE AGAINST PEOPLE CUTTING THEMSELVES OPEN!!
ARE YOU READY?
The soon-to-be-dead samurai dressed out in a nice, white kimono to
symbolize purity. Before him would be a wooden tray with crafted
for this specific occasion placed upon which were a sheaf of washi
paper, ink, a cup of sake, and a short knife called a tanto. To
start the ceremony, he would drink the sake, preferably in two
gulps. One gulp was considered gauche, and three was considered to
be miserly. Two gulps showed the correct combination of
contemplation and determination. Next, the samurai would take the
paper and ink and compose a fitting poem. After composing the
poem, he would then precede to the main event.
The samurai slipped down his upper kimono to his girdle, carefully
put his sleeves under his knees in order to die and fell forward,
a standard way of samurai to die, which he remained naked to the
girdle. He took the dirk that lay before him with a steady hand.
Waited a few seconds to collect his thoughts, he stabbed himself
deeply below the waist on the left hand side. He drew the dirk
slowly across to the right. As the dirk reached the right side he
gave a slight cut upward and then leant forward stretching out his
head. Once an expression of pain crossed his face, the kaishaku,
who had been keenly watching the whole process, sprang to his legs
and poised his sword in the air for a second, cut off the head
from the body quickly and smoothly. During a dead silence the
kaishaku, having wiped his sword, bowed solemnly to the witnesses,
and the dirk was removed as a proof of the death of the samurai.
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