Seppuku: dying with honour

This essay is a work in progress.

Andrew Rankin states in his book Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide, from 2011, that Seppuku is a Japanese suicide ritual, often associated with the samurai, where the person, with his own sword, cuts his own stomach.‌1

Ben Hubbard, in his book The Samurai: Swords, Shōguns and Seppuku, is more specific: “This involved cutting across the lower abdomen to expose the innards, and, in the cases considered bravest, leaving the entrails hanging from the wound.”2

“Why though?” you might ask. Part of the underlying mentality is based on a system of honour. Hubbard explains that such a death would reduce shame and counteract accusations of cowardice.‌3

One might differentiate between two types of seppuku. The first could be considered the more pragmatic type, where a samurai trapped in battle wished not to be executed, or caught and tortured, would end his own life. The second type was more of a ceremonial kind. Hubbard explains that these cases could be as a form of protest against “extreme wrongdoing”, honouring a dead master, or being forced to commit seppuku as punishment. These cases could have spectators as well as assistants.‌4


  1. Rankin, Andrew. Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide. 2011. P.X.↩︎

  2. Hubbard, Ben. The Samurai: Swords, Shōguns and Seppuku. 2014. P.21.↩︎

  3. Hubbard, P. 21.↩︎

  4. Hubbard, P. 21.↩︎