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