 Seppuku with ritual attire and second.
 General Akashi Gidayu preparing to commit Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. He just wrote his death poem, which is also visible in the upper right corner. Seppuku (切腹 lit."stomach-cutting") is a Japanese word that means ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku is better known in English as hara-kiri (腹切り) 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 tsuifuku (追腹) though the ritual is basically the same. Seppuku with ritual attire and second Source: p. ...
Seppuku with ritual attire and second Source: p. ...
Download high resolution version (509x750, 127 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
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Ritual suicide is the act of suicide motivated by a religious, spiritual, or traditional ritual. ...
Disembowelment is evisceration, or the removing of vital organs, usually from the abdomen. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
The characters for Kanji, lit. ...
Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Romaji ローマ字 Okurigana (送り仮名, literally accompanying characters) are a special use of hiragana suffixes following kanji stems in Japanese written words. ...
Overview 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 attenuate shame. Samurai could also be ordered by their daimyo (feudal lords) to commit seppuku. In later years, disgraced warriors were sometimes allowed to commit seppuku rather than be executed in the normal manner. Since the main point of the act was to restore or protect one's honor as a warrior, those who did not belong to the samurai caste were never ordered or expected to commit seppuku. Bushido (Japanese: 武士道; bushidō, way of the warrior), was an ethical code of conduct, developed between the 11th to 14th centuries and was formalized during the opening years of the Tokugawa shogunate for the members of the Samurai class. ...
Japanese samurai in armour, 1860 photograph. ...
The daimyo (大名: daimyō) were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 12th century to the 19th century in Japan. ...
In his book The Samurai Way of Death, Samurai: The World of the Warrior (ch.4), Dr. Stephen Turnbull states: "Seppuku was commonly performed using a dagger. It could take place with preparation and ritual in the privacy of one’s home, or speedily in a quiet corner of a battlefield while one’s comrades kept the enemy at bay. Stephen Turnbull took his first degree at Cambridge University, and received a PhD from Leeds University for his work on Japanese religious history. ...
In the world of the warrior, seppuku was a deed of bravery that was admirable in a samurai who knew he was defeated, disgraced, or mortally wounded. It meant that he could end his days with his transgressions wiped away and with his reputation not merely intact but actually enhanced. The cutting of the abdomen released the samurai’s spirit in the most dramatic fashion, but it was an extremely painful and unpleasant way to die, and sometimes the samurai who was performing the act asked a loyal comrade to cut off his head at the moment of agony.
Sometimes a daimyo was called upon to perform seppuku as the basis of a peace agreement. This would so weaken the defeated clan that resistance would effectively cease. Toyotomi Hideyoshi used an enemy's suicide in this way on several occasions, the most dramatic of which effectively ended a dynasty of daimyo for ever, when the Hojo were defeated at Odawara in 1590. Hideyoshi insisted on the suicide of the retired daimyo Hojo Ujimasa, and the exile of his son Ujinao. With one sweep of a sword the most powerful daimyo family in eastern Japan disappeared from history. Hideyoshi in old age. ...
The Late Hojo clan is a modern day clan, formed in the U.S., that follows the teachings of a leader, whose traditional name would be Mido. ...
Ritual Given enough time, committing 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. 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. A death poem is a poem written near the time of ones own death. ...
A Kaishakunin (介錯人) is an appointed second whose duty is to behead one who has commited seppuku (or harakiri) at the moment of agony. ...
Japanese woman in a kimono, ca. ...
Wakizashi style sword mounting, Edo period, 19th century A wakizashi (Japanese: 脇差) is a traditional Japanese sword with a shoto blade between 12 and 24 inches (between 30 and 60 cm, with an average of 50 cm), similar to but shorter than a katana but also quite longer than the...
A Tantō (短刀) is a Japanese blade or small sword. ...
This article needs to be wikified. ...
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.
In the Hagakure, Yamamoto Tsunetomo wrote: The Hagakure, or Hagakure kikigaki (In the Shadow of Leaves) is a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of commentaries by the former samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo, as told to his fellow samurai Tashiro Tsuramoto. ...
Tsunetomo Yamamoto (12 June 1659 - 1719) was a samurai of the Saga domain in Hizen Province under his lord Mitsushige Nabeshima. ...
- "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.
- "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."
The Western experience The first time a Westerner saw formal seppuku was the "Sakai Incident" of 1868. On the 15th of February, twenty French sailors entered a Japanese town called Sakai without official permission. Their presence caused panic among the residents. Security forces were dispatched to turn the sailors back to their ship, but a fight broke out and 11 sailors were shot dead. Upon the protest of the French representative, compensation of 15,000 yen was paid and those responsible were sentenced to death. The French captain was present to observe the execution. As each samurai committed ritual disembowelment, the gruesome nature of the act shocked the captain, and he requested a pardon due to which nine of the samurai were spared. This incident was dramatized in a famous short story, Sakai Jiken, by Mori Ogai. 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
Sakai (堺市; -shi) is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. ...
Mori Ogais statue at his birthhouse in Tsuwano-cho Mori Ogai (森 鴎外 Mori Ōgai, February 17, 1862 - July 9, 1922) was a Japanese physician, novelist and poet. ...
In the 1860's, The British Ambassador to Japan, Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford (Lord Redesdale) lived within eyesight of Sengaku-ji where the Forty-seven Ronin are buried. In his book "Tales of Old Japan", he describes a man who had come to the graves to kill himself: Categories: Stub ...
Incense burns at the burial graves of the 47 Ronin at Sengakuji. ...
"I will add one anecdote to show the sanctity which is attached to the graves of the Forty-seven. In the month of September 1868, a certain man came to pray before the grave of Oishi Chikara. Having finished his prayers, he deliberately performed hara-kiri,[8] and, the belly wound not being mortal, dispatched himself by cutting his throat. Upon his person were found papers setting forth that, being a Ronin and without means of earning a living, he had petitioned to be allowed to enter the clan of the Prince of Choshiu, which he looked upon as the noblest clan in the realm; his petition having been refused, nothing remained for him but to die, for to be a Ronin was hateful to him, and he would serve no other master than the Prince of Choshiu: what more fitting place could he find in which to put an end to his life than the graveyard of these Braves? This happened at about two hundred yards' distance from my house, and when I saw the spot an hour or two later, the ground was all bespattered with blood, and disturbed by the death-struggles of the man."
Mitford also describes his friend's eyewitness account of a Seppuku:
"There are many stories on record of extraordinary heroism being displayed in the hara-kiri. The case of a young fellow, only twenty years old, of the Choshiu clan, which was told me the other day by an eye-witness, deserves mention as a marvellous instance of determination. Not content with giving himself the one necessary cut, he slashed himself thrice horizontally and twice vertically. Then he stabbed himself in the throat until the dirk protruded on the other side, with its sharp edge to the front; setting his teeth in one supreme effort, he drove the knife forward with both hands through his throat, and fell dead."
During the Meiji Restoration, the Tokugawa Shogun's aide committed Seppuku:
"One more story and I have done. During the revolution, when the Tycoon, beaten on every side, fled ignominiously to Yedo, he is said to have determined to fight no more, but to yield everything. A member of his second council went to him and said, “Sir, the only way for you now to retrieve the honour of the family of Tokugawa is to disembowel yourself; and to prove to you that I am sincere and disinterested in what I say, I am here ready to disembowel myself with you.” The Tycoon flew into a great rage, saying that he would listen to no such nonsense, and left the room. His faithful retainer, to prove his honesty, retired to another part of the castle, and solemnly performed the hara-kiri."
In his book "Tales of Old Japan," Mitford describes witnessing a hara-kiri[1]:
- As a corollary to the above elaborate statement of the ceremonies proper to be observed at the hara-kiri, I may here describe an instance of such an execution which I was sent officially to witness. The condemned man was Taki Zenzaburo, an officer of the Prince of Bizen, who gave the order to fire upon the foreign settlement at Hiogo in the month of February 1868,—an attack to which I have alluded in the preamble to the story of the Eta Maiden and the Hatamoto. Up to that time no foreigner had witnessed such an execution, which was rather looked upon as a traveller's fable.
- The ceremony, which was ordered by the Mikado himself, took place at 10.30 at night in the temple of Seifukuji, the headquarters of the Satsuma troops at Hiogo. A witness was sent from each of the foreign legations. We were seven foreigners in all.
- "After another profound obeisance, Taki Zenzaburo, in a voice which betrayed just so much emotion and hesitation as might be expected from a man who is making a painful confession, but with no sign of either in his face or manner, spoke as follows:—
- “I, and I alone, unwarrantably gave the order to fire on the foreigners at Kobe, and again as they tried to escape. For this crime I disembowel myself, and I beg you who are present to do me the honour of witnessing the act.”
- Bowing once more, the speaker allowed his upper garments to slip down to his girdle, and remained naked to the waist. Carefully, according to custom, he tucked his sleeves under his knees to prevent himself from falling backwards; for a noble Japanese gentleman should die falling forwards. Deliberately, with a steady hand, he took the dirk that lay before him; he looked at it wistfully, almost affectionately; for a moment he seemed to collect his thoughts for the last time, and then stabbing himself deeply below the waist on the left-hand side, he drew the dirk slowly across to the right side, and, turning it in the wound, gave a slight cut upwards. During this sickeningly painful operation he never moved a muscle of his face. When he drew out the dirk, he leaned forward and stretched out his neck; an expression of pain for the first time crossed his face, but he uttered no sound. At that moment the kaishaku, who, still crouching by his side, had been keenly watching his every movement, sprang to his feet, poised his sword for a second in the air; there was a flash, a heavy, ugly thud, a crashing fall; with one blow the head had been severed from the body.
- A dead silence followed, broken only by the hideous noise of the blood throbbing out of the inert heap before us, which but a moment before had been a brave and chivalrous man. It was horrible.
- The kaishaku made a low bow, wiped his sword with a piece of paper which he had ready for the purpose, and retired from the raised floor; and the stained dirk was solemnly borne away, a bloody proof of the execution.
- The two representatives of the Mikado then left their places, and, crossing over to where the foreign witnesses sat, called us to witness that the sentence of death upon Taki Zenzaburo had been faithfully carried out. The ceremony being at an end, we left the temple.
- The ceremony, to which the place and the hour gave an additional solemnity, was characterized throughout by that extreme dignity and punctiliousness which are the distinctive marks of the proceedings of Japanese gentlemen of rank; and it is important to note this fact, because it carries with it the conviction that the dead man was indeed the officer who had committed the crime, and no substitute. While profoundly impressed by the terrible scene it was impossible at the same time not to be filled with admiration of the firm and manly bearing of the sufferer, and of the nerve with which the kaishaku performed his last duty to his master."
Seppuku in modern Japan 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 Meiji Restoration (明治維新; Meiji Ishin), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to a change in Japans political and social structure. ...
1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
General Maresuke Nogi (乃木希典 Nogi Maresuke, December 25, 1849 - September 13, 1912) was a Japanese army general, and a prominent figure in the Russo-Japanese War. ...
Emperor Mutsuhito Mutsuhito or Mitsuhito (睦仁), the Meiji Emperor (明治天皇, literally wise ruling heaven emperor) (3 November 1852–30 July 1912) was the 122nd Emperor of Japan. ...
1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ...
Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air. ...
In 1970, famed author Yukio Mishima and one of his followers committed public seppuku at the Japan Self-Defense Forces headquarters after an unsuccessful attempt to incite the armed forces to stage a coup d'etat. 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 then attempted to commit seppuku himself. Although his own cuts were too shallow to be fatal, he gave the signal and he too was beheaded by Koga. 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ...
Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio), was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake), (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and rightist political activist, notable for both his nihilistic post-war writing and the circumstances of his suicide. ...
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces (Japanese: 自衛隊, Jieitai) or JSDF, are the military forces in Japan that were established after the end of World War II. The force has been engaged in no real combat but has been engaged in some international peacekeeping operations. ...
A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ...
Hiroyasu Koga was a young Tatenokai member responsible for the decapitation of Yukio Mishima during his seppuku on November 25, 1970. ...
In 1999, Masaharu Nonaka, a 58 year old employee of Bridgestone in Japan, slashed his belly with a sashimi knife to protest his forced retirement. He died later in the hospital. This suicide was dubbed risutora (corporate restructuring) seppuku by the mass media, and was said to represent the difficulties in Japan following the collapse of the bubble economy. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
The Bridgestone Tire Company (株式会社ブリヂストン) was founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (石橋 正二郎 Ishibashi Shōjirō) in the city of Kurume, Japan. ...
Yanagi ba (left) and Tako hiki (right) Tako hiki (タコ引, literally, octopus-pull), yanagi ba (柳刃, literally, willow blade), and fugu hiki (ふぐ引き, literally, pufferfish-puller) are long thin knives used in the Japanese kitchen, belonging to the group of Sashimi bocho (Japanese: 刺身包丁) to prepare sashimi, sliced raw fish...
Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed, or attempted the act. ...
Currier & Ives print on economic bubbles, 1875. ...
Well-known people who committed seppuku Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio), was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake), (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and rightist political activist, notable for both his nihilistic post-war writing and the circumstances of his suicide. ...
Sen no Rikyu (千利休; 1522 - 1591) is considered the most profound influence on the Japanese tea ceremony. ...
In pop culture In spite of the violent and serious nature of ritual suicide, Western pop culture has for the most part treated seppuku lightly as a source of black comedy or Eastern exoticism. For example, one website humorously gives instructions for "Seppuku with a frisbee". Seppuku also features prominently in Western depictions of the 'exotic' Japan in books, movies, videogames, etc. such as the Tom Cruise movie The Last Samurai or the mini-series Shogun. Some video games, such as Mortal Kombat Deception, give players the option of committing seppuku. In that game, the character Kenshi can be instructed to disembowel himself in the traditional fashion. For the most part, seppuku is depicted in popular culture as a mark of a true warrior's ethos and a mystical Eastern understanding of death. For whatever reason, the sort of ritualistic suicide enacted seppuku is seen as a uniquely Japanese cultural trait, although the Western tradition has its share of historical figures (such as the biblical Saul the King) who have killed themselves in similar manners. Roger Pulvers of the Japan Times claims to have tried an experiment with his students in the 1970s. He had them give their friends and acquaintances a version of Yukio Mishima's Yukoku (a novel about double seppuku in the 1930s) with explicit references to Japan blanked out. After participants read the story, the students asked them to guess where it takes place. The majority of the respondents said Italy with Japan a distant fourth place. [2] This illustrates the ways in which the Western view of seppuku as exotic is influenced by existing preconception of Japan. Tom Cruise as seen on the poster for the 2001 film Vanilla Sky Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV July 3, 1962 in Syracuse, New York, USA) is an American film actor and producer who has starred in a number of top-grossing movies. ...
Promotional poster The Last Samurai is a film released in the United States on December 5, 2003. ...
In Japanese history, a shōgun (将軍) was the practical ruler of Japan for most of the time from 1192 to the Meiji Era beginning in 1868. ...
Saul or Shaul (שָׁאוּל Demanded, Standard Hebrew Šaʾul, Tiberian Hebrew Šāʾûl) was the first king of Israel according to the Old Testament of the Bible, as taught in Judaism. ...
This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ...
Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio), was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake), (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and rightist political activist, notable for both his nihilistic post-war writing and the circumstances of his suicide. ...
In Raymond Benson's James Bond book The Man with the Red Tattoo, the main villain, Yami Shogun Goro Yoshida commits seppuku just before Bond could capture him. Yasutake Tsukamoto, yakuza leader and Yoshida's secundant, tells Bond that Yosida won, because he "robbed Bond of the ultimate victory". Bond tells Tsukamoto that he does not care about it, because "he's bloody dead and that's all that matters." Raymond Benson, born September 6, 1955, is an American author best known for being the most recent author of the official James Bond novels. ...
The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy introduced by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ...
Categories: Literature stubs | 2002 books | James Bond books ...
Yakuza (from Japanese やくざ or ヤクザ), also known as gokudō, are members of traditional organized crime groups in Japan. ...
See also http://www.zuihoden.com/ Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...
A kamikaze, a Mitsubishi Zero in this case, about to hit the USS Missouri. ...
Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio), was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake), (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and rightist political activist, notable for both his nihilistic post-war writing and the circumstances of his suicide. ...
A graveyard in Tokyo A Japanese funeral includes a wake, the cremation of the deceased, a burial in a family grave, and a periodic memorial service. ...
Nakano Seigō (中野正剛) (1886-October 1943) was a Japanese political leader who advocated a fascist Japan to complete the Meiji Restoration. ...
Date Masamune (伊達 政宗 1567-1636) was one of leading Daimyo in the Tohoku region of Japan. ...
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