Seppuku in Japan

By Handmadesword.com PR Dept.
www.handmadesword.com

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Seppuku

Seppuku is a ritual form of committing suicide in the Japanese society.

Behind this gruesome and barbaric act lies the concept in Japanese
thinking that an honorable death is more desirable than a life in shame.

Seppuku in Japanese History

The earliest reliable reports about seppuku are from the 11th century, when
several powerful family clans fought for supremacy in feudal Japan. But the
habit of committing suicide on the battlefield to avoid being captured by the
enemy is certainly much older.

The way of ritual seppuku came up probably during the period of the civil wars
in the 15th and 16th century. With the final unification and pacifying of Japan
under Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1543-1616, and the establishment of the Tokugawa
Shogunate, Seppuku was no longer officially supported. It was even forbidden
by two decrees - in 1603 and in 1663. But the practise continued to exist
nevertheless. It was again officially abolished by the Meiji government in 1868.

The latest known case is from 1970, when Yukio Mishima, a well-known but
rather nationalist writer in Japan, committed suicide in seppuku manner. The act
caused worldwide attention in the Western media.

The Seppuku Ritual

Seppuku was considered a privilege for samurai and the nobility. Feudal
Japanese history is full of cases of defeated enemies, who were 'forced' by their
conquerors to commit suicide. This was considered as a grace. The looser
received a chance to keep his honor.

If the circumstances allowed it, the ritual suicide was executed in a formal,
procedural manner. Even spectators were not uncommon. The suicide
candidate was clad in a white kimono. Before the final act, he was expected to
write his death poem, formerly a practice common for the higher social classes.

Now the seppuku candidate was supposed to take a short dagger and cut his
abdomen by slicing it from the left lower part of his upper body upwards in right
direction. This must have been extremely painful. Then the candidate was
supposed to lower his neck. This was the sign for the assistant, the
kaishakunin, who stood behind him, to proceed to the last step - to blow off the
seppuku candidate's head - possibly with one blow of his sword. The
kaishakunin could be a person close to him, sometimes his best friend. The
kaishakunin had it in his hands to shorten the suffering of the suicider by
executing a strong and swift blow.

Suicide was often committed by samurai warriors and noblemen on the

battlefield. Then there was no time for the above ritual and seppuku was done
hastily.

Reasons for Suicide

The reasons to commit suicide were manifold.

• First of all it was practiced as an honorable punishment. A mere

commoner would have been executed.
• Seppuku could be performed to show the ultimate loyalty towards one's
deceased lord or husband, although this form was rare.
• Seppuku could be the ultimate expression of showing one's
disagreement with the lord.
• The most common form was probably the suicide in the battlefield to
avoid the shame of falling into the hands of the enemy.

Seppuku for Women

Suicide was not unique for men. For women existed the practice of stabbing
into the heart with a knife or a long and sharp hair-pin.

Famous Suiciders in Japan's History

A number of suicides that took actually part in history became legend and
subject to Kabuki plays and thousands of book and ukiyo-e illustrations.

• When Yoshitsune was surrounded in his last castle resort by hostile

troops sent by his own brother, he killed first his wife and his own
children. Then he committed seppuku. This happened in 1189.
• In 1582, the reckless tyrant Oda Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide
after one of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, had successfully revolted
against him.
• The most spectacular case were the 47 ronin - masterless samurai. The
real events happened in 1701 and 1702. Their lord, Asano, had been
forced by the Shogun to commit an unjustified suicide for the sole reason
of a heated sword duel,that resulted in some minor bruises. The
opponent, Kira, had provoked the duel by his rude behavior, but got away
without any punishment. The 47 vassals of the dead Asano vowed
revenge. In the end, they raided Kira's mansion during a night assault
and decapitated Kira with the very same sword used for Asano's suicide.
The 46 ronin (one had died before) were arrested and forced to commit
seppuku themselves in spite of an outcry of the public.
• In 1877 Saigo Takamori, the leader of a rebellion against the imperial
Japanese government was defeated in the battle of Satsuma in Southern
Japan. He was wounded and committed seppuku in samurai manner on
the battlefield. He became a folk hero for the Japanese population.
• In 1895, forty men of the Japanese military protested against the return
of the Liaotung peninsula to China by committing seppuku. The
Japanese had gained an unexpected and easy victory against the
Chinese in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894/1895. The peninsula had
been returned as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, hammered by
mediation of the US.
• When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, general Nogi committed seppuku.

Seppuku in Japanese Arts

Seppuku is a rather frequent topic in Japanese Kabuki and Noh plays.

Compared to Western theater plays by Shakespeare or Schiller or Italian
operas, this is nothing unusual. Outstanding however is the frequent depiction
of suicide scenes in the visual arts of Japan - mainly on ukiyo-e, the traditional
woodblock prints. But most seppuku scenes are images, which illustrate Kabuki
plays.

Seppuku scenes were designed by all major artists who took commissions from
the Kabuki theaters - among them Kunisada and Kuniyoshi. These images are
characterized by the use of a lot of red color for the blood. We decided to refrain
from showing any of these examples on this page and rather chose one of the
rare, unbloody prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. The image shows general Akashi
Gidayu about to commit suicide after he had lost a decisive battle in 1582 for his
lord, Akechi Mitsuhide.

Suicide in Modern Japan

Until today, suicide plays a special role in the Japanese society. Students
commit suicide because of a botched university examination, businessmen for
the shame of bancrupcy and company employees because they lose their job.
The Japanese suicide rate is the highest among industrialized countries.

The suicide rate in Japan is 17 compared to 11 per 100,000 in the US. On the
other hand the murder rate in Japan is only 1 compared to 7 in the US.
Combined chances to die by suicide or by murder are the same in both
countries with 18 per 100,000.