Seppuku

Seppuku is a traditional Japanese form of ritual suicide closely associated with the ancient samurai warrior class. Sometimes also referred to as hara-kiri, seppuku is typically performed by stabbing or cutting oneself in the abdomen with a short sword or knife. Dating back as far as the eighth century, the practice was traditionally viewed as a way for samurai who did not die in battle to achieve an honorable death. It could also be performed as a method of protest or as a symbolic display of loyalty to a fallen leader. Seppuku was a common, culturally sanctioned act among the members of the samurai class in Japan for centuries until it was formally outlawed in 1873. While traditional seppuku is very rare in the twenty-first century, the broader notion of suicide remains deeply ingrained in contemporary Japanese society and some forms of suicide related to seppuku are still practiced.

Brief History

The cultural origins of seppuku can be traced back to the eighth century, when the Harima no Kuni Fudoki (Gazetteer of the Province of Harima) first described the act of ritual suicide as practiced by a fictional kami, or spirit-deity who ritually disemboweled herself after the death of her lord. The earliest known historical example of seppuku dates to about 988 C.E., when wealthy aristocrat and secret cat burglar Yasusuke Fujiwara allegedly committed seppuku in his home instead of allowing himself to be captured by authorities after his crimes were discovered.

As the samurai class emerged in feudal Japan during the Heian period (794–1192), seppuku came to be seen as a warrior's death. The samurai, who lived according to a warrior code called Bushido, considered seppuku a courageous and honorable way of achieving death for those who were not killed in battle and wished to avoid capture, or those who felt compelled to express their grief for a fallen leader. Some, however, also chose to commit seppuku out of shame, love, hate, or revenge. While traditional seppuku was reserved for men, jigai, a female version of the ritual that required the cutting of one's throat, was also developed.

Over time, the role of seppuku in Japanese society changed dramatically. Starting in the fifteenth century, seppuku primarily became a method of capital punishment for samurai who committed criminal acts. When the samurai class fell into decline in the nineteenth century, so too did the practice of ritual suicide. In 1873, as Japan was evolving into a modern nation, seppuku was officially outlawed. Regardless, some traditionalists continued choosing to end their lives in ceremonial fashion. During World War II, for example, many Japanese soldiers opted to commit seppuku instead of surrendering. After the war, some surviving soldiers and others also used seppuku as an apology for their defeat. Since that time, acts of seppuku have become increasingly rare, although a few have taken place in more recent history. Most notably, famed novelist and extreme nationalist Yukio Mishima committed seppuku in a military office after leading an unsuccessful coup against the Japanese government in 1970. In 2001, Isao Inokuma, a former gold medal Olympian in judo, committed seppuku after a company he was running at the time experienced severe financial difficulties.

Overview

The act of seppuku as it was originally practiced was closely tied to samurai beliefs about death. According to samurai tradition, finding the appropriate time and place to die was among the central objectives of one's life. As such, the samurai placed great emphasis on the importance of being prepared for death at all times. With Japanese civilization organized in a feudal social structure at the time, being killed on the battlefield while fighting in the service of one's lord was considered to be the most honorable way to die. It follows, then, that those who survived a wartime defeat or suffered some other personal failing might seek an alternative means of achieving an honorable death. Seppuku provided that means and afforded samurai the opportunity to avoid surrender or make amends by courageously taking their own lives.

Seppuku itself was often a grisly and violent act. When performing the most traditional form of seppuku, a samurai would stab himself in the lower abdomen with a short sword and slice open his stomach, turning the blade of the sword upward at the end of the process to make sure that the wound would be fatal. This would seemingly lead to a slow and painful demise, but the samurai's actual death would often be hastened with the help of a second person called a kaishakunin, who would swiftly decapitate the samurai with a katana immediately after the last cut to the abdomen was made. In addition, the seppuku ritual would frequently be preceded by a ceremony that involved drinking sake, or rice wine, and the recitation of a death poem.

Although the practice of traditional seppuku is all but extinct in modern Japanese society, it still has a cultural presence of sorts. Suicide in general is quite prevalent in Japan and remains something of a national crisis. In part, the prominent role of suicide in contemporary Japanese culture is tied to the prevailing influence of traditional samurai customs. As Japan became increasingly modernized and westernized, some aspects of samurai philosophy were incorporated into Japanese business culture. Specifically, there are two types of suicide that are fundamentally related to seppuku: inseki jisatsu (responsibility-driven suicide) and karo jisatsu (suicide by overwork). Both are predominantly carried out by those who work in the Japanese business world. People who commit inseki jisatsu often do so as a way of accepting responsibility and making amends for a serious personal failing. Karo jisatsu, meanwhile, refers to suicides that occur as the result of extreme overwork and usually involve mental exhaustion and depression. While these acts are not typically associated with any specific method of suicide, they are fueled by strong emotional motivations in much the same way as seppuku.

Bibliography

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