samurai+and+seppuku

Seppuku or also called hara-kiri by manny foreigners was an honorably act of suicide in Japan. This common act of suicide was often used by the feudalist class(military), this included samurais of course. Seppuku was recorded for the first time in the Heian period(around the same time as the dark ages). The man who preformed it was a samurai from Minamoto and was in a losing a battle so he purposely fell on his sword. That being an alternative to being captured and tortured which would be dishonorable.

This act evolved into one stabbing them self with a short blade or a sword wrapped with cloth halfway down the blade, in the left side of the abdomen then drag the blade across to the right, and then turning it upwards. Turning the blade and pulling it upwards toward the head created a flap so your organs could fall out. When this was preformed the samurai would have to arch there back and lean forward so their muscles would not tense up and make it more difficult to cut through. Once the person had emptied their organs from their stomach, their head would be cut off. Here they also would have to lean slightly forward so it was easier to cut through the joints in their neck.



After that it was thought to be even more courageous and honorable if one were to preform a jumonji giri which was stabbing them self again below the chest, and cut down over the first cut, making basically a plus sign. Then after making the plus they were expected to pierce their throat, making their death slow and incredibly painful. Preforming these actions were supposed to show one had courage, self-control, and acted like a true samurai. Although in battle soldiers only had so much time to kill themselves before being captured. So soldiers made what they could out of it, sometimes simply slitting their throat to conserve time before being taken. 

Even though most seppuku was voluntary it was sometimes forced upon a samurais by the Daimyo(a feudal lord and land owner under Shogunate Japan) as a punishment under the bushido if they carried out certain infractions. The daimyo's could also be ordered by the Shogun to preform seppuku for similar actions. The Bushido was the samurai's code of conduct and emphasized principles like courage, honor, and loyalty to one's Daimyo. A samurai's duty was to protect his Daimyo's land and the lives of the people settled on it. Under this code if a samurai failed in battle and or was cowardly during the fight they could return to their home, and go through various rituals then preform seppuku to regain their honor. These rituals included dressing in all white to symbolize purity, writing a short poem to present their state of mine, bathing, and eating their last meal. Although it was viewed as an honorable act it was sometimes used in judicial system as punishment during the Tokugawa Shogunate(the Tokugawa Shogunate took power after the lawless times or the Warring States period). When a person's seppuku was planned wooden dais were commonly placed under their buttocks to prevent them from falling on their back after they were done.

Seppuku was still practiced during the 1900's and was commonly used in World War II so Japanese soldiers would not become prisoners of war. The latest it was formally preformed was as late as 1970 by a writer and patriot named Yukio Mishima who disagreed with Japans actions as a country of subverting itself from the rest of the world. He knew several politicians and was allowed and encouraged to create his own private military squad, then invaded Japan's Self Defense Force and committed seppuku. Although this is the last known formal Seppuku it is not impossible that some people still use it today.

http://www.aikidofaq.com/essays/seppuku.html http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/535079/seppuku http://asianhistory.about.com/od/asianhistoryfaqs/f/seppukufaq.htm