The Seppuku Ritual

 

I've mentioned multiple times in both  my presentation and previous posts the prevalence of a type of formalized ritual suicide called seppuku 切腹, or the cruder hara-kiri 腹切り, which more literally translates to "stomach cutting."  I haven't taken the time to thoroughly examine the historical or cultural context associated with the traditionally militaristic ritual of the samurai, so I would like to use this post as a chance to elaborate on this topic of particular interest to me.  I will be basing all of my research off of one of my sources for my paper, a 2011 book entitled Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide by Andrew Rankin.  The chapter I am focusing on is "The Seppuku Ritual."

Before 1600, seppuku was more of an impromptu act in times of "inevitable capture or defeat" (87); it had no formalized rules or methods as we understand it today.  In fact, it wasn't until the early 1700s that more detailed guidelines began to surface for how to correctly perform seppuku.  According to the systematic ritual, the location is extremely important, as well as the type of sword used, the clothes, the audience, and the pre-ritual cleansing.  Family was not allowed to attend the ceremony.

The kaishaku is a necessity.  He is the friend or colleague selected to perform the decapitation of the one committing seppuku after the ritual stomach cutting has been completed.  This person's responsibilities are to monitor the entire event and confirm its correct execution.  This two-person performance could be described in more Western terms as a type of assisted suicide, although this in turn tends to de-ritualize the significant formalized aspects of the entire act.  In addition, the kaishaku is supposed to have at least one assistant--again, to ensure the flawless progression of the seppuku ritual.  The somewhat large number of people associated with the ritual--the kaishaku, the assistant(s), and the audience--highlight, in my opinion, the ingrained social significance and superiority of the group in Japanese society--even, as this illustrates, in acts of individual suicide.  The suicide ritual is thus a sort of nexus in the chain of society, functioning as a means of upholding harmony between individuals and the overarching fabric of the group.

Interestingly, the act of seppuku itself assumes a variety of forms.  There is ichimonji (one horizontal cut), which was standard in the Tokugawa Period (1603-1867).  Rankin explains how "Many early cases of ichimonji are actually aborted jumonji [two crossed cuts to form a cross shape], where a warrior intending to make two cuts runs out of steam after the first" (97).  It would seem that even samurai could only withhold so much pain at a single moment.  In some ways, the more cuts a warrior could make before dying, the more respect and praise he could garner upon his death.  The sanmonji (three horizontal cuts) was probably the most painful and impressive version of seppuku a warrior could perform--if he had the guts (pun intended).

This is just a cursory description of the intricacies of the seppuku ritual.  But I think it is important that for us to understand suicide's place in modern society and literature we have a keen understanding of the ritualized origins of a very important--though these days rare--method of suicide.