Seppuku is the name of a traditional japanese suicide ritual, practiced mainly by warriors and samurai.
Seppuku is part of the Japanese samurai's code of honor, called bushido. It was the only alternative to keep the samurai's honor, in case he was captured by enemies or as a sign of extreme loyalty to his master.
Samurai were known to have only one master in a lifetime. If this one died, the truly loyal warriors should commit seppuku.
If the samurai did not perform seppuku, he would become a Ronin, a kind of “fighter without a master”, regarded as one of the most dishonorable titles for a person.
In the Japanese language, seppuku literally means “cut in the belly” or “cut in the stomach”, a direct reference to how this type of suicide was carried out.
Seppuku originally emerged in Japan in the mid-12th century as a demonstration of warriors' loyalty to their feudal lords.
For centuries, precisely until 1868, seppuku remained an official practice among Japanese warriors.
The seppuku ceremony required a series of specific steps and preparations, which had to be previously followed by the samurai.
After cleansing the body and writing a last poem, for example, the samurai should pierce the abdomen with a small sword (wakizashi), cutting the belly from left to right. When the cut hit the center of the cup, the warrior made a sharp blow upward.
With this act, the samurai believed they were cutting the center of their souls, the place where people's emotions and spirits were concentrated.
Evisceration (pulling the viscera from the body through the abdomen) is a very painful form of execution and the samurai could spend hours in agony before dying.
For this reason, the figure of the kaishakunin (known as the “algoz” or “the second”) was essential, as it was responsible for ending the suicide's suffering with a fatal blow to the neck.
Supposedly, the first seppuku was made by the legendary warrior Minamoto Tametomo in 1170. This samurai from the Minamoto clan would have thrown himself against his own sword after losing a battle against the Taira clan.
Seppuku and Harakiri
The main difference is the context in which each expression is used: seppuku is the formal way It is honorable to mention this type of suicide, while harakiri (or haraquíri) is the term used popularly.
Westerners also often refer to the Japanese suicide ritual as haraquiri, unlike Easterners who usually use the word seppuku in this context.
See also the meaning of Honor.
