Seppuku - Seppuku

A method of suicide by cutting one's stomach with a short sword, also known as kappuku or tofuku, and known abroad as harakiri, is a uniquely Japanese custom. It is said to have begun in the Heian period, became established during the Kamakura period when bushido developed, and was practiced throughout the Middle Ages and early modern times. Since it was believed that a person's soul resides in the stomach, bravely cutting one's stomach was the perfect act to uphold bushido. Motivations included oibara (self-harm to die for one's lord), tsumebara (seppuku) for the sake of one's duty or obligation, seppuku (seppuku) to escape the humiliation of being a prisoner of war, and munebara (seppuku) where one commits seppuku out of remorse. As for the method of cutting, ichimonjibara (cutting the stomach in a straight line), and jūmonjibara (cutting vertically from the solar plexus down to below the navel), which were considered more heroic and desirable, but it seems that it was physically impossible to do that, so the victim was killed by stabbing the throat. In the Edo period, the purity of the motive was lost and the method became formalized. In other words, when a samurai committed seppuku, a kaishaku (assistant) would attend and decapitate the samurai. Gradually, however, it became more common for the kaishaku (assistant) to decapitate the samurai from behind just before the seppuku.

The kaishaku was performed by three people. The three kaishaku were the kaishaku (also called the dai-kaishaku), the soe-kaishaku (also called the suke-kaishaku), and the ko-kaishaku. The kaishaku was in charge of beheading the decapitated deceased, the soe-kaishaku was in charge of carrying out the sanpo with the short sword on it, and the ko-kaishaku was in charge of taking the head for examination. There were also three rules and four intervals to follow when beheading the deceased. One of the three rules was when to receive the short sword, the second was when to look at the left stomach, the third was when to thrust the short sword into the stomach, the first of the four intervals was when to position the sanpo and retreat, the second was when to pull the sanpo closer, the third was when to grasp the sword, and the fourth was when to thrust the short sword into the stomach. These should not be done too quickly or too slowly. However, sometimes the sword on the sanpo was not a short sword but a folding fan, which was called an ougibara.

Seppuku was also used as a method of execution in the Middle Ages, in addition to suicide. It was given to high-ranking samurai as an honorary punishment, based on the idea that they should deal with their own mistakes. Upper-ranking criminals were committed in the residence of a feudal lord or other person in their care, while lower-ranking criminals were committed in their prison cells. Seppuku as a punishment was abolished in 1873 (Meiji 6). As a method of suicide, it was occasionally seen even after the Meiji period, and on August 25, 1945 (Showa 20), at dawn, the "14 Ronin of the Daito Juku" committed seppuku in a group in accordance with the ancient custom in a corner of the old Yoyogi parade ground in Tokyo. Another recent example is the seppuku of the writer Yukio Mishima (1970).

[Tetsushi Furukawa and Fumio Inagaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

短刀で腹を切って死ぬ自決の一方法で、割腹(かっぷく)、屠腹(とふく)ともいわれ、外国にも「ハラキリ」として知られる日本独特の習俗。平安時代に始まるとされ、武士道が発達した鎌倉時代にかけて定着し、中世、近世を通じて行われた。人間の魂は腹に宿るという考えから、勇敢に腹を切ることは、武士道を貫くうえで最適な行為となった。動機は、主君に殉ずる追腹(おいばら)、職責や義理上の詰腹(つめばら)、捕虜の恥辱を逃れるための切腹、また無念のあまり切腹する無念腹などがある。切り方は、腹一文字にかき切る一文字腹、さらに縦にみぞおちから臍(へそ)の下まで切り下げる十文字腹が勇壮でよいとされたが、体力的にそこまでは不可能で、なお喉(のど)を突いて絶命に導いたようである。江戸期に入ると、動機の純粋さも失われていき、方法も形式化した。つまり、武士の切腹にあたり、付き添って首を斬(き)り落とす介錯(かいしゃく)の作法である。それも、しだいに、腹を切る寸前に介錯人が背後から首を斬ることが多くなった。

　介錯は3人で勤めた。3人の介錯というのは、介錯（大介錯ともいう）、添(そえ)介錯（助(すけ)介錯ともいう）、小介錯の三役で、介錯は首を討つ役、添介錯は短刀ののった三方を持ち出す役、小介錯は首を実検に入れる役である。また、首を斬るのに「三つの規矩(きく)」と「四つの間(ま)」という心得があった。「三つの規矩」の一つは短刀をいただくとき、二つは左の腹を見るとき、三つは腹へ短刀を突き立てるとき、「四つの間」の一つは三方を据えて退くとき、二つは三方を引き寄せるとき、三つは刀を把(と)るとき、四つは腹へ突き立てるときで、これらが早すぎても遅すぎてもいけないとされた。しかし、三方にのっているのは短刀でなく、扇子である場合もあり、これを扇腹(おうぎばら)とよんだ。

　切腹は自決のほかに、中世から処刑の方法としても採用された。上級武士に対する名誉刑として、自分の不始末を自力で処理するという思想から切腹を賜ったのである。上士の犯罪者の場合は、預けられた大名などの屋敷内で、中士の切腹は牢屋(ろうや)内で行われた。この刑罰としての切腹は1873年（明治6）に廃止された。自殺の方法としては明治時代以降もたまにみられ、1945年（昭和20）8月25日、早暁(そうぎょう)、東京都内旧代々木(よよぎ)練兵場の一角で「大東塾(だいとうじゅく)十四士」が古式にのっとった集団割腹自決を行った。また近年では作家三島由紀夫の切腹（1970）の例がある。

［古川哲史・稲垣史生］

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