Why the hell did Japanese samurai commit seppuku (harakiri)?

Seppuku is defined as a form of “ritual suicide” practiced by Japanese samurai. But what on earth is “ritual” suicide, and why did samurai adhered to such a dreadful practice (Seppuku is one of the most painful ways to take your own life!) as the most honorable samurai code of conduct? This article tries to explain why Japanese ended up developing such an unfathomable protocol as a symbol of samurai philosophy.

Where did seppuku come from?

関ケ原 (Sekigahara) movie trailer.
Japanese usually link “samurai” with Sengoku (Civil War) ~ Edo era,
which was from the end of 15th to the middle of 19th century.
時代劇 (jidai geki, or Japanese historical dramas) typically pick stories in Sengoku and Edo era.
Sekigahara is one of the most significant battles in Japanese history people talk a lot about.

The Tokugawa clan ended Civil War era by winning the battle of Sekigahara and started the Tokugawa bakufu administration, which brought about stability.
You can see how samurai were dressed and fought.

Before the Edo period (1603-1868), Japanese society existed in an almost permanent state of instability where regional military leaders continually fought for centralized power. Power balance among regional samurai groups kept changing. Warriors, or warrior leaders, who swore to remain faithful to their lord, often faced critical life-or-death situations. Some chose dying when they knew that their lord was losing the battle. They refused to surrender, to or be subjugated by opponents in order to maintain their dignity and loyalty.

One legendary act of seppuku that defined its spirit was committed by Shimizu Muneharu (1537-1582), who served the Mori clan, a prominent regional ruler in Western Japan during Sengoku era. Muneharu fought faithfully for the Mori, who was losing ground to Oda Nobunaga, an emerging, fierce leader who came to control most of the mainland Japan through a series of battles. In the face of the merciless Nobunaga, Muneharu refused to surrender when his army was trapped by siege in a local castle. He eventually agreed to commit seppuku when Nobunaga’s forces demanded it in exchange for saving the lives of his troops. According to contemporary histories, Muneharu did it in front of his opponents with honor and dignity, showing no hesitance or cowardliness.

Seppuku as “ritual” suicide

Ironically, only 20 years after Muneharu’s death, the Tokugawa Clan defeated the successor of Oda Nobunaga and won a crucial war to start a strong shogun dynasty, which ended up ruling Japan in the next 250 years. Stability was finally restored. When there is a stable ruler, there is no war. Under the Tokugawa administration, samurai secured the highest social class. Instead of fighting, high ranking samurai became bureaucrats, and low ranking ones had to find side jobs to make ends meet as they were virtually out of work as soldiers.

“武士の献立” movie trailer.

During Edo era, bureaucracy of the samurai administration became expansive.
Instead of fighting, samurai became experts of diplomacy, accounting,
law enforcement etc. Some even became cooks.
This movie was about a “samurai chef.”

Samurai were put in a weird situation: even though their value or greatness was supposed to be based on their loyalty to their lord and how brave they would be on battlefields, they didn’t have opportunities to show it. In order to maintain ethical and moral standards in such times, samurai leaders de developed strict rules, protocols and codes of conduct. In absence of real fights, samurai sought to show their samurai-ness spiritually or philosophically. In that process, seppuku started to became part of it. It was used as punishment when samurai did not abide by the strict principles. It also became a method of recovering honor when a samurai found himself a situation that could bring disgrace on him and end his own clan’s social standing.

“一命” movie trailer.

“Ichimei” is Takeshi Miike’s rare historical drama.
At some point during Edo era, some samurai started to “cry wolf”
that they were committing seppuku to get some money from samurai leaders.
One of the low-ranking samurai decided to do the same out of desperation. He had no money to survive and support his family.
But things took wrong turn….

Seppuku as an aesthetic of dying

You can do more research on this history or seppuku protocols, but one important perspective that is rarely mentioned is the fact that Japanese samurai almost always assumed that they would be fighting with other Japanese groups. As you may know, Japan consists of small islands and is isolated from outside regions, notably the mainland Asia (China) which had been the epicenter of politics, economy, culture and war. It’s a little bit like the historical relationship between England and mainland Europe, only that Japan is a little larger (1.6 times larger than the UK) and further from the mainland. The shortest distance between UK and France is about 20 miles, whereas it’s about 50 miles from the Korean Peninsula to the nearest Japanese island.

Because of its geographical setting, Japan had never been invaded by foreign powers until 20th century. War for samurai almost always meant fighting with other samurai groups. They knew that their enemies spoke the same language, appreciated the same samurai code of conduct and philosophy. They had no doubt that their enemies would honor seppuku as the ultimate act of bravery and determination to sacrifice your life for your lord and dignity.

But if you are fighting with foreign warriors who speak different languages and come from different cultures, you cannot assume that. They may have different belief as to how warriors should fight. It’s likely that your enemy wouldn’t appreciate it or see the value even if you commit seppuku. Not only would your death mean nothing, they may take advantage of it. For example, Shimizu Muneharu, the Sengoku samurai who started the seppuku culture (see above), agreed to take his life because his opponent promised to save his troops in exchange for it. You can agree on such a deal unless you are 100% sure your opponent would honor his action. You cannot check after your are dead.

If seppuku was so unique to Japan, Japan’s unique geographic setting must have played a role. .

赤穂浪士 (Ako roshi) or 忠臣蔵 (Chishingura)

is probably the most popular seppuku story in which 47 ronins
committed seppuku for their lord.

But samurai didn’t have to worry about the situation in which people around them wouldn’t understand the value of seppuku. In the absence of war, the ritual side of the “ritual suicide” became increasingly excruciating to challenge their bravery: the most painful and spiritual way to take your own life was chosen. (You are supposed to cut your abdomen, in which your spirit resides according to some beliefs, left-to-right and top-to-bottom. It is unfathomable.)

There was mutual understanding that, regardless of the reason, a samurai who died of seppuku would be remembered as an honorable warrior regardless of your affiliation. The family left behind by a samurai died of seppuku would be taken care of.

Only in circumstances like those of pre-modern Japan would samurai have been allowed to focus so much on idealism, spirituality and philosophy of how a committed/professional warrior should live his life, rather than fighting in battle, facing enemies you knew little about. They elevated the samurai way to an aesthetics of dying which also meant for them an aesthetics of living.

葉隠 (Hagakure), which was written in the middle of 18th century to compile samurai’s code of conduct, concluded: