Seppuku

Seppuku is a form of ritual suicide which samurai perform when they have been irretrievably dishonored. By performing the ceremony and thus dying honorably, the samurai wipes away the stain of dishonor and leaves his or her family name clean and untarnished. It is important to remember that the main purpose of seppuku is to protect the family, rather than the individual. In Rokugan a family is the repository of all the collective deeds and accomplishments of its members, and it is commonly said, "I have borrowed my name from my ancestors. I must return it to them untarnished." A dishonored person thus brings dishonor and shame to the entire family. By committing seppuku a samurai spares his family from the shame of his deeds.

A samurai who is committing seppuku in a formal setting dresses entirely in white (the color of death), and traditionally writes a final poem, a death-haiku, before taking up his wakizashi to commit suicide. The ritual may be witnessed by the samurai's friends or relatives, representatives from his daimyo, or other individuals. The actual suicide is usually performed by means of the wakizashi, the blade which symbolizes a samurai's honor (although another blade can be substituted in a pinch). The samurai kneels and makes three cuts across his belly, disemboweling himself. In order for the ritual to be properly completed, the samurai must not flinch or cry out in pain. Since this is extremely difficult, by long-standing tradition seppuku is assisted by another individual, a "second," whose task is to complete the ritual by beheading the samurai, ensuring he dies with honor. Serving as a samurai's second is an important and honorable task, and the sword used to behead the victim is carefully cleansed with water beforehand.

Seppuku is usually not something a samurai can do at will. Samurai who are facing total battlefield defeat or the military annihilation of their bloodline, however, will sometimes commit seppuku immediately rather than face the eternal shame of utter defeat. Indeed, entire samurai families have been known to commit suicide under such circumstances.

More normally, however, permission to commit seppuku must be granted by the samurai's daimyo, and cruel or intolerant daimyo have been known to deny seppuku and force their samurai to live with their shame.

Aside from acting to preserve family honor, the other form of permissible seppuku is to protest unjust orders from one's lord. This form of protesting seppuku is known as kanshi and must still be authorized by the daimyo. Most daimyo don't care for such an act, but it is considered quite dishonorable and ill-mannered to refuse one's samurai permission to commit kanshi.

Women of the samurai caste who are not bushi are permitted to kill themselves in a less painful fashion, known as jigai, in which they stab themselves in the throat with a knife. This is generally reserved for women who are courtier or shugenja. Given the chance, they will bind their ankles together before performing this act, so as not to shame themselves with wild kicking during their death throes.