The Second

Please don't read this if you have a delicate constitution or if you are just about to eat your tea!

In feudal Japan seppuku was a form of ritual suicide by disembowelment originally reserved only for Samurai. The first recorded act of seppuku was performed by Minamoto no Yorimasa during the Battle of Uji in the year 1180. Seppuku as judicial punishment was abolished in 1873, shortly after the Meiji Restoration, but voluntary seppuku has never completely died out. In 1970, the author Yukio Mishima and one of his followers committed public seppuku at the Japan Self-Defense Forces headquarters after an unsuccessful attempt to incite the armed forces to stage a coup d'état.

Seppuku became a key part of bushido, the code of the samurai warrior and was used to avoid falling into enemy hands, to mitigate shame and to avoid possible torture. Samurai could also be ordered by their Daimyo (feudal lords) to carry out seppuku.

If it was a planned seppuku, not one performed on a battlefield, the samurai was bathed, dressed in white robes, and enjoyed his favourite meal. With his sword placed in front of him, sometimes seated on special cloths, the warrior may also have prepared to meet his fate by writing a death poem.

With his selected attendant (Kaishakunin, The Second) standing by he would open his kimono, take up his tantō (knife) or wakizashi (short sword) and plunge it into his abdomen, making a left-to-right cut. The kaishakunin would then perform kaishaku, a stoke in which the warrior was all but decapitated. The maneuver would ideally be done in a manner which enabled a slight band of flesh to attach the head to the body as complete decapitation was considered demeaning, a fate reserved for common criminals.

Because of the precision necessary for such a maneuver, The Second had to be a very skilled swordsman. The principal and the kaishakunin agreed in advance when the latter was to make his cut. Usually dakikubi would occur as soon as the dagger was plunged into the abdomen. The process became so highly ritualised that as soon as the samurai reached for his blade the kaishakunin would strike. The Second was usually, but not always, a friend. If a defeated warrior had fought honorably and well, an opponent who wanted to salute his bravery may have volunteered to act as his Second.

Female ritual suicide, known as Jigai, was practiced by the wives of samurai who had committed seppuku or brought dishonor. It comprised suicide by cutting the arteries of the neck with one stroke, using a knife such as a tantō or kaiken. The main purpose was to achieve a quick and certain death in order to avoid capture and dishonour.


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