Disclaimer and General Purpose.

This site is about the ancient Japanese tradition of Seppuku. It is not intended as a do-it-yourself guide. We do not advocate Seppuku or any form of suicide (note: we also do not consider seppuku as suicide). In fact, Seppuku was abolished around the 17th century and is no longer a way to reclaim one's lost honor.

That having been said, this is my "fan-site" of Japanese culture and, as such, touches upon more than just the subject of Seppuku (although we cover that as much as possible as well).

Catchy domain name for a web-site though. ;)

What is Seppuku?

"Your solution to my problems."

At least, that is my usual response.

In feudal Japan, Samurai were sometimes called upon to perform this final service to their lord (refered to as the daimyo) and meet death with honor and dignity. Sometimes it was to save face, or when dishonored. Sometimes, a samurai would show loyalty by performing seppuku after their daimyo's death. Whatever the reason, seppuku involved a samurai to disembowel themselves and then be beheaded by their second (called a kaishaku).

It should also be noted that disembowling oneself was not actually necessary to the performance of seppuku. The third and final cut performed by the kaishaku was all that was really necessary. It was performing the ritual that was important and showed a samurai had great honor in facing their death.

What is on this Site

Our current content is somewhat sparse at the moment, but we are currently improving it at the time. We have a stories section, and a very small gallery section. So come back once in a while and visit us and if you want to provide feedback you can e-mail me at kaishaku@seppuku.us.