ILLUSTRATES Icarus Yuji
These powerful warriors, who endured between the 12th and 19th centuries, killed each other in a long ritual aimed at preserving their dignity.
1) Admitting guilt
Traditional seppuku is a rare type of human sacrifice: self-immolation for preservation of honor. Samurai who failed in battle, or committed crimes such as theft or rape, used to come forward voluntarily and plead guilty to their shogun (title of landlord in feudal Japan, whom the samurai served). It was the beginning of a long process until death.
2) Partner on the journey
In general, the shogun accepted the samurai’s testimony and condemned him. The warrior selected an assistant for the ritual, the kaishakunin, and retired to a specially decorated room. There, he would spend his last days preparing for the end. The ritual just didn’t happen if the samurai was arrested in battle – in that case, he killed himself quickly
3) The last meal
In absolute silence, the samurai was bathed and given a white kimono. Over the sanbo (a wooden board), he was given his favorite meal, two shots of sake, paper, a quill, and a short sword called a tanton, wrapped in paper. The samurai drank each drink in two quick gulps, holding the glass in his left hand. Afterwards, he had his final feeding
4) Reflection and inspiration
The convict was obliged to write a jinsei, poem that would record his last thoughts for posterity and had a fixed rhyming pattern. Many have been preserved, such as that of Gesshu Soko, who performed the ritual in 1696: «Inhale, exhale / Forward, backward / Living, dying / Now I return to my source»
5) Death row
The sacrifice was always performed in the late afternoon, at sunset, in a tent positioned in the middle of a garden or at the entrance of a Buddhist temple. To reach him, the samurai would leave the room where he was isolated and pass alone through a corridor, walking slowly, head high, under the gaze of his peers. fellow samurai
6) finishing blow
In the tent, sitting on a cushion or tatami, the warrior turned the sword in the air, in circular movements. Then he opened the abdomen itself, from left to right, so that your intestines fall onto the pillow. There, he stretched his neck so that the kaishakunin save him from suffering, applying a precise blow to the throat called kaishaku
7) Farewell with merit
The samurai’s body was then removed from the site to be cremated. The ashes were buried with full military honors. The poem written by him was kept and became part of the shogun’s collection. The knife was discarded, as it was contaminated by death. The site was carefully washed to ensure it was spotless for the next ritual.
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CONSULTANCYWalter Burkert, Professor of Classical Antiquity at the University of Zurich, Patricia Smith, Anthropologist at the Hebrew University, Miranda Aldhouse-Green, Archaeologist and Professor at Cardiff University, Jonathan Tubb, Archaeologist at the British Museum, Jan Bremmer, Professor of Religious Science at the University of from Groningen
SOURCESBooksCity of Sacrificeby David CarrascoDying for the Godsby Miranda Green SuttonThe Highest Altarby Patrick Tierney, andJapanese Death Poemsby Yoel Hoffmann, and filmThe Straw Manby Robin Hardy