seppuku

[drjoe]

i am trying to find some scholarly information on seppuku for academic purposes. i have ordered the recent book by Andrew Rankin, but am wondering if there is other information in the English language to be recommended. this is for a larger scope paper about culturally sanctioned forms of suicide.

 

as a side note, there was a recent case report in an academic journal about a case of male suicide, presumably in Italy, utilizing a "tanto" to the neck, suggesting jigai. the short paper claims that jigai involved tanto (15-30 cm blades), whereas seppuku involved katana (by which them seem to include any blades 30-60 cm) and always involved a kaishakunin. i believe the last comment is wrong on both counts and am interested in writing a correction. can someone therefore remind me the non-shaku measurements that separate tanto/wakizashi/katana, confirm that seppuku was usually carried out with tanto or wakizashi but not katana, and forward any information about whether kaishakunin were "always" involved in seppuku?

[Ken-Hawaii]

This should get you started, Joe: http://www.tameshigiri.ca/2014/02/08/forensic-evidence-of-medieval-kaishaku-in-seppuku/

Ken

[Baka Gaijin]

Morning all

 

This may be of use:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hara-kiri-Japan ... =hara+kiri

 

It's the Kindle version, but the book exists in real world form.

 

Curiously though there is also an Italian Language version............

 

Cheers

[drjoe]

yes, i saw the seward book, but after reading reviews, decided to go with the rankin book instead. it arrived today, so i'll give it a read.

 

thanks for the link to the online article.

 

the article i mentioned also states that seppuku involved only cutting through the abdominal wall, allowing the intestines to spill out. that, in general, is not immediately lethal such that the kaishakunin is necessary. i had always under the impression that death from seppuku occurred fairly easily with a few more inches of penetration that would easily cut into the descending aorta, and that the kaishakunin's role was more of a kind fo bail-out measure.

[IanB]

See also Mitfords's 'Tales of Old Japan'. Algernon Mitford was one of the official witnesses to the seppuku of a Bizen samurai after an attack on the Europeans. He describes the ceremony and also devotes a chapter to the whole matter.

Ian Bottomley