What is seppuku, the law of suicide, in Shogun?

IN Shogun, loyalty is everything. The Disney+ series, which adapts James Clavell’s book, spends a lot of time exploring the social and moral aspects of feudal Japan. But, at the same time, in more detail what this word meant in a particularly turbulent and tense time, honor and the ability to be trustworthy. This leads to several characters paying for their ethical and moral crimes with their lives. Moreover, suicide becomes a solution that can protect one’s own honor and the honor of the family at a critical moment.

The so-called honor suicide or seppuku, also known as hara-kiri, comes from the samurai code written by Yamamoto Tsumemoto. In a 17th-century work, the author, a vassal of the powerful Nabeshima clan of Hizen Province, clarifies what was already an oral custom. Namely, that “the way of the samurai is death.” This ranged from a warrior’s duty to fight as long as he could stand, to suicide. Which made it clear that symbolic Japanese figures could only seek death to honor power or, in the worst case, to clear their honor. The custom originated from the ancient traditions of Japan, who pointed out that self-immolation for a great or ethically exalted purpose was a way to ensure eternity.

However, for combatants, death was an inevitable act, even if they were not killed in the midst of hand-to-hand combat. As can be seen in ShogunTo have one’s own life was a tribute to the power of the territory to which the warrior belonged. In particular, from 603 AD, when power in Japan became mythological in origin, ritual suicide acquired a ritual component. Thus, the practices ranged from diving in armor, until he fell at a full gallop, sword in his teeth.

Where does seppuku come from?

In feudal Japan, death was an act that had to have a purpose. Moreover, it was believed that receiving torture from the enemy was a disgrace for the warrior, as well as his ancestors and descendants. Therefore, prisoners often attempted suicide to avoid being paraded as trophies or subjected to humiliating torture. But with the samurai, it was also about showing that even at their worst, their loyalty is clear. Particularly because a warrior’s death was often analyzed in the context of how it could benefit or harm his family and clan.

There was also the figure of obligatory seppuku – a court order that considered the samurai to have lost honor. So his death was the only way to compensate for the act of infidelity or, in the worst case, betrayal. But in addition to what was associated with the social and cultural nature of the samurai’s behavior, there was the fact of the punishment that he could inherit. Therefore, in many cases it was preferable for a warrior to die by his own hand. not allowing his children to inherit his shame.

Suicide as a complex tradition

For the time it shows ShogunSuicide could be committed in various ways, all of which were associated with sacred military customs. The most common: the one in which the samurai plunged the blade of the sword into his stomach.

Also another form, more related to the law, was called the “Number Ten Cut”. This consisted of striking with a dagger according to the Japanese idiogram for ten. In such cases, the victim was allowed to have a kaishakunin or second honorary title next to him. The deputy had to decapitate the prisoner once the blade stuck.

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Death was considered especially painful and was perceived as the highest manifestation of courage. This meant that the disgraced warrior had shown courage greater than his infidelity, and therefore his mistakes were forgiven. Method that Shogun details of his most difficult scenes.