WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -As a samurai practice, seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honour rather than fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely be tortured), as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offences, or performed because they had brought shame to themselves.

Detailed explanation-2: -To refuse to commit seppuku when ordered (or after having the option offered), meant the samurai was unrepentant of his acts. Chances were, he would have his name stripped and become a ronin. In polite Rokugani society, to be forced to live with such dishonor was more vicious than any pain or death.

Detailed explanation-3: -The main weapon used was the samurai’s knife called tantō or the short sword, called wakizashi. A samurai who wants to commit seppuku would take the weapon, open his kimono and stab the blade into his belly.

Detailed explanation-4: -Seppuku was a highly ritualized exercise limited to the Japanese warrior caste, the samurai, with its sanctioned practice spanning from the 700s until it was formally outlawed in 1873[34, 35]. In its most idealized form, seppuku was an act that, at its heart, symbolized resolution in the face of death.

Detailed explanation-5: -Assuming a Samurai attempted Seppuku, but failed to die in the process, then a fellow Samurai will fill the role of “Kaishakunin”, kind of a mix of executioner and mercy killer, by cutting off the first Samurai’s head to end the attempt.