Seppuku

Note from the author: Do not read if you are easily grossed out! Seppuku Seppuku is one of the more gross ritual forms of Japanese suicide. Seppuku means stomach-cutting (Eww!) in Japanese, as it is performed by stabbing yourself with a sword, and then moving it left and right. It was origionally only for use by a Samurai who had done at least one of the following: ......................................................................................... .^^^A tonto, used for Seppuku^^^ ^^^A prepared ritual^^^.......... Upon his suicide, a warrior would write a death poem. When committing suicide, a "second" (usually a friend) would attend the suicide who would give honor to the about to be deceased warrior. This "second" had to be good with swords as (during the ritual) he would slice the skin, so that the (now deceased) warrior's HEAD would be attached to the body by a small band of skin. (Could you imagine doing this to your friend? Could you imagine being ASKED to do it BY YOUR FRIEND?)
 * Rather die with honor than give themselves up to the enemy
 * Committed a capital punishment and wanted to die with honor (having someone else kill you was considered dishonorable)
 * Have done something that shamed them[[image:180px-Wakisashi-sepukku-p1000699.jpg width="216" height="159"]][[image:250px-Seppuku.jpg]]

 Another (oh, great) extremely painful form of Seppuku is when the death is really slow, when the samurai warrior dies from BLOOD LOSS (the amount of time varies depending on the size of the wound) and said warrior is expected to sit there, hands-on-face, and take the extreme pain that happens when you perform this form of suicide (which lasts at least 5 minutes).

 A feudal form of Seppuku is called "kanshi" where (in protest of a lord's decision) someone would stab themself in the stomach, quickly bandage it, request an audience with a lord, give a speech on his protesting, and show the lord his wound.

This wonderful information was found...
 * [|en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku]
 * [|victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/seppuku.html]
 * [|www.aikidofaq.com/essays/seppuku.html]