Seppuku Or | Harakiri _verified_

The setting was often a temple garden or a courtyard. The condemned samurai, dressed in formal white robes (the color of death in Shinto), would be seated on two tatami mats. Behind him stood his kaishakunin (his "second"—a trusted friend or a skilled swordsman).

In front of the samurai would be a small table ( kashidai ) holding a tantō (a short blade) wrapped in washi paper. seppuku or harakiri

For many in the West, the image is stark and unsettling: a samurai warrior, kneeling calmly in a garden, driving a short blade into his own abdomen. We know it as harakiri —a word that sounds exotic and brutal. However, within Japan, the more formal and respectful term is seppuku (切腹). Far from a simple act of suicide, seppuku was a complex, ritualized form of self-execution that served as a cornerstone of the samurai’s moral code for centuries. The setting was often a temple garden or a courtyard