Artifact Friday: Hara-Kiri Knife

Trigger Warning: This blog discusses tough topics, such as suicide.

Due to the speed and urgency with which Japan modernized in the late 1800s and early 1900s, many ancient traditions and customs persisted into the more developed age of their nation. Among these traditions was ritual suicide, Seppuku.

Now, it is important to note that the Imperial Japanese of World War II are vastly different from Japan today. Since the occupation of Japan by the United States, the tradition of Seppuku has been done away with and is looked back on by the Japanese as an almost archaic part of their history. With these important distinctions out of the way, we can turn to the tools of this gruesome ritual.

In order for a warrior to preserve their honor after a defeat or great insult, the warrior would take a specially crafted knife called a hara-kiri and use it to end their own life. Seppuku was actually outlawed in Japan in 1873, but the onset of World War II and the use of the old Bushido code in modern warfare saw Seppuku return.

During World War II, higher-ranking officers of the Japanese would be provided with a hara-kiri. This was because surrender was deemed dishonorable. Lower-ranking soldiers would be given ample opportunity to perish in battle, but high-ranking officers were seldom given that opportunity while commanding their troops from the rear, so to preserve their honor, they would utilize the hara-kiri rather than surrender to the Allies.

This was the case with Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata after the United States achieved victory at the Second Battle of Guam. With the writing on the wall, cases of Seppuku spiked throughout the Japanese leadership. Many of these ceremonial hara-kiri were preserved; however, the tradition of Seppuku was not.