Seppuku was a Japanese ritual involving a samurai’s self-disembowelment to preserve honor.
The practice was also called harakiri, although seppuku is the formal term traditionally preferred in historical writing. It was associated with samurai ideals of honor, responsibility, and loyalty, and could be ordered as a punishment or chosen in response to defeat, disgrace, or political circumstances.
In formal cases, an assistant called a kaishakunin could perform the final act with a sword, reducing prolonged suffering. Ceremonies varied across periods and circumstances, and the practice was not limited to one single ritual script.
Seppuku should not be confused with junshi, the practice of following a lord in death, or with ordinary battlefield suicide. The Tokugawa government regulated and sometimes restricted it, while the practice continued in altered forms into the modern period.