Honor suicide

History in Japan

Honor suicide has deep roots historically in Japanese society, most famously in the form of harakiri (also known as seppuku). The 1962 film Harakiri directed by Masaki Kobayashi gives a direct and coherent portrayal of the act, involving ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. This would be voluntary and most often carried out by samurai who had failed to follow proper conduct, considering death to be preferable to dishonor. Harakiri was viewed as a form of self-sacrifice, not a punishment or penalty forced on a servant by their lord.

Despite this view, the requirement to commit harakiri was used as a capital punishment in old Japan, applied exclusively to persons of high rank and position, and being referred to as "grant of death" in this context. It was only in 1873 that the "Self-Punishment Act" was abolished, replaced by life imprisonment to be applied to a corresponding case, and hence harakiri disappeared as a form of death penalty.

During the Second World War, some officers in Imperial Japan were reported to have committed harakiri, such as Takijiro Onishi, the admiral who devised the kamikaze tactic. The most notable example of harakiri in modern times is that of Yukio Mishima, a hardline nationalist who felt the Japanese military and society had become weak since the end of World War II. Mishima committed Harakiri in 1970 after forcing his way into the Japanese Self-Defense Force’s headquarters, having failed to persuade them into a coup to restore the emperor's political power.

In the aftermath of the fatal crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, two Japan Airlines personnel killed themselves, including an engineer who had personally inspected the plane during a prior incident seven years earlier.

In Japan, there is a tradition of death, instead of shame, targeting those who fail to meet family or community expectations, extending to the elderly who may consider themselves burdensome; Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.