Harikari (Noun)
Meaning
Ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword; practiced by samurai in the traditional Japanese society.
Classification
Nouns denoting acts or actions.
Examples
- The defeated samurai, shamed by his failure in battle, took his own life by harikari, an act considered honorable in traditional Japanese culture.
- According to historical accounts, many Japanese nobles performed harikari rather than face the ignominy of defeat at the hands of their enemies.
- As the allied forces closed in, the isolated and surrounded Japanese commander decided to die with dignity through the ancient ritual of harikari.
- Historians often debated the meaning of the gesture when the vanquished leader's chief of staff also died by harikari following the capture of the stronghold.
- For generations of Japanese warriors, the very mention of the ritualistic practice of harikari stirred their spirits with reverence for its inherent ideals of sacrifice and unwavering honor.