While I was at Kinokuniya I saw that the bookstore carried the Dark Horse translations of 3 of the works by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. I was intrigued by Samurai Executioner (wiki), which I have not yet read.
Suicide is often perceived to be a [cowardly?] escape from the evils that are besetting one. Death is preferable to a life in which one continues to suffer from some evil. Given the basic or foundational value of life, it can be difficult for us to comprehend how someone could take his life; often we must rationalize this 'choice' by looking for something that diminishes culpability, being dominated by one's emotions and so on.
I was struck by the thought that perhaps committing suicide in order to make up for dishonor might be different from this. But then, isn't suicide not just a means of reclaiming honor or making up for one's failure, but also a way to escape a life of dishonor?
But if a samurai could regain one's honor and continue living, would he not chose that means instead? Only the taking one's life can make up for the dishonor that one has suffered. Why is dishonor reckoned to be so grave an evil? And how can killing one's self cleanse him of the stain of dishonor?
Failure is not necessarily the same as doing evil or sin. If one fails to observe one's duties because one has been negligent or culpable in some other way, then one may be liable to punishment. In this case the proscription of ritual suicide is a form of punishment, even if it appeals to honor so that the one who is to die carries out the act himself. But if one fails to attain some goal because of circumstances, or because one's opponent is better or stronger--then what should one be ashamed? Is that not a mask for pride? Why should there be dishonor or a decrease of dignity of worth if one has "done one's best"?
Often 'Western' revulsion at this type of suicide is dismissed by relativists as a failure to understand Japanese concepts of shame and honor. But can a 'sufficient' rationale really be given for it? The more I think about it, the more confused it seems. (Maybe it's because it's late.) What are other sources of shame for the samurai, which can be purged only through suicide?
The moral problem with suicide remains with respect to this practice--one does not have complete or absolute ownership of one's own life, so that one can simply put an end to it. (And in the case of suicide as punishment, it could be argued that one should not cooperate in putting an end to one's life, since that goes against the love of self.)
wiki: seppuku
Seppuku - artelino
Suicide and culture in Japan
Contemplating Suicide: The Language and Ethics of Self-harm
Japanese ethics: Beyond good and evil
Japanese Bushido
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