WHERE SUICIDE IS HONOUR

Evening Star, Issue 20468, 26 April 1930, Page 4

WHERE SUICIDE IS HONOUR

HARAKIRI STILL SURVIVES IN JAPAN Tho Japanese of llabaul who failed to commit liarakiri because he had collected butterflies when the Emperor wanted beetles, has possibly had Jns conscience blunted by long residence ni foreign lands, says a writer in an overseas journal. Even in modern times suicide by harakiri has proved the gate of honour for many Japanese officials who were faced with similar humiliation. Newspaper readers will remember that less than two years ago a Japanese citizen of the United States committed liarakiri before tho gates of the Japanese Embassy in Washington as a protest against anti-Japanese legislation. In 1925 a prominent Japanese official dealt himself the same fate to signify his disapproval of his Government’s foreign policy. Men like these have carried into tho present day the stoic virtues of the feudal samurai, for whom self-destruction was a soldier’s privilege. There was nothing in the least sentimental about this attitude of death, for suicide did not px-esent itself as an easy and romantic way out of life’s difficulties and. dangers. Where suicide is sought as preferable to life’s stress, the easier and less painful paths to oblivion are sought by the victims. Harakiri means literally discmbowelmcnt, and tiy this ghastly method thousands of Japanese have died with heroic fortitude rather than face dishonour. A few years aro tho peasants in a rural district, who objected to a railway line which spoiled their lands, destroyed tho newly-laid rails. Tho Government official in charge of the work, who was a descendant of the samurai caste, took the damage to Government property so ill, and liis own responsibility so heavily, that he committed liarakiri. His attitude caused a controversy m tho Japanese Press, for a section of modernised Japan considers such a suicide overdone; but in general it was acknowledged that his death would bring home to tho countryside the ethical standards that were falling into decay, and by showing that men still valued honour above life, would uphold spiritual values. A Japanese writer in ‘ The Transpacific ’ (Tokio) points out that the nnrakiri of to-day is only a symbol of the appalling torture undergone by tho samurai ip olden days. Then a man

who had plunged the dagger into Ins stomach died slowly by the loss of blood. During the peaceful age, when the battle cries had been silent for 80 long, the bushi were not able to contemplate this method with indifference, and those who were obliged to witness the scene could not look on for pity. A friend, or second, was introduced, to decapitate the body immediately the fatal blow had been struck. Though harakiri was once the favourite national form of suicide, responsible for not less than 1,500 deaths a year, it was the military class who kept the tradition alive. Thest stoics, who lived only for honour, used to commit harakiri rather than fall alive into the hands of the enemy, and later law-breaking samurai were allowed this end as a casta privilege. Officials who had broken the law oxbeen disloyal to their leaders received a courteously worded note from their mikado, intimating that they were to die. Usually the mikado sent a jewelled dagger, with which to commit the deed The noble never questioned the decree of the mikado, but made ceremonious preparation for his death. The furniture, the meals, and the whole of the of the house were arranged according to a set ritual. When his time came, the official arranged tho models of the Three Treasures in the exact position prescribed by tradition, and had a dais raranged, either in his own baronial hall or in. a temple. Upon this a rug of red felt was placed, and around it gathered in a semi-circle witnesses and friends. Robed in his ceremonial uniform, and.wearing his sword, the official stepped on to the dais, and the mikado’s representative, with many obeisances, handed him the dagger.'

After making public confession, the condemned man plunged the dagger into his own body, and was immediately beheaded by his own best friend. When compulsory harakiri was abolished the general practice still continued. Harakiri was not only a means of punishment, but the most effective form of protest known to a proud and stoical people. It might be committed as a complaint against official abuses when no ordinary plea could reach the authorities, or it might be used to turn a liege lord from evil courses. In this, not the least frequent cause, the suicide rises to heights of extraordinary nobility. The victim does not even know whether his sacrifice will he ot the least avail; whether his name will bo honoured or execrated. The samurai who carried the practice of harakiri into modern times certainly do not regard it as a relic of barbarism. They have grown up in a Japan which is full of luxury and temptations to easy living; and their insistence on tho stoic virtues is. largely a protest against the softening effects of a Western civilisation, and a claim for the hardihood and manliness which the old regime exacted. . Countries where suicide is regarded ns a cowardly evasion of life and an offence against civilisation must still Grant to tho Japanese harakiri its own grim virtues.