Nitobe clearly explains that “Death involving a question of honor, was accepted in Bushido as a key to the solution of many complex problems”(115). The act was performed totally and simply for honor. There is also a fundamental reason why it had to be in the stomach and not another part, “for the choice of this particular body to operate upon, was based on an old anatomical belief as to the seat of the soul and of the affections(Nitoble 112). Seppuku had a very complex meaning in itself, which was deeply based on the religious beliefs and social assumptions.
There were and still are two main religions in Japan, namely Buddhism and Shinto. In some cases Shinto took over the tenents of Buddhism. “The traditions of Shinto may be thought of as the traditions of Japan itself.”, declares the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Between the eighth and the nineteenth century there was a complete assimilation of Buddhism and Shinto. So it is possible to consider that both religions had a big impact on people’s lives at that time.
The teaching of Buddhism declares that evil and pain are just illusions. For hardship therefore there is no need to commit suicide. Reischauer claims that the whole concept of salvation through faith and divine grace wasn’t among the original ideas of Buddhism, but was transferred from the concept of Christianity.
In Buddhism thinking, there is the idea of another life after death; suicide seemed as a positive virtue with a symbolic effect. And especially when it was to honor someone, as samurai did. This was not the only suicide which was altruistic.
The Kamikazes
“ Kamikaze was the Japanese name for a great storm that arouse off coast of Japan in the thirteenth century when Kublai Khan’s armies were about to invade Japan. The storm broke up the Chinese invasion fleet and Japan was saved.”(Hoyt 7)
To understand the real meaning of the word there is a need of an explanation. In western society it is named not quite correctly as the divine wind. Kamikaze is a word composed of two nouns, kami and kaze (wind). It is grammatically incorrect to put these two words into one, but it can be assumed that there was a negative relationship between these nouns.
Kami is the main concept of Shinto. “It only rarely represented in human form, are usually symbolized by such object as mirrors, swords or magatama, whenever the original object of worship, such as a tree or a waterfall, is not present.”(Reischauer 472)
The well-known kamikazes were suicide attackers. They loaded their airplanes with bombs and crashed into the adversers’ navals or ships, namely during the Second World War against the Americans. Charlevoix says “nothing is commoner than to see ships along the seashores filled these fanatics, who throw themselves into the water weighted with stones, or sink their ships and let themselves to be gradually submerged while singing their idol’s praises.”(Durkheim 224). By performing it, they became the wind of the kami. And it is the most honorable and respected thing to do and to be. Durkheim adds that “there is no suicide with more definitely altruistic character.”(225). Many people who didn’t understand this concept said that these soldiers were crazy to do such things for the country. But maybe it wasn’t done for the country but for their soul, to get closer and become one with the kami.
This was probably the last of the traditional act. At this time, it is already started to be totally westernized. Maybe it even was not ritual anymore, but by calling it so, it made it divine and an act of older concept of Japan.
The Act of Mishima
As said in the beginning, Yukio Mishima, the well-known Japanese novelist committed suicide by the ritual act, seppuku. This event seemed as a performance of a nationalist who wanted to fight against the westernization of Japan, whereas this ceremony looked more westernized than traditional or ritual. Even though Mishima did the seppuku, the fact of making it an event, as a manifestation was far from the old concept of it. It even looked as a facist performance.
Most people might have thought of him as the last real nationalist. This may superficially look so but does not stand up in soutiny. Mishima has claimed in Confession of Mask that death and the will of it was in him since the beginning of his life, and he will prove by his death. There is also another contradictory reason. He lived a very “modern” life, which was made possible because of western culture, but he “fought” to keep the tradition. Which one did he actually want? An open-minded, where he could live the way he wanted or a closed place where nobody would have accepted him. He might have been confused. So it is possible to consider that his suicide was not for the Emperor, but actually for his own pleasure.
After this event people could easily see that the definition of suicide had changed. It went from an “altruistic suicide” to an “egoistic suicide, which occurs when the individual is not properly integrated into the society but is, instead, thrown onto his own resources.”(Alvarez 92).
The Modern Concept
Since the end of the Second World War, the speed of westernization of Japan became faster and faster.
Lamar observed that “the most notable change was the sharp increase in suicides related to financial problems.”. He also adds that “the lack of money was a factor in about one in three suicides.” This shows that the reason of performing this act changed from an honorable and positive event to a pessimistic and negative event that escapes from the pain, in general where the cause is materialistic.
In the old days, money didn’t mean much, especially when it was compared with the status. The westernization civilization gave a much bigger value to it. Today’s world is full of materialism, just by looking at all those commercial advertising selling point of materialistic satisfaction prevailing all over the world. Everyday, everyone is working for money and it is like something that determines your social status. Not money is conceptually in us as an indicator of self-wealthiness but also self-worthiness. When modern people fall into financial difficulties or going bankruptcy, they always think this is the end of the world and commit suicide is the only way. “We can’t live without money” seems to be the survival principle under modernization. The whole society’s value judgment has been changed with the increasing complexity of the world.
Adolescents’ suicide is another area that urges society’s concern in Japan. There are many examples of teenagers killing themselves, because of problems in school life. It happens mostly in high school. This is the time when the teenagers experience independently of most of the work. And the education system in Japan is most strict and stressful at this period as they are required to go through many competitive national examinations before entering the colleges and universities. This “one-time” decision of whether you can get into a university is killing most of the students. It is obvious that this education exerts so much pressure on teenagers. Also, parents’ expectations on their children’s academic performance are very high and tight. It is always for the parents to considered themselves as shameful and unsuccessful if their children are not doing well or not in a level that they expect. “Adolescence is a time of ‘finding yourself,’ of determining ‘who I am?’ or ‘who will I be?’ It is when most people construct a coherent ‘life story’ of how one life event led to another.”(James 387) If one gets lost and confused during this process of identity development, there may be an identity crisis. “The term crisis implies more emotional turbulence”(James) which in turns may lead to depression. If someone looks differently or acts strangely, most the classmates get together and start the bullying. Teenage is a phase of needing conformity and acceptance by friends so as to gain a sense of belonging and security. And when the boy or the girl cannot stand the rejection and isolation by friends, they kill themselves. Which again is an example of an “egotistic suicide”, because they feel different or simply because they cannot tolerate the suffer and the pain of oneself.
The westernization of Japan changed a lot of things in the country. It went even very deep, to their concepts and thoughts, which changed the reason of killing themselves from a positive and symbolic way, as Durkheim claims that “What is called a reason for living is also a good reason for dying.”, to a miserable and negative way of today(Alvarez 92). The change is inevitable, because the enhancement of the concept of human rights. This phenomenon was observed in other Asian cultures too. “Altruistic suicide”, which Durkheim thought, “was a characteristic of primitive society.”(Alvarez 92) It is possible to say that the human rights came along with the civilization. These days, people have and should have the rights to take their own life when they wish to do it, and not for the society they live in. So the traditional act became almost impossible to be performed simply because almost nobody of today is willing to die for their country anymore. People have the rights to choose for themselves.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Alfred. The Savage God, a Study of Suicide. New York: Ramdom House,1972.
Durkheim, Emile. Suicide. A Study in Sociology. Ed. George Simpson. New York: The Free Press, 1966.
Hoyt, Edwin P. The kamikazes. New York: Arbor House, 1983.
Lamar, Joe. “Suicide in Japan reach a record high.” British Medical Journal 2.9(2000): 528
Mishima, Yukio. Confession of a Mask. Trans. Meredith Weatherby. New York: New Directions, 1958.
Nitobe, Inazo. Bushido, the Soul of Japan. Tokyo: Teibi Publishing Company, 1909.
Reischauer, Edwin O, John K. Fairbank. A History of East Asian Civilization. 2 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960-65.
James W., Kalat. Introduction to Psychology. 6th ed. California: The Wadsworth, 2002.
“Seppuku.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1997.
“Shinto.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1997.
“The Yukio Mishima Cyber Museum”. History of his life.
