Samurai ritual suicide contest cancelled by organizer in west Japan

Like many places in Japan, the city of Matsue is proud of its local history, and also like many places in Japan, that local history involves samurai. Matsue is the prefectural capital of Shimane and now has a population of nearly 200,000 people, but Matsue Castle, which the city grew up around, remains an iconic symbol of the community, and there are various events held throughout the year that celebrate its samurai heritage.

However, the organizer of one samurai throwback event went a little too far when they decided to hold a “seppuku contest,” seppuku being the act of ritual suicide sometimes also known as harakiri.

Readers of a local newspaper were startled when, on November 9, the following ad appeared within the publication’s pages:

Seeking participants

Seppuku Contest

"We are seeking participants for a seppuku contest to be held at the Dandan Terrace at Matsue City Hall on December 14 (Saturday). After committing seppuku with a plastic sword, please demonstrate your acting skills by writhing around for 30 seconds to one minute. The person with the most vivid performance will be named the champion! *The use of fake blood is prohibited."

The ad concluded with an email address for participants to contact in order to register for the event, along with a cautionary note that, in the event of a large number of applicants, registration would be closed early.

The contents of the ad then started spreading on social media, where some people expressed amusement at the idea, others expressed revulsion, and just about everyone was shocked that not only was a seppuku contest going to be held, but that it was going to be held at a government facility, the Dandan Terrace event space at Matsue City Hall. Actually, Matsue City Hall was just as shocked as everyone else, since the newspaper ad was the first time they’d heard about the planned seppuku contest too.

Yes, Matsue City Hall had received, and approved, an application for an event to be held at Dandan Terrace on December 14, but it was for something much more benign: a flea market. What’s more, the applicant was someone who’d previously organized at least one other flea market at the venue, without any ritual suicide reenactments being pitched as a bizarre bit of side entertainment.

Following the reveal of the seppuku contest plans, administrators from city hall spoke with the organizer, and the contest has now been cancelled, with the organizer making the following statement:

"Our core concern for this event [the flea market] was how to attract customers. I’ve organized various events with vendors, and the idea [for the seppuku contest] came from a girl in one group who stabbed herself in the stomach with a retractable [toy] sword that she was selling. We though it would be interesting to use the toy for that kind of acting performance.

I would like to apologize to the involved party at city hall for causing such a disturbance from something we intended to serve as entertainment. On the other hand, we have also received emails from people saying they approve of the idea and want to participate, but we feel that holding it could contribute to a loss of trust from city hall, and so we are cancelling the contest."

While an individual vendor fooling around like that might boost sales of a novelty retractable sword toy, it’s hard to imagine a full-on seppuku contest would put people in the mood to buy second-hand sweaters, retro electronics, or the myriad other, non-shanking-and-slicing-related items offered at flea markets. Even from a historical reenactment perspective, when samurai committed seppuku, those who could did so with a second on-hand to behead them shortly afterwards, so that they wouldn’t thrash around for 30 to 60 seconds, so the contest’s cancellation is probably for the best.

Source: TBS News Dig, Twitter/@ kuro_koshou

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