Legendary Minamoto No Tametomo – First Samurai To Commit Seppuku

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The ancient history of Seppuku is obscure, and it's difficult to trace the beginnings of the suicide ritual. However, it seems that the first recorded accounts of Seppuku occurred on a battlefield as a means of escape.

Captured by their enemy, ancient Japanese warriors preferred to commit suicide instead of being executed by beheading or crucifixion.

Minamoto no Tametomo with two islanders on a beach at Ashijima. Image credit: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Japan, 1839-1892)  - source

The first samurai who committed suicide by slicing his abdomen was Minamoto no Tametomo (1139-1170). Famous for being a mighty archer who once sank an entire Taira ship with just one arrow, legendary Samurai Tametomo chose to commit Seppuku.

As Ancient Pages previously discussed in another article, Seppuku is a ritual form of committing suicide in Japanese society.

Many people in the Western world believe it is a horrible and barbaric act. According to the Japanese way of thinking, however, the Seppuku ("cutting the belly") meant an honorable death, which was more desirable than a useless life in shame.

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