Claim: Seppuku is an abandoned Japanese ritual.

Seppuku -LRB- 切腹 , `` cutting -LSB- the -RSB- abdomen/belly '' , formal on reading of original Kanji -RRB- , sometimes metathesized as harakiri -LRB- 腹切り , `` abdomen/belly cutting '' -RRB- which is a native Japanese kun reading , is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment . It was originally reserved for samurai . A samurai practice , seppuku was used either voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies -LRB- and likely suffer torture -RRB- or as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offenses , or performed because they had brought shame to themselves . The ceremonial disembowelment , which is usually part of a more elaborate ritual and performed in front of spectators , consists of plunging a short blade , traditionally a tantō , into the abdomen and drawing the blade from left to right , slicing the abdomen open . If the cut , done with a movement , is done deep enough , it can cut the descending aorta , inducing a massive blood loss inside the abdomen , with a very fast death .