The seppuku custom dates back to theÂ 12th centuryÂ as a means for the upper and samurai classes exclusively toÂ atone for crimes, regain lost honour, or avoid disgraceful capture. The practice was abolished in 1873 during the Meiji restoration so modern-day suicides are not referred to as such. However, there are currently more than a dozen academic papers that argue how the high suicide rates in Japan may relate to the old seppuku traditional a form of atonement.