220px, An illustration of ikido is a Japanese execution method. Ikido translates to "living torso". Ikido was invented during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

and was used as a form of

tameshigiri ''Tameshigiri'' (試し斬り, 試し切り, 試斬, 試切) is the Japanese art of target test cutting. The kanji literally mean ":wiktionary:試, test :wiktionary:切, cut" (kun'yomi: ためしぎり ''tameshi giri''). This practice was popul ...

(test cutting) on living people and dead people. Prior to execution, a mound of dirt was set-up on the execution site. The condemned person was laid on their stomach on the dirt mound and then blindfolded. The condemned person was then slashed with a sword on their neck and torso simultaneously, slicing the person in two. Sometimes after the execution, details of the execution were carved into the sword of the executioner. While mostly used as a form of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, ikido was also used on ordinary citizens.

References

{{reflist Capital punishment in Japan Weapon testing Edo period Execution methods

See also

References