Kaishakunin

A ''kaishakunin'' (, ) is a man appointed to behead an individual who has performed seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide, at the moment of agony. The role played by the ''kaishakunin'' is called ''kaishaku''.

Aside from being spared prolonged anguish until death, both the condemned and those on hand to observe are spared the spectacle of the writhing death throes that would ensue.

The most recent ''kaishakunin'' of the 20th century was Hiroyasu Koga, who beheaded both the novelist Yukio Mishima and the political activist Masakatsu Morita during their seppuku.

Ritual

Still preserved in modern-day movements (''kata'') of the martial art Iaidō, the ritual of performing ''kaishaku'' varies very little between Japanese fencing schools, but all of them are bound to the following steps to be performed by the ''kaishakunin'':
#First, the ''kaishakunin'' sits down in the upright (''seiza'') position, or remains standing, at the left side of the person about to commit ''seppuku'', at a prudent distance but close enough to be reached with his sword (''katana'') at the appropriate time.
#If seated, the ''kaishakunin'' will rise slowly, first on his knees, then stepping with the right foot while drawing the katana very slowly and silently and standing up in the same fashion (keeping in mind that the target ('' teki'') is not an enemy, but rather a fellow samurai). If the ''kaishakunin'' was in a standing stance, he will draw his sword slowly and silently as well. In both cases, after the sword is out of the scabbard ('' saya''), he will raise it with the right hand and wait for the ''seppuku'' to begin. Some classic (''ko-ryū'') Iaidō styles, like the Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū school, establish this "waiting stance" as the ''kaishakunin'' having taken one step back with the right foot, ''katana'' behind his head parallel to the floor held with the right hand, left hand holding the scabbard in the proper (''sayabiki'') position; other styles, like Musō Shinden-ryū, establish that the ''katana'' is to be held vertically, parallel to the body, held in the right hand, the left hand resting at the ''kaishakunin'' side, feet together. In any case, the ''kaishakunin'' will always keep eye contact with the samurai performing ''seppuku'', and waiting for his cut (''kiri'') through his abdomen (''hara'').
#When the samurai actually performs the ''seppuku'', and after he returns the dagger (''tantō'') back to its place, the ''kaishakunin'' steps forward, letting the ''katana'' drop straight through the back of the neck of the dying samurai. Just before making contact, the ''kaishakunin'' grips the handle (''tsuka'') with both hands, giving precision to the ''katana''s blade and strength to the downward cut ('' kiritsuke''). The final cut must be controlled in order to reach only half the neck of the samurai; the kaishaku, leaving the required skin to hold the head attached to the samurai's body, was performed by a single slashing/withdrawing motion of the ''katana''. The complete cut-slash-withdraw motion is called '' daki-kubi''.

After the dead samurai falls, the ''kaishakunin'', with the same slow, silent style used when unsheathing the ''katana'', shakes the blood off the blade (a movement called '' chiburi'') and returns the ''katana'' to the scabbard (a movement called ''noto''), while kneeling towards the fellow samurai's dead body. When this is completed, the ''kaishakunin'' remains kneeling for a while, as a sign of deep respect to the fallen samurai who performed the ritual suicide, always in a state of "total awareness" ('' zanshin'') before standing up and bowing (''rei'') to his body.

Role as executioner

In some ''seppuku'' rituals, no disembowelment occurs. The condemned person merely moves the tantō, or, sometimes, a wooden stick or fan, across his stomach, followed by a beheading by the ''kaishakunin''. In this variation, the ''kaishakunin'' becomes in effect the executioner, and ''seppuku'' becomes effectively a beheading.

In other seppuku rituals, the cut to the neck may be done as the condemned person simply reaches for the tanto. The reaching gave honor to the condemned, as he was exhibiting intent by doing so, and the "early" stroke of the sword could be dismissed as a small mistake in timing by an overzealous kaishakunin. In reality, this was planned ahead of time to spare the condemned the pain of actually trying to disembowel himself.

See also

* Coup de grâce
* Mozambique Drill

References

* {{cite book , last=Garcia , first=R.S. , title=The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts , publisher=Taylor & Francis , series=Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society , year=2018 , isbn=978-1-351-33379-5 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GwxpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT106 , access-date=2022-07-17

Suicide by seppuku
Culture of Japan