Hara-kiri - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Hara-kiri write by Jack Seward. This book was released on 2012-07-17. Hara-kiri available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Hari-Kiri is a definitive text on Japanese ritual suicide, also known as suppuku. To the average westerner, the word hara-kiri conjures up an image of excruciating, self-inflicted pain; of a deep, fatal incision. To the Japanese, this kind of suicide embodies the best qualities of courage, honor, and discipline. Through extensive research, author Jack Seward brings to the English-speaking public a dissertation on the subject that is thoroughly enlightening. Fluent in speaking, reading, and writing Japanese, he was able to glean information from ancient documents—many of them scrolls in the Japanese archives—that few foreigners have seen. The earliest writings on hara-kiri (known more formally as seppuku) are thus revealed, as are the intricate rituals surrounding the ceremony. "The major purpose of this book," says the author, "is to clarify the historical and sociological significance of a unique method of self-destruction." In fulfilling this purpose, author Seward has come up with a definitive work that is sure to arouse interest both as a scholarly effort and as simple, fascinating reading.
Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Yukio Mishima write by Acie Cargill. This book was released on 2019-07-19. Yukio Mishima available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's best writers of the 2oth century, was deeply attracted to the patriotism and martial spirit of Japan's past, which he contrasted unfavourably to the materialistic Westernized people and the prosperous society of Japan in the postwar era. Mishima himself was torn between these differing values. Although he maintained an essentially Western lifestyle in his private life and had a vast knowledge of Western culture, he raged against Japan's imitation of the West. He diligently developed the age-old Japanese arts of karate and kendo. He formed a controversial private army of about 80 students, the Tate no Kai (Shield Society), with the aim of preserving the Japanese martial spirit and theoretically helping to protect the emperor (the symbol of Japanese culture) in case of an uprising by the left or a communist attack.On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of his militia entered a military base in central Tokyo, took the commandant hostage, and tried to persuade the soldiers at the base to join them in supporting the emperor and overturning Japan's pacifist Constitution. When this was unsuccessful, Mishima committed suicide by seppuku. It seems that this was his original purpose, a ritual suicide in the samurai tradition. He had written his closing letters and got all his affairs in order before they went on their mission. He left enough money for his assistants to have a legal defense.
Seppuku
Seppuku - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Seppuku write by Andrew Rankin. This book was released on 2012-11-20. Seppuku available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The history of seppuku—Japanese ritual suicide by cutting the stomach, sometimes referred to as hara-kiri—spans a millennium, and came to be favored by samurai as an honorable form of death. Here, for the first time in English, is a book that charts the history of seppuku from ancient times to the twentieth century through a collection of swashbuckling tales from history and literature. Author Andrew Rankin takes us from the first recorded incident of seppuku, by the goddess Aomi in the eighth century, through the "golden age" of seppuku in the sixteenth century that includes the suicides of Shibata Katsuie, Sen no Rikyū and Toyotomi Hidetsugu, up to the seppuku of General Nogi Maresuke in 1912. Drawing on never-before-translated medieval war tales, samurai clan documents, and execution handbooks, Rankin also provides a fascinating look at the seppuku ritual itself, explaining the correct protocol and etiquette for seppuku, different stomach-cutting procedures, types of swords, attire, location, even what kinds of refreshment should be served at the seppuku ceremony. The book ends with a collection of quotations from authors and commentators down through the centuries, summing up both the Japanese attitude toward seppuku and foreigners’ reactions: "As for when to die, make sure you are one step ahead of everyone else. Never pull back from the brink. But be aware that there are times when you should die, and times when you should not. Die at the right moment, and you will be a hero. Die at the wrong moment, and you will die like a dog." — Izawa Nagahide, The Warrior’s Code, 1725 "We all thought, ‘These guys are some kind of nutcakes.’" — Jim Verdolini, USS Randolph, describing "Kamikaze" attack of March 11, 1945
Suicide
Suicide - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Suicide write by Nils Retterstøl. This book was released on 1993-06-17. Suicide available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A sensitive and enlightening account of the problem of suicide and attempted suicide in today's societies.
Heaven, Hell and Hara-kiri
Heaven, Hell and Hara-kiri - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Heaven, Hell and Hara-kiri write by James Kirkup. This book was released on 1974. Heaven, Hell and Hara-kiri available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle.
