Harakiri (1962 Film)

Harakiri (1962 Film)

Harakiri (Japanese: 切腹, Seppuku) (1962) is a Japanese film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The story takes place between 1619 and 1630 during the Edo period and the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. It tells the story of Hanshiro Tsugumo, a rōnin ("wave man" - a warrior without a lord), who was ordered to stay alive after his lord was deposed - instead of committing seppuku ("stomach-cutting" - a form of ritual suicide). He is told to live so that he can care for his daughter, grandson and son-in-law, the son of the lord's highest Samurai ( "those who serve in close attendance to nobility") and closest friend of Tsugumo who commits Harakiri with his lord.