Haratkiri（seppuku） is a samurai's honor, and therefore is accompanied by the dignity of the samurai who disembowels himself.

Even if a person commits seppuku, he does not immediately die. If a person who has committed seppuku is left unattended, he or she will spend a long day and night in agony before dying. In order to shorten the time of suffering, the practice of "kaisoshin" became necessary. This is a samurai's way of reducing the amount of time a person suffers by standing behind or to the left of the person committing seppuku and cutting off the head immediately after the person has committed seppuku. Sometimes the seppuku practitioner himself would ask his most trusted and skilled samurai to do the job.

The person who is asked to do so accepts the request with dignity and performs the intercession. The head is cut off with a single sword as an act of compassion that does not prolong the suffering of the seppuku.
#harakiri #seppuku #Bushido