[cstaylor]

That link doesn't seem to work. Here's another one.

Okay, if it was ritual suicide, then it would be "seppuku". Hara kiri just means "stomach cut"... maybe that's the word Japanese use for nutty Gaijin that kill themselves this way?

[Harvey]

Hara kiri just means "stomach cut"... maybe that's the word Japanese use for nutty Gaijin that kill themselves this way?

I'm not even sure if Hara kiri even means stomach cut to Japanese... I asked some random nihonjin that I know about harakiri, and most of them had no idea what I was talking about...


Or maybe they're just uninformed. They say that Japanese people never say harakiri, and they also refer to 'it' as seppuku.

Now, if I was a millionare and was going to take myself out, I would do it more expensively.

Maybe rent private jet, and fly into the sun or something. Heh.

[Crispy]

[kamome]

because foreign words sounds less icky, like saying fellatio instead of blowjob.

Actually, Japanese feel embarrassed to use the word "fellatio" (pronounced "ferachio" in the katakana rendering) as well. They tend to go for even more subtle euphemisms when referring to that sort of thing.

[Harvey]

I just tested the harakiri vs seppuku thing on another unsuspecting Japanese person.

She said that in her mind harakiri and seppuku aren't related, and harakiri has a much broader meaning. Seppuku is more ceremonial. Heh.

But she also said that most Japanese understand what 'harakiri' is.
Maybe the people I asked the first time were just dense.

I like to prounounce it 'harry carrie' myself!

[cstaylor]

She said that in her mind harakiri and seppuku aren't related, and harakiri has a much broader meaning. Seppuku is more ceremonial

There are hundreds of ways to commit suicide, and I think disembowelment probably ranks dead last on the easy-and-painless scale. If they weren't going for some "honor" ego-trip, why else would they choose to bleed themselves to death through the gut?