Speedup is 3 stylized and strict radicalized practice Of suicide and has been a form Of suicide for centuries. It has also been a popular theme in Japan’s literature and theatre for years (Ottomans Fuse). Speedup is a great honor; the honor was reserved for only the samurai, even in WI Japanese soldiers committed speedup. Speedup is a highly complicated ritual and is taken very seriously; there are many complicated steps in completing this ritual and very interesting motives and reasons for it. The first thing to do is to recruit an assistant, a skunking, Contrary to what is thought, almost all forms of speedup do not technically involve suicide, but merely inflicting fatal injury upon oneself’ (John Brave). The skunking was the one who did the actual Mingling”. The attendant was usually the one who appointed his own skunking, most likely a close friend. The participant dresses in all white to express purity, the participant then sits in the seize position (legs drawn up under the body so that one is actually sitting on on?s heels) (John Brave).
A servant enters the room and places a small wooden table in front of the candidate. The table contains a sake cup, a sheaf of wash with writing utensils and a disemboweling blade. Fifth attendant was considered to evil he was given a fan instead. Though the primary weapon of the samurai was the Satan (Swords). The sake cup is filled from the left, by an attendant using his left hand. The person committing speedup then empties it in two drinks of two sips each, one sip showed greed, while three or more showed hesitation (John Brave).
The contestant then wrote a poem Of death, the poem should be graceful, natural, and about emotions. Under no circumstances was the candidate supposed to mention the fact that he was about to die. At this point, the person slips out Of his outer white garment and tucks the sleeves under his knees to prevent him room doing something undignified like slumping to one side (John Brave). The candidate then picks up small wooden table and places it under his buttocks, causing him to lean forward in the proper altitude. Now the speedup candidate was supposed to take a short dagger and cut his abdomen by slicing it from the left lower part of his upper body in a right direction” (Dieter Wander). If the person was ordered to use a fan in substitution for a blade, he would receive a vertical cut from his shacking. This when the shakiness’s job was very vital, he shacking was to keep a close eye out on the attendant and strike his head off it he noticed a sign to pain or hesitation. Speedup is a very complicated ritual, but all the terms must be followed.
The reasons as to why the samurai participated in such a gruesome ritual vary. Prom maintaining honor on the battlefield to displaying acts of wrong character. The most common reason avgas so that the loser on the battlefield received a chance to keep his honor _ The rarest of all speedup performances was when a samurai would show the ultimate loyalty towards ones deceased lord or husband Dieter Wander). The speedup ritual came up during the period Of the civil wars in the 15th and 16th century (Dieter Wander).
It was viewed as a badge Of courage as well as an honor reserved only for the samurai (Ottomans Fuse). The samurai were mercenaries that were hired to serve in battle for a lord. The samurai were paid in rice and grain; the samurai are very big on maintaining honor and doing everything within their power to please their lords. For the samurai, the ultimate expression of personal honor was to die voluntarily, by one’s own hand (Traditional Japan). That kind of personal honor was gained through the ritual of speedup.
Another common reason for committing speedup was to show ones disagreement with the lord. Speedup is viewed as an honorable punishment; any other “commoner” would have been executed. It truly is amazing how speedup lasted so long, it is considered one of the most gruesome rituals ever to be seen. The French captured some Japanese soldiers and opposed to surrendering, the Japanese soldiers requested that the French allow them to commit speedup, ‘The French found the spectacle so horrible to tact they made their prisoners stop” (Jeffrey Hap).
Japanese history is full of cases of speedup, speedup was considered as a grace. With the final unification and pacifying of Japan under Takeaway lasso, 1543-1616, and the establishment of the Takeaway Shogun, speedup was no longer officially supported” (Dieter Wander), but, the practice still continued to exist nevertheless. ‘The latest known case is from 1970, when Yukon Misaims, committed suicide in a speedup manner. This act caused Worldwide attention in western media” (Dieter Wander). Fortunately, there have been no recent reports of speedup in the Asian countries.
Speedup was around for centuries, yet it is still unknown to most people. This radicalized performance showed the amount Of dedication the samurai had to their lord and the limitless strive they had to retrieve their honor and gain a respectful death. Speedup is a complex practice and very precise. The Japanese deserve an abundance of respect for keeping with this performance for so many centuries. This ritual continues to be a popular demand in Japanese theatre and culture and will remain that way for centuries to come.
