Seppuku associated with suicide of samurai wives. The term was introduced into English by Lafcadio Hearn in his "Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation", an understanding which has since been translated into Japanese. Joshua S. Mostow notes that Hearn misunderstood the term "jigai" to be the female equivalent of seppuku. The first recorded act of seppuku was performed by Minamoto no Yorimasa during the Battle of Uji in the year 1180. Seppuku was used by warriors to avoid falling into enemy hands, and to attenuate shame and avoid possible torture. Samurai could also be ordered by their "daimyō" (feudal lords) to carry
Samurai Red Seal Ship (朱印船) allowing him to trade between Japan and Indo-China. On a return journey from Batavia Joosten drowned after his ship ran aground. As far back as the seventh century Japanese warriors wore a form of "lamellar armor", this armor eventually evolved into the armor worn by the samurai. The first types of Japanese armors identified as samurai armor were known as "yoroi". These early samurai armors were made from small individual scales known as "kozane". The kozane were made from either iron or leather and were bound together into small strips, the strips were coated with lacquer