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 cinema For instance the Sengoku period (1478–1603) saw Japan torn by civil war as daimyō warlords fought for control of land. In the Tokugawa period (1603–1868), peace from civil war meant there were no wars for the samurai to fight and some samurai became ronin, masterless warriors left to struggle to survive. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), we see a decline of the hereditary existence of the samurai and the rise of westernization. In this period the ideal of the samurai and the code of bushido are popularized into the military warrior’s belief. The time frame meant changes in the sorts