Seppuku The word means "suicide" in Japanese. The usual modern word for suicide is . Related words include , and . In some popular western texts, such as martial arts magazines, the term is 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 and Hearn seen through Japanese eyes. Joshua S. Mostow notes that Hearn misunderstood the term "jigai" to be the female equivalent of seppuku. Mostow's context is analysis of Giacomo Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" and the original Cio-Cio
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a 1999 American-German-French-Japanese crime action film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Forest Whitaker stars as the title character, the mysterious "Ghost Dog", a hitman in the employ of the Mafia, who follows the ancient code of the samurai as outlined in the book of Yamamoto Tsunetomo's recorded sayings, "Hagakure". Critics have noted similarities between the movie and Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 film "Le Samouraï". Ghost Dog sees himself as a retainer of Louie, a local mobster, who saved Ghost Dog's life years earlier. While living