Seppuku severed by Hiroyasu Koga, a former kendo champion. Morita then attempted to perform seppuku himself, and when his own cuts were too shallow to be fatal, he gave the signal and he too was beheaded by Koga. This list of notable seppuku cases is in chronological order. The expected honor-suicide of the samurai wife is frequently referenced in Japanese literature and film, such as in "Taiko" by Eiji Yoshikawa, "Humanity and Paper Balloons", and "Rashomon". Seppuku is also referenced and described multiple times in the 1975 James Clavell novel, "Shōgun"; its subsequent the 1980 miniseries "Shōgun" brought the term and
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