Seppuku to prefer Chinese readings in official announcements, only the term seppuku was ever used in writing. So hara-kiri is a spoken term, but only to commoners and seppuku a written term, but spoken amongst higher classes for the same act. The practice of performing seppuku at the death of one's master, known as oibara (追腹 or 追い腹, the kun'yomi or Japanese reading) or tsuifuku (追腹, the on'yomi or Chinese reading), follows a similar ritual. The word means "suicide" in Japanese. The modern word for suicide is . In some popular western texts, such as martial arts magazines, the term is
Samurai Shodown III the overall story is smaller in scope. The returning characters from the previous game are: New warriors added to the series included the following: The first part of a two-chapter story that is chronologically set between the events of "Samurai Shodown" and "Samurai Shodown II", "Samurai Shodown III" follows the journey of a young semi-amnesic boy named Shizumaru Hisame as he and many other warriors seek out a powerful and dangerous swordsman named Zankuro Minazuki for their own personal reasons. Like "Samurai Shodown", "Samurai Shodown III" was released on multiple consoles other than the Neo Geo and Neo Geo CD