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
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