Suicide methods method of suicide, practiced mostly in the medieval era, though some isolated cases appear in modern times. For example, Yukio Mishima died by seppuku in 1970 after a failed "coup d'état" intended to restore full power to the Japanese emperor. Unlike other methods of suicide, this was regarded as a way of preserving one's honor. The ritual is part of "bushido", the code of the "samurai". As originally performed solely by an individual, it was an extremely painful method by which to die. Dressed ceremonially, with his sword placed in front of him and sometimes seated on special cloth, the
Tomoyuki Hoshino Tomoyuki Hoshino Born in Los Angeles, he accompanied his family back to Japan before he was three years old. He attended Waseda University and worked for a while as a journalist after graduating in 1988. He spent the better part of the years 1990-5 living in Mexico before returning to Japan, where for a time he worked translating from Spanish-language movies into Japanese. In 1997 he published his first novel "The Last Gasp", for which he was awarded the Bungei Prize. He won the 13th Yukio Mishima Prize for his second novel "The Mermaid Sings Wake Up", which was published