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
Yukio Mishima author Michizō Tachihara (1914–39), which in turn created an appreciation for classical Japanese poetry form of "waka". Mishima's first published works included "waka" poetry, before he turned his attention to prose. He was invited to write a short story for the Gakushūin literary magazine and submitted , a story in which the narrator describes the feeling that his ancestors somehow still live within him. Mishima's teachers were so impressed that they recommended the story to the prestigious literary magazine "Bungei-Bunka". The story makes use of the metaphors and aphorisms that later became his trademarks and was published in book form