Harakiri is a Japanese film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The story takes place between 1619 and 1630 during the Edo period and the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. It tells of a ronin, Hanshiro Tsugumo, who instead of committing seppuku after his lord was deposed, was ordered to stay alive in order to care for his daughter and grandson as well as his son-in-law, the son of another samurai who had committed the ritual suicide. On May 16, 1630, Hanshiro Tsugumo arrives at the estate of the Iyi clan, looking for a suitable place to commit seppuku. At the time, it is told, it was fairly... common for disgraced samurai to make the same request, or threat, in the hope of receiving alms from the lord of the house. To deter him therefrom, Kageyu Saito, counselor of the clan, tells Hanshiro a warning story wherein another ronin, Motome Chijiiwa – formerly of the same clan as Hanshiro – had made the same request and the samurai retainers of the house forced him to complete the ceremony and kill himself.
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| Release date: | September 16, 1962 |
| Directed by: | Masaki Kobayashi |
| Runtime: | 135 Minutes |
| Producer: | Tatsuo Hosoya |
| Music by: | Tōru Takemitsu |
| Screenplay by: | Shinobu Hashimoto, Yasuhiko Takiguchi |