June 20, 1180

Byodo-in Temple, Japan

Warrior, monk, poet, and now trend-setter, Minamoto no Yorimasa ended his life with honor, glory, and a lot of flair.

After losing the battle of Uji, he gathered his followers around him, sat cross-legged on the ground in a shady spot outside the temple, and announced that he would slice open his own belly in a final act of honor.

His troops watched, horrified yet proud, as his life-force drained away.

Afterwards, they all looked at each other and asked sheepishly, “Are we supposed to do that, too?”

But seriously…

April 30, 2024

Minamoto no Yorimasa was a general, poet, and monk, who may have been the first Samurai to commit Seppuku, or ritual self-disembowelment.

(Another Samurai, Minamoto no Tametomo, vies for that distinction, having sliced open his own stomach ten years earlier. That’s his picture featured on this post.)

Both men killed themselves as an act of honor after losing a battle.

Yorimasa lost the battle of Uji, in which he led a cadre of monks trying to defend their temple.

The ritual of Seppuku, sometimes called hara-kiri, was established as a way for a Samurai to honorably take his own life.