Ritual suicide is a tradition started by Japanese samurai around 1180 AD. This involves an individual cutting himself horizontally along his abdomen, then finishing the act by cutting off his head (Hilton). Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly is a tragic romance that ends with the ritual suicide of the Japanese lover. Another story that depicts ritual suicide is “Patriotism” by Yukio Mishima. Both works highlight a Western culture that views such sacrifice as an honor and is also deeply rooted in tradition. Ritual suicide is an honorable and meaningful end to life that individuals have the choice to face in the face of deep shame, regret, or dishonor. Ritual suicide is believed to have been practiced by Japanese samurai for around 700 years and was a highly ritualized process. (Hilton). Many measures were taken to carry out ritual suicide. First, the individual had to write an appropriate death poem or letter to give additional meaning to death. Then the individual would bathe, change into formal clothing, and go to the location he or she had designated to commit suicide. Most often, there would be witnesses there. This place would be spotless and decorated with white fabric. Finally, a dagger was drawn and the individual opened his abdomen with the dagger. After slicing the abdomen, the person took the dagger to the throat and cut it completely, but not enough to completely decapitate the head (Hilton). Ritual suicide did not have to involve these steps exactly and could be done hastily, but the cutting with a dagger in the abdomen was almost always completed. Ritual suicide was practiced for many reasons, but the most common...... middle of paper ......-130. Rep. in contemporary literary criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Flight. 196. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literary Resource Center. Internet. April 9, 2014. Carroll, Michael Thomas. “The Bloody Spectacle: Mishima, the Sacred Heart, Hogarth, Cronenberg and the Underworld of Culture.” Studies in Popular Culture 15.2 (1993): 43-56. Rep. in 20th century literary criticism. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Flight. 161. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Information Resource Center. Internet. April 9, 2014. Talmor, Sascha. “Mishima – A passion for life and death.” Durham University Journal (July 1991): 269-276. Rep. in 20th century literary criticism. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Flight. 161. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Information Resource Center. Internet. April 9, 2014. Lee, Kori. “Eastern and Western Views of Death and Suicide.” HubPages. January 15, 2013. The web. April 9, 2014. Web.