Seppuku in the context of "Takechi Hanpeita"

Toyotomi Hidetsugu (豊臣 秀次; 1568 – August 20, 1595) was a daimyō during the Sengoku period of Japan. He was the nephew and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier and ruler of Japan from 1590 to 1598. Despite being Hideyoshi's closest adult, male relative, Hidetsugu was accused of atrocities and attempting to stage a coup after the birth of Hideyoshi's son, and he was ordered to commit seppuku. Hidetsugu's entire family, including children, were also executed on Hideyoshi's orders. His death and that of his family contributed to the quick dissolution of Toyotomi authority after Hideyoshi's death three years later.

Akechi Mitsuhide (明智 光秀; March 10, 1528 – July 2, 1582), first called Jūbei from his clan and later Koretō Hyūga no Kami (惟任日向守) from his title, was a Japanese samurai general of the Sengoku period. Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of the last Ashikaga shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of the trusted generals under daimyō Oda Nobunaga during his war of political unification in Japan.

Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga for unknown reasons in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582, forcing the unprotected Nobunaga to commit seppuku in Kyoto.

The Battle of Yamazaki (山崎の戦い, Yamazaki no tatakai) was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current-day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō (天王山の戦い Tennō-zan no tatakai).

In the Honnō-ji Incident, Akechi Mitsuhide, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, attacked Nobunaga as he rested in Honnō-ji, and forced him to commit seppuku. Mitsuhide then took over Nobunaga's power and authority around the Kyoto area. Thirteen days later, Oda's forces under Toyotomi Hideyoshi met Mitsuhide at Yamazaki and defeated him, avenging his lord (Nobunaga) and taking Nobunaga's authority and power for himself.

Nitta Yoshisada (新田 義貞; Japanese pronunciation: [ɲiꜜt.ta | jo.ɕi̥.saꜜ.da], 1301 – August 17, 1338) also known as Minamoto no Yoshisada was a samurai lord of the Nanboku-chō period Japan. He was the head of the Nitta clan in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period. He famously marched on Kamakura, besieging and capturing it from the Hōjō clan in 1333.

Later, he fought the Ashikaga brothers on the Emperor's behalf in a see-saw campaign which saw the capital change hands several times. After a peaceful compromise was agreed, Yoshisada was entrusted with two royal princes. At the siege of Kanegasaki (1337), both princes were killed, along with Yoshisada's son, although Yoshisada was able to escape. He committed seppuku when his horse was killed at the siege of Kuromaru.

Ashikaga Shigeuji (足利成氏) (c. 1438 – 1497) was a Muromachi period warrior and the Kamakura-fu's fifth and last Kantō kubō (Shōgun Deputy). Fourth son of fourth Kubō Ashikaga Mochiuji, he succeeded his father only in 1449, a full decade after his death by seppuku. His childhood name was Eijuō-maru (永寿王丸). His rule was from its onset troubled by hostilities with the central government: he was finally deposed in 1455 by shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, after which he escaped to Koga in Shimōsa Province, where he became known as Koga kubō. There, he ruled until his death in 1497.

Matsukura Katsuie (松倉 勝家; 1598 – 1638) (a.k.a. Matsukura Shigetsugu or Shigeharu) was a Japanese daimyō of the early Edo period. The son of Matsukura Shigemasa, Katsuie continued his father's policies of extraordinarily high taxation and persecution of Christians, which eventually led to the Shimabara Rebellion.

Although the rebellion was successfully put down, his status and domain were stripped away for misruling in May 1638. After a dead peasant's body was found inside his residence, Katsuie was sent to Edo for further investigation by the government. He was beheaded on August 28, 1638, having been found culpable for abusing his power and disgracing the shogunate. He was the only daimyo to be beheaded during the Edo period (dishonored officials were usually allowed to die by seppuku).

The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin (四十七士, Shijūshichishi), also known as the Akō incident (赤穂事件, Akō jiken) or Akō vendetta, was a historical event in Japan in which a band of rōnin (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their former master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is among the three major vengeance (adauchi 仇討ち) incidents in Japan, along with the Revenge of the Soga Brothers and the Igagoe vendetta.

The story tells of a group of samurai after their daimyō (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a powerful court official (kōke) named Kira Yoshinaka, after the court official insulted him. After waiting and planning for 2 years, the rōnin avenged their master's honour by killing Kira. Anticipating the authorities' intolerance of the vendetta's completion, they were prepared to face execution as a consequence. However, due to considerable public support in their favor, the authorities compromised by ordering the rōnin to commit seppuku as an honourable death for the crime of murder. Each of the 47 rōnin killed himself. This true story was popular in Japanese culture as emblematic of loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honour (qualities samurai follow called bushidō) that people should display in their daily lives. The popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, during which Japan underwent rapid modernisation, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity.

Tosa Kinnō-tō (土佐勤王党, Tosa Imperialism party) was a political shishi (organization) of Bakumatsu era Japan which was loyal to the ideals of the sonnō Jōi movement. It was formed by Takechi Hanpeita, influenced by the effects of the Perry Expedition. The Kinnō-tō killing of Yoshida Tōyō on 6 May 1862, led to sonnō jōi becoming the prevalent philosophy of Tosa Domain, but the party was destroyed when Takechi was imprisoned and forced to commit seppuku by the former daimyō of Tosa Domain Yamauchi Yōdō in 1865.