‘Samurai death’ contest cancelled after criticism for bad taste

TOKYO – An outlandish contest daring participants to impersonate Japanese samurai writhing in pain after “seppuku” – ritual suicide – has been called off after criticism that it was in poor taste.

Dubbed the “Seppuku Contest”, the event was slated to take place in December in the western Japanese city of Matsue, formerly known as a feudal lord town.

“Let us see your amazing acting skills as you agonise for about a minute after slashing yourself in the belly with a plastic sword,” read an advertisement in a local newspaper last week.

“Whoever has shown us the most powerful performance will win the top prize,” it added.

But criticism of the event soon snowballed on social media, where some said death by self-disembowelment should not be treated as entertainment.

“I get this is a performance, but are they going to make a contest out of people dying in pain?” one user commented on social media platform X. “This feels like making fun of the act of seppuku itself.”

Another said they felt “instinctively averse to the idea of death being made light of”.

The contest organiser, who gave only their surname, Ogawa, said on Nov 14 that the competition was cancelled after “receiving lots of feedback saying it is inappropriate”.

“We thought this contest could help encourage some people to become actors or even create something new in the genre of bizarre festivals,” the organiser said in an e-mail.

While they initially thought the event would be entertaining, the organiser added that seppuku was “still largely associated with death and killing, and we feel sorry for causing trouble”.

The newspaper ad said the performances would take place on the terrace of Matsue’s municipal office, a detail that blindsided city officials.

“We had no idea” this was being planned, Matsue official Tomokazu Honda said, explaining that the organiser originally approached the city with a proposal to hold a “flea market”.

Shocked by the ad, officials complained to the organiser that the contest was “unbefitting” of the venue and could “cause discomfort to many people”, Mr Honda said.

“Turning a person’s life and death into a performance at a place like a city hall is questionable.” AFP