扇おうぎ腹ばら

noun

fan seppuku; symbolic disembowelment with a fan

Historical term for a form of seppuku where the condemned samurai performs a symbolic disembowelment with a fan instead of a real blade, followed by decapitation. Used as a death penalty for samurai.

See also: 切腹

• 扇おうぎ腹ばらは、切せっ腹ぷくの形けい式しきの一ひとつで、扇せん子すで腹はらを切きる真似まねをした後あとに斬ざん首しゅされる刑けい罰ばつだった。

  Fan seppuku was a form of ritual suicide in which the condemned mimed cutting the stomach with a fan before being beheaded.