this is according to the nature of the spot.  In some cases the seconds turn their backs to the witnesses.  It is open to question, however, whether this is not a breach of etiquette.  The witnesses should be consulted upon these arrangements.  If the witnesses have no objection, the condemned man should be placed directly opposite to them.  The place where the witnesses are seated should be removed more than twelve or eighteen feet from the condemned man.  The place from which the sentence is read should also be close by.  The writer has been furnished with a plan of the hara-kiri as it is performed at present.  Although the ceremony is gone through in other ways also, still it is more convenient to follow the manner indicated.

If the execution takes place in a room, a kerchief of five breadths of white cotton cloth or a quilt should be laid down, and it is also said that two mats should be prepared; however, as there are already mats in the room, there is no need for special mats:  two red rugs should be spread over all, sewed together, one on the top of the other; for if the white cotton cloth be used alone, the blood will soak through on to the mats; therefore it is right the rugs should be spread.  On the twenty-third day of the eighth month of the fourth year of the period Yenkiyo (A.D. 1740), at the hara-kiri of a certain person there were laid down a white cloth, eight feet square, and on that a quilt of light green cotton, six feet square, and on that a cloth of white hemp, six feet square, and on that two rugs.  On the third day of the ninth month of the ninth year of the period Tempo (A.D. 1838), at the hara-kiri of a certain person it is said that there were spread a large double cloth of white cotton, and on that two rugs.  But, of these two occasions, the first must be commended for its careful preparation.  If the execution be at night, candlesticks of white wood should be placed at each of the four corners, lest the seconds be hindered in their work.  In the place where the witnesses are to sit, ordinary candlesticks should be placed, according to etiquette; but an excessive illumination is not decorous.  Two screens covered with white paper should be set up, behind the shadow of which are concealed the dirk upon a tray, a bucket to hold the head after it has been cut off, an incense-burner, a pail of water, and a basin.  The above rules apply equally to the ceremonies observed when the hara-kiri takes place in a garden.  In the latter case the place is hung round with a white curtain, which need not be new for the occasion.  Two mats, a white cloth, and a rug are spread.  If the execution is at night, lanterns of white paper are placed on bamboo poles at the four corners.  The sentence having been read inside the house, the persons engaged in the ceremony proceed to the place of execution; but, according to circumstances, the sentence may be read at the place itself.  In the case of Asano Takumi no Kami, the sentence was read out in the house,