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As a corollary to the above elaborate statement of the ceremonies proper to be observed at the hara-kiri, I may here describe an instance of such an execution which I was sent officially to witness.  The condemned man was Taki Zenzaburo, an officer of the Prince of Bizen, who gave the order to fire upon the foreign settlement at Hiogo in the month of February 1868,—­an attack to which I have alluded in the preamble to the story of the Eta Maiden and the Hatamoto.  Up to that time no foreigner had witnessed such an execution, which was rather looked upon as a traveller’s fable.

The ceremony, which was ordered by the Mikado himself, took place at 10.30 at night in the temple of Seifukuji, the headquarters of the Satsuma troops at Hiogo.  A witness was sent from each of the foreign legations.  We were seven foreigners in all.

We were conducted to the temple by officers of the Princes of Satsuma and Choshiu.  Although the ceremony was to be conducted in the most private manner, the casual remarks which we overheard in the streets, and a crowd lining the principal entrance to the temple, showed that it was a matter of no little interest to the public.  The courtyard of the temple presented a most picturesque sight; it was crowded with soldiers standing about in knots round large fires, which threw a dim flickering light over the heavy eaves and quaint gable-ends of the sacred buildings.  We were shown into an inner room, where we were to wait until the preparation for the ceremony was completed:  in the next room to us were the high Japanese officers.  After a long interval, which seemed doubly long from the silence which prevailed, Ito Shunske, the provisional Governor of Hiogo, came and took down our names, and informed us that seven kenshi, sheriffs or witnesses, would attend on the part of the Japanese.  He and another officer represented the Mikado; two captains of Satsuma’s infantry, and two of Choshiu’s, with a representative of the Prince of Bizen, the clan of the condemned man, completed the number, which was probably arranged in order to tally with that of the foreigners.  Ito Shunske further inquired whether we wished to put any questions to the prisoner.  We replied in the negative.

A further delay then ensued, after which we were invited to follow the Japanese witnesses into the hondo or main hall of the temple, where the ceremony was to be performed.  It was an imposing scene.  A large hall with a high roof supported by dark pillars of wood.  From the ceiling hung a profusion of those huge gilt lamps and ornaments peculiar to Buddhist temples.  In front of the high altar, where the floor, covered with beautiful white mats, is raised some three or four inches from the ground, was laid a rug of scarlet felt.  Tall candles placed at regular intervals gave out a dim mysterious light, just sufficient to let all the proceedings be seen.  The seven Japanese took their places on the left of the raised floor, the seven foreigners on the right.  No other person was present.