Harakiri (1962)

1962 film by Masaki Kobayashi

Released

1962

Country

Japan

Language

Japanese

Genre

Samurai film

Director

Masaki Kobayashi

Screenplay

Shinobu Hashimoto

Music

Tōru Takemitsu

Cinematography

Yoshio Miyajima

Editing

Hisashi Sagara

Starring

Tatsuya Nakadai, Kei Satō, Rentarō Mikuni, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurō Tamba, Yoshio Inaba, Akiji Kobayashi, Akira Ishihama

Running time

135 minutes

Production company

Shochiku

Distributor

Shochiku, Netflix

Box office

$15,000

Set in

Edo

Harakiri (Japanese: 切腹, Hepburn: Seppuku) is a 1962 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The story takes place between 1619 and 1630 during the Edo period and the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. It tells the story of the rōnin Hanshirō Tsugumo, who requests to commit seppuku (harakiri) within the manor of a local feudal lord, using the opportunity to explain the events that drove him to ask for death before an audience of samurai. The film continues to receive critical acclaim, often considered one of the greatest films of all time.

Cast

• Tatsuya Nakadai
• Kei Satō
• Rentarō Mikuni
• Shima Iwashita
• Tetsurō Tamba
• Yoshio Inaba
• Akiji Kobayashi
• Akira Ishihama
• Ichirō Nakatani
• Masao Mishima

External links

• Wikipedia
• IMDb
• TMDb
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q1584406 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.