SF Opera's current production rights a long-time wrong by having
Butterfly kill herself (if you didn't want to know how the opera turns out,
I apologize) with jigai (slashing the jugular), not seppuku or hara-kiri.

Still, the production deliberately substituted her father's sword for the
currect short sword, the kaiken, a rather nice touch, I thought.

The reason for the difference between men and women for the proper suicide
is that in jigai, death occurs quickly and the nature of the wound is
unlikely to cause the ugly mess seppuku entails in the entrails.

Looking further into this weighty matter, I found that going back to the
16th century, women fought - if they had to, not *wanting* to like the fool
men - with the short sword, not the naginata, the ceremonial long weapon.
If a woman was forced to fight, she would grab the hilt with both hands,
planting the butt firmly against her stomach, and running forward, to stab
the enemy with all her weight behind the blade.  She was to become, for a
moment, a living spear.

It's OK that Puccini didn't bother with details, but generations of
directors have erred with the radical tummy tuck business.

Janos Gereben/SF
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