Kaishakunin

A kaishakunin (Japanese: 介錯人, lit. 'assist mistake person') is a man appointed to behead an individual who has performed seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide, at the moment of agony. The role played by the kaishakunin is called kaishaku.

This approach spares the condemned person from prolonged pain before death. It also prevents observers from witnessing a distressing and prolonged dying process.

The most recent kaishakunin of the 20th century was Hiroyasu Koga, who beheaded both the novelist Yukio Mishima and the political activist Masakatsu Morita during their seppuku.