[sumo] LA & Hawaii Sumo Promoter Commits Suicide

[Jim Bitgood]

I'm not a medical expert, but I think if he stuck the knife into his 
carotid artery, it would not take too long to bleed to death.
But I have been wondering about being stabbed in the neck. My 
(admittedly limited) knowledge of honorable suicides in Japanese 
tradition comes from some history books (not from the old mini-series 
"Shogun" although there was a lot of real history in there). But it 
seems to me that stabbing in the neck was the women's form of 
honorable, ritual suicide. Perhaps he was frail enough that that was 
the only method he thought would succeed.
Just one more thing to think about from someone who knows nothing 
about the case. But that never stops us, does it.

At 23:34 6/24/2008, you wrote:
>Physically, is it even possible for someone to fatally stab himself 
>in the NECK?  He was a small, old man.

         Jim
         "Chitose-Taikai"