Gyokusai (玉砕)

[related: Banzai Cliffs, Bushido Code]

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A form of Japanese ritual suicide literally translated into English as "shattering like a jewel". The term became widely known following the Battle of Saipan (1944) in which thousands of Japanese soldiers and civilians plunged off the Banzai Cliffs rather than face inevitable defeat and capture. A subsequent instance of mass gyokusai took place in 1945 on the Mabuni Cliffs of Okinawa during the last major battle of World War II. The practice of gyokusai is rooted in the Japanese Bushido code, a system of honor and loyalty passed down through generations of Samurai.