Woman tries to disembowel self in protest

A mentally ill woman tried to disembowel herself in a ritual Japanese suicide in front of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's office as he kicked off his re-election campaign. The woman in her 50s, who carried leaflets denouncing Koizumi, was in a critical condition at a hospital. She had driven her car 150km to Koizumi's residence in Tokyo from Nagano.

When police stopped her, she stabbed herself in the neck, stomach and wrists. Harakiri is suicide by self-disembowelment that samurai carried out to avoid the dishonour of falling into enemy hands.