I understand that this was a form of ritual suicide reserved for instances when a Samurai or group of Samurai had fallen into enemy hands and as an alternative to being tortured to death or dying in some other less-than-honorable way. But who made this call?
Instead of retreating did someone at the front of the battle just suddenly say, "They've overtaken us! Get out those ritual daggers!"?
I just don't understand when the turning point would be between "lets take as many of them down with us" and "All is lost, lets kill ourselves."
Wouldn't the point when there was nothing else they could do to fight the enemy come after the point when they would still have the ceremonial weapon on their person?
Thanks in advance!
You might be interested in some previous threads on instances and circumstances surrounding Seppuku throughout Japanese history:
Circumstances and Use of Seppuku
Other Threads on Seppuku