Jigai is a form of
seppuku that is performed by courtly ladies in
feudal Japan. Rather than gut oneself with the
wakizashi and get one's head taken off by your second, jigai is simply slashing one's throat open with a
knife.
While jigai is no less an honorable death than
seppuku, being able to go through with the three cuts that
seppuku requires is often seen as a more determined path to take.