TOKYO, Nov 23 — The picturesque city of Matsue, known for its serene views and feudal past, in Japan’s Shimane Prefecture has recently become the unlikely centre of a controversy involving something far more absurd than its usual historic charm — a planned “seppuku contest.”

Yes, you read that right: a competition where participants were to wield plastic swords, imitate ritual suicide, and wriggle in “agony” for up to a minute in an effort to win the title of “Best Performer.”

For those unfamiliar with seppuku (or harakiri, if you’re feeling fancy), it’s the centuries-old practice of samurai disembowelling themselves to preserve their honour.

Somehow, this tragic ritual was to be re-enacted with the help of plastic retractable swords, accompanied by faux agony, all in the name of entertainment.

Advertised in a local newspaper, the event was scheduled for December at Dandan Terrace, a newly renovated public space in Matsue City Hall, overlooking the peaceful Lake Shinji.

But city officials had a problem: they hadn’t approved a dramatic display of feudal self-destruction. What they’d okayed was a flea market, not a theatrical bloodbath.

One of the organisers, a toy vendor, explained the origins of the idea.

“A girl in a group used one of our retractable swords to pretend to stab herself,” said the organiser to Yahoo! Japan.

“We thought, ‘Hey, let’s make a contest out of it!’”

Because, of course, who wouldn’t want to watch people pretending to disembowel themselves for fun?

Social media users were divided, to say the least.

Some joked, “Is this a regular thing in Matsue?” or teased, “I’d totally join if I wasn’t so far away.”

Meanwhile, others were horrified, with comments like, “Seppuku isn’t a game, this is disgraceful,” and “Watching people writhe around for entertainment? Gross.”

Faced with the growing backlash, the event was cancelled, and the organisers issued an apology.

They explained the contest was a misguided attempt to liven up the otherwise tame flea market, as previous efforts like raffles and dance performances had failed to attract much of a crowd.

“We just wanted to make it exciting,” they said, probably realising they should have stuck with the raffles.