So, why the suicide?
I just finished watching the film for the first time, and though I enjoyed it immensely, his suicide at the end really took me by surprise. I really haven't had time to fully digest film, but the end seemed awfully abrupt. If he was going to intentionally get himself killed, it seemed the filmmakers should have spent a little more time working up to that. The film was so good, I wouldn't have minded more narrative, and a little more development toward this, his end.
Was it just the fact that the police had him under such close surveillance that he felt he wouldn't be able to live his life as a "samourai" anymore? Even his accomplice--the mechanic told him that his last car make-over would be his last, so I suppose he felt like his world was coming to a close. (Of course, if it were me, I move to another city and start over after some plastic surgery.)
Cheerio!
Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way.