->''Duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather.\\
-- Traditional Japanese proverb quoted to death by [[TheWheelOfTime Rand al'Thor]]''

The traditional moral character of both Japanese society and Japanese individuals is built upon four key elements, which can best be compared to the Western concept of Virtues: ''On, Gimu, Giri'' and ''Ninjo''. All four of these orbit and touch upon the Japanese concept of Honor, which combines elements of reputation, self-respect and personal moral/ethical code.

Understanding these concepts can often help clarify the motivations and drives of {{anime}} characters, and can sometimes explain the differences between what we and the Japanese consider funny, tragic and/or dramatic.

:''On'':The best translation for this term would be "Reciprocity". ''On'' is a virtue that requires the individual to acknowledge and repay debts he owes, including debts of honor. A source of IOweYouMyLife situations.

:''Gimu'':Can be interpreted as "Piety". If one owes a debt (including a debt of honor) but cannot repay it, ''Gimu'' encourages the debtor to show allegience to the debt-holder in lieu of true payment.

:''Giri'':"Duty". Much more complicated than the Western concept of duty, ''Giri'' requires the individual to execute and balance his obligations as the highest function of an honorable life.

:''Ninjo'':Usually translated as "Compassion". ''Ninjo'' requires empathy with others, and recognizes that all people are one, beneath the surface differences that karma imposes.

This has occasionally been commented on by authors surprised by their [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff series' popularity outside native countries]] where these attitudes may not be universal. Manga author RumikoTakahashi admitted surprise that her stories were so popular in the west, as non-Japanese people not indoctrinated with the idea of the PillarsOfMoralCharacter wouldn't find them as funny.
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!!Examples:

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[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* As it so happens, Westerners and Japanese both find Ranma's LoveDodecahedron in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' funny, but for different reasons. Part of why the Japanese find it funny is the impossible web of overlapping and mutually-exclusive [[ThePromise promises]] and debts of honor that Ranma has inherited or had pushed upon him. He's caught in a trap of ''giri'' of such scope that it's a case of having to laugh or else you'd cry. One likely reason that the manga and the anime both end on an inconclusive note is that Ranma almost certainly ''cannot'' choose any one girl without incurring massive dishonor to himself and at least one other girl (and her whole clan, as well, possibly spawning a blood feud in the process). An additional tragicomic element is added by the fact that Ranma is one of the more honorable persons in the series (not that that's saying much), which his less-honorable foes, friends and fiancées exploit ruthlessly. Americans find it funny because, in the absence of any of these moral pillars, everything basically becomes Ranma's fault, as a good deal of the conflict could be resolved if he picked one girl and stuck with her, instead of [[KidAnova leading them all on]].
** For example, Ranma feels he owes a debt of honor to Ryoga for accidentally pushing him into the Spring of Drowned Piglet at Jusenkyo. ''Gimu'' leads him to swear an oath not to reveal Ryoga's "weakness" to anyone. Ryoga then takes advantage of this promise to use his piglet form to pretend to be Akane's pet, "P-Chan", and sleep in her bed. And because of ''giri,'' Ranma [[IGaveMyWord cannot break his word]] to Ryoga to reveal his deception without incurring a stain on his own honor. (Even though Ranma didn't actually make the promise to Ryoga, but to the ''neighbors' dog'', which at the time he thought was Ryoga's cursed form...)
* Much of the main plot of ''{{Monster}}'' happens the way it does because Tenma tends to view his act of saving Johan in terms of ''giri'' -- he is chasing Johan to put right that which he did wrong, and is not interested in taking time off to prove his innocence until his obligation is fulfilled. The longer Johan remains alive, the more innocent people will die on account of it. On the same side, Tenma also holds the virtue of ''Ninjo'' as a core of his philosophy and will take a detour if it means saving innocents. On the counter-side one might say that Johan is acting out of a twisted sense of ''On''.
** However, it is emphasized that Tenma acts out of his innate goodness and not cultural compulsions. He is also thought to be rather strange for a Japanese man.
* ''Giri'' is also a driving force behind Byakuya Kuchiki's character in ''{{Bleach}}''. As a ''very'' high class nobleman, he's required to follow a very strict duty code, which he has broken twice by marrying a commoner woman for love and by adopting his dead wife's little sister by the time the Soul Society rolls in. So, by breaking another code rule in the Soul Society arc, Byakuya would disgrace himself and the Kuchiki clan horribly... but if he does ''not'' break rules, his sister-in-law and pretty much the only person he truly cares for would be executed, meaning he'd also break the promise made to his beloved dead wife and end completely alone for the rest of times. In few words, he's damned if he doesn't and damned if he does.
** This is why there's a theory that he threw his fight against Ichigo. That way his sister is rescued without him breaking the laws. You also have to consider that when he got married and later adopted Rukia into the family, he was not the head of the family.
** The cultural concepts of the Moral Pillars in Japanese culture also make one scene in an earlier episode seem odd to western viewers. Rukia tries to convince Ichigo to take over her duties as a Shinigami just as he'd taken her powers earlier by bringing him to see the ghost of a young boy being attacked by a [[TheHeartless Hollow]], telling him he must either agree to protect All spirits while she's out of commission or let this little boy and all other spirits be devoured. Ichigo then rejects Rukia's proposal and [[TakeAThirdOption rescues the ghost-boy anyway]]. To a Japanese audience Rukia is making an appeal to ''Gimu''(since he is unable to simply give-back Rukia's power he is thus obligated to offer service to repay his debt to her) to gain Ichigo's cooperation but Ichigo rejects that in favor of doing so out of compassion for the spirits involved, making him look like a poster-boy for ChaoticGood [[AntiHero Anti-heros]]; to a Western audience who might assume Rukia was appealing to Ichigo's compassion from the start his arguing the point after the fact just makes him look stubborn.
* ''Vagabond'' has MiyamotoMusashi effectively owing his life to Yoshioka Denshichirou who told him to stay alive and train until they can duel again the next year, since their first fight is interrupted by a fire in the dojo. Musashi does just this and ends up cutting him down. Nevertheless, even when the remaining heir to the Yoshioka plots his death by having all of their seventy remaining members attack him, before the fight he thanks them silently for his being "raised in the bosom of the Yoshioka" (as in that year given to him by Denshichirou he greatly improved), then [[spoiler:he kills them all]].
* Pillars of moral character are a surprisingly relevant story element in ''BlackLagoon'', especially showcased in the Yakuza arc where the Yakuza act on these pillars while Balalaika very clearly has none.
* In the subtitled track for ''FullMetalAlchemist'', Edward Elric comes off as unusually cold and Alphonse whiney and inept; this is because the primary motivating factors for Edward to restore his brother (and incidentally himself as well) are ''Giri'' (Obligation due to duty to his family) and ''On'' (Obligation due to the results of his screw-up). Making Edward seem distant emphasizes the weight of honor-debt he carries, while making Alphonse sound less sympathetic makes Edward's character all the more tragic. The dub goes above and beyond the call of {{Woolseyism}} to subtly change not just lines but also emotional tone to transform Edward's motivations from Duty into Brotherly Love.
** It was brotherly love all the way in the manga.

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[[folder: Film ]]

*In ''The Yakuza'' (1975), the character of Tanaka Ken owes a debt of honor to Harry Kilmer for saving the lives of his family after the war; he describes ''giri'' as "the burden hardest to bear."
**This same phrasing would be used as the title of a ''{{Transformers}}'' (original series) episode built around the notion of leadership as an obligation ''to'' one's followers as well as one received from them, which Kup describes in terms of ''giri''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* ''Giri'' drives the story of The47Ronin.
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