Giri (Japanese)

Giri (義理) is a Japanese value roughly corresponding to "duty", "obligation", or even "burden of obligation" in English. Namiko Abe defines it as "to serve one's superiors with a self-sacrificing devotion". It is among the complex Japanese values that involve loyalty, gratitude, and moral debt. The conflict between giri and ninjō, or "human feeling", has historically been a primary topic of Japanese drama.