Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, is human feeling that complements and opposes the value of '' giri'', or social obligation, within the Japanese worldview. Broadly speaking, ''ninjō'' is said to be the human feeling that inescapably springs up with social obligation. As ''ninjō'' is a culture-specific term, the validity or importance of this concept is subject to a wide range of viewpoints, inextricably tied into one's perspective on

nihonjinron is a genre of texts that focus on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity. The concept became popular after World War II, with books and articles aiming to analyze, explain, or explore peculiarities of Japanese culture and mentality, u ...

, which compares Japan with other cultures to establish what is unique about the country.

Concept

''Ninjō'' is roughly translated as "human feeling" or "emotion" and could also be interpreted as a specific aspect of these terms such as generosity or sympathy towards the weak. The classic example of ''ninjō'' is that of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

who falls in love with an unacceptable partner (perhaps somebody of low social class or somebody of an enemy clan). As a loyal member of his clan, he then becomes torn between the obligation to his feudal lord and his personal feelings, with the only possible resolution being ''

shinjū ''Shinjū'' (心中, the characters for "mind" and "centre") means "double suicide" in Japanese, as in '' Shinjū Ten no Amijima'' (''The Love Suicides at Amijima''), written by the seventeenth-century tragedian Chikamatsu Monzaemon for the ''bun ...

'' or double love-suicide. This demonstrates how ''giri'' is superior to ''ninjō'' in the Japanese worldview since the latter could weaken an individual's devotion to his duty. The correspondence to

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' or the

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

would be made by Japanese and non-Japanese alike. The question of whether modern Japanese still feel a greater sense of ''giri'' than their Western counterparts, and thus remain in some ineffable way psychologically closer to this sort of ''giri''–''ninjo'' conflict is precisely where nihonjinron divides into the Japan-centric and Japan-skeptic camps.

References

Japanese values {{Japan-culture-stub

Concept

See also

References