Ninjō (人情) means human compassion, feeling, or sympathy — the natural emotional response to another person's situation. In Japanese culture, ninjō often exists in tension with giri (duty). Your giri says you must follow the rules, fulfil your obligations, do what is expected. Your ninjō says you must respond to the human being in front of you with compassion, even if that means bending the rules. The tension between giri and ninjō is the engine of countless Japanese stories, films, and moral dilemmas. It is also the tension at the heart of omoiyari — when duty and compassion pull in different directions, which do you follow?

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