Giri to one's name is the duty to keep one's reputation unspotted。It is a series of virtues-some of which seem to an occidental to be opposites，but which to the Japanese have a sufficient unity because they are those duties which are not repayments on bene-fits received；they are“outside the circle of on。”They are those acts which keep one's reputation bright without reference to a specific previous indebtedness to another person。They include therefore maintaining all the miscellaneous etiquette requirements of“proper station，”showing stoicism in pain and defending one's reputation in profession or craft。Giri to one's name also demands acts which remove a slur or an insult；the slur darkens one's good name and should be got rid of。It maybe necessary to take vengeance upon one's detractor or it may be necessary to commit suicide，and there are all sorts of possible courses of action between these two extremes。But one does not shrug off lightly anything that is compromising。
The Japanese do not have a separate term for what I call here“giri to one's name。”They describe it simply as giri outside the circle of on。That is the basis of classifica-tion，and not the fact that giri to the world is an obligation to return kindnesses and that giri to one's name prominently includes revenge。The fact that Western languages sepa-rate the two into categories as opposite as gratitude and revenge does not impress the Japanese。Why should one virtue not cover a man's behavior when he reacts to another's benevolence and when he reacts to his scorn or malevolence？
In Japan it does。A good man feels as strongly about insults as he does about the benefits he has received。Either way it is virtuous to reply。He does not separate the two，as we do，and call one aggression and one non-aggression。To him aggression only begins outside“the circle of giri”；so long as one is maintaining giri and clearing one's name of slur，one is not guilty of aggression。“The world tips，”they say，so long as an insult or slur or defeat is not requited or eliminated。A good man must try to get the world back into balance again。It is human virtue，not an all-too-human vice。
Giri to one's name and all the hostility and watchful waiting that accompany it in any culture，however，is not a virtue that is characteristic of the Asiatic mainland。It is not，as the phrase goes，Oriental。The Chinese do not have it，nor the Siamese，nor the Indians。The Chinese regard all such sensitivity to insults and aspersions as a trait of“small”people-morally small。It is no part of their ideal of nobility，as it is in Japan。Violence which is wrong when a man starts it out of blue does not become right in Chi-nese ethics when a man indulges in it to requite an insult。They think it is rather ridicu-lous to be so sensitive。Nor do they react to a slur by resolving by all that is good and great to prove the aspersion baseless。
The full significance of giri to one's name cannot be understood without placing in context all the non-aggressive virtues which are included in it in Japan。Vengeance is only one of the virtues it may requite upon occasion。It includes also plenty of quiet and temperate behavior。The stoicism，the self-control that is required of a self-respecting Japanese is part of his giri to his name。A woman may not cry out in childbirth and a man should rise above pain and danger。When floods sweep down upon the Japanese vil-lage each self-respecting person gathers up the necessities he is to take with him and seeks higher ground。There is no outcry，no running hither and thither，no panic。When the equinoctial winds and rain come in hurricane strength there is similar self-con-trol。Such behavior is a part of the respect a person has for himself in Japan even gran-ted he may not live up to it。There is noblesse oblige in this self-control in Japan and in feudal times more was therefore required of the samurai than of the common people but the virtue was a rule of life among all classes。If the samurai were required to go to extremes in rising above bodily pain，the common people had to go to extremes in accep-ting the aggressions of the armed samurai。
The tales of samurai stoicism are famous。They were forbidden to give way to hun-ger but that was too trivial to mention。They were enjoined when they were starving to pretend they had just eaten：they must pick their teeth with a toothpick。“Baby birds，”the maxim went，“cry for their food but a samurai holds a toothpick between his teeth。”In the past war this became an Army maxim for the enlisted soldier。Nor must they give way to pain。
Giri to one's name also requires that one live according to one's station in life。If a man fails in this giri he has no right to respect himself。This meant in Tokugawa times that he accepted as part of his self-respect the detailed sumptuary laws which regulated practically everything he wore or had or used。We are horrified by Tokugawa laws which stated that a farmer of one class could buy such and such a doll for his child and the farmer of another class could buy a different doll。In Japan getting rich is under suspi-cion and maintaining proper station is not。Even today the poor as well as the rich invest their self-respect in observing the conventions of hierarchy。It is a virtue alien to Ameri-can。
Giri to one's name is also living up to many sorts of commitments besides those of proper station。A borrower may pledge his giri to his name when he asks for a loan；a generation ago it was commons to phrase it that“I agree to be publicly laughed at if I fail to repay this sum。”If he failed，he was not literally made a laughingstock；there were no public pillories in Japan。But when the new year came around，the date on which debts must be paid off，the insolvent debtor might commit suicide to“clean his name。”New Year'Eve still has its crop of suicides who have taken this means to re-deem their reputations。
All kinds of professional commitments involve giri to one's name。The Japanese re-quirements are often fantastic when particular circumstances bring one into the public eye and criticism might be general。There are for instance the long list of school princi-pals who committed suicide because fires in their schools-with which they had nothing to do-threatened the picture of the Emperor which was hung in every school。Teach-ers too have been burned to death dashing into burning schools to rescue these pictures。By their deaths they showed how high they held their giri to their names and their chu to Emperor。There are also famous stories of persons who were guilty of a slip of the tongue in ceremonious public readings of one of the Imperial Rescripts，either the one on Edu-cation or the one for Soldiers and Sailors，and who have cleared their names by commit-ting suicide。Within the reign of the present Emperor，a man who had inadvertently named his son Hirohito-the given name of the Emperor was never spoken in Japan-killed himself and his child。
Giri to one's name as a professional person is very exigent in Japan but it need not be maintained by what an American understands as high professional standards。The teacher says，“I cannot in giri to my name as a teacher admit ignorance of it，”and he means that if he does not know to what species a frog belongs nevertheless he has to pre-tend he does。If he teaches English on the basis of only a few years'school instruction，nevertheless he cannot admit that anyone might be able to correct him。It is specifically to this kind of defensiveness that“giri to one's name as a teacher”refers。The business man too，in giri to his name as a business man，cannot let anyone know that his assets are seriously depleted or that the plans he made for his organization have failed。And the diplomat cannot in giri admit the failure of his policy。In all such giri usages there is ex-treme identification of a man with his work and any criticism of one's acts or one's com-petence becomes automatically a criticism of one's self。
In Japan，this defensiveness goes very deep and it is the part of wisdom-as it is also universal etiquette-not to tell a person to his face in so many words that he has made a professional error。
This sensitivity is especially conspicuous in situations where one person has lost out to another。It may be only that another person has been preferred for a job or that the person concerned has failed in a competitive examination。The loser“wears a shame”for such failures，and，though this shame is in some cases a strong incentive to greater efforts，in many others it is a dangerous depressant。He loses confidence and becomes melancholy or angry or both。His efforts are stymied。
It is especially marked after childhood is ended，for Japanese children are more playful about competition and not so worried about it。With young men and adult，how-ever，performance deteriorated with competition。Subjects who had made good progress，reduced their mistakes and gained speed when they were working by themselves，began to make mistakes and far slower when a competitor was introduced。They did best when they were measuring their improvement against their own record，not when they were measuring themselves against others。The Japanese experimenters rightly analyzed the reason for this poor record in competitive situations。Their subjects，they said，when the project became competitive，became principally interested in the danger that they might be defeated，and the work suffered。They felt the competition so keenly as an aggression that they turned their attention to their relation to aggressor instead of concentrating on job in hand。