Duty vs Desire: Ninjo vs. Giri

The samurai live by a code, the Bushido code. Perhaps the most important aspect of this code is the concept of loyalty. In samurai films, a problem of ethics often arises. The samurai must choose between his duties (ninjo) and his desires (giri). Who does a samurai owe his loyalty to?

Samurai Service First

If his lord orders him to kill his child, he is obliged to do so without thought. The samurai must first serve his master and then his family. A samurai will save his master before saving himself or his family.

Today this remains part of Japanese society. Workers are often expected to sacrifice for their company over the needs of their own family. A father will work overtime and miss his daughter’s graduation.

Ninja Heart

Even in the cinema of ninja lore, this is also important in for crime “families” lie the yakuza. In Machine Girl (2008), ninja, Ami seeks the revenge of the death of her brother from yakuza/ninja family even though her desire is to live a normal school girl life, she sacrifices everything to kill the yakuza / ninja family. She even desires death, at one point, to end the pain, but she rise up and finishes her duty (giri) of justice for her brother.

Ronins, Masterless Samurai

Ronins are samurai without a master. In a sense, they do not live by the same code and are more independent. Stories of ronins became Western films like A Fistful of Dollars (1964).

In Chinese martial arts film or  wuxia pian films, the swordsmen also live by a similar code of the Brotherhood.