"The Yakuza have historically served the people," Nogami went on. "Yakuza do not run dishonest gambling tables, even if the victims are to be gaijin. It is not the Yakuza way to perpetrate fraud, which is what the CEO's Eurobond issue amounts to."
Jiro Sato did not offer to refute the assertion. Instead he replied from a different direction, his voice soft.
"There is ninjo, Nogami-san. And there is giri. Which do you respect more?"
He knew he had just presented Nogami with a hopeless dilemma. Giri. It was a word no gaijin could ever entirely comprehend. The closest a foreign language, or a foreign mind, could manage was "duty." But that pale concept missed entirely the reverberations of moral obligation in giri. One could never fully repay such indebtedness, even with one's life. A Japanese called it "the burden hardest to bear."
A Yakuza's foremost expression of giri was to honor and obey his oyabun. The great oyabun of Japan's leading Yakuza syndicates were more than merely godfathers. They were Confucian elders, patriarchs, wisdom figures who embodied all the traditions of the clan. Their authority was absolute and unquestioned.
Kenji Nogami owed as much giri to Tanzan Mino as any man could. The Tokyo oyabun had made him everything he was; it was an obligation he could never fully discharge. One look at his face told how his heart was torn.
But as Jiro Sato studied Nogami's pained eyes, he was
torn as well. Tokyo was near to losing confidence in him. The CEO had just announced by telex that a team of kobun had been posted to London to "assist." But if the oyabun’s Tokyo people had to step in and solve the problem, a lot more would be lost than finger digits.
Finally Nogami spoke, his voice firm. "Perhaps you will be pleased to learn, Sato-sama, that I am prepared to make certain preliminary accommodations. An initial offering of Eurobonds will be formally issued tomorrow."
"That is a wise decision." Jiro Sato tried to disguise his surge of relief beneath a mask of unconcern. Nogami was going to go along after all!