Ruth Benedict’s The Chrysanthemum and the Sword appeared in 1946. A Japanese translation followed in 1948. The book analyzes Japan through the words on and giri. In the Japanese edition, chapter 6 is titled “Repaying one ten-thousandth of on.” Chapter 7 is titled “Nothing is as hard as giri.”
A Japanese encyclopedia sums up her view of on as a burden and a debt that a person must carry with all their strength.