Word: giri
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...vanishing breed of Japanese kingmakers known as kuromaku. The word translates literally as black curtain,* but the closest equivalent in American slang of the power it connotes is godfather. Through his enormous fortune (his real estate holdings alone are estimated at $71.4 million) and the huge store of giri (moral obligations) he has accumulated over the years by dispensing favors and finances, Sasakawa has a puissance that any American influence peddler would envy...
...gave up its attempt to prosecute him, Sasakawa fast-talked the government into letting him set up a series of motorboat races on which the public could legally bet. The races proved to be a big hit and also provided more cash with which Sasakawa could pile up giri. As head of the monopoly that controls the races even today, Sasakawa dispenses 3% of ticket sales ($105 million this year) to favored causes, including charities and research into shipbuilding technology. He has been most generous, though, to Japan's martial arts societies, bragging that he commands a "personal army...
...GIRI...
What was more surprising was an out-of-character blast by India's ceremonial figurehead, President Varahagi-ri Venkata Giri. He said the government had failed to use the immense power that Mrs. Gandhi had won in 1971 in the national elections and in 1972 in the state elections-and, he might have added, the unmatched popularity she had gained after India trounced Pakistan and freed Bangladesh. Little more than a year ago, India and Indira alike were in a state of seemingly enduring euphoria...
...House last week, an Indian army band stood smartly to attention. As the national anthem rang out in the crisp winter air, Indian Army Chief of Staff General Sam Hormuzji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw stepped forward to the presidential dais and saluted stiffly. Then India's President V.V. Giri ceremoniously handed Manekshaw an ornate silver-tipped baton. With that, the military commander who masterminded Pakistan's humiliating defeat in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war became the first Indian field marshal in his country's history...