"Mottainai", its movement, and Japanese spirituality

I'm sorry for posting so many Japanese-related articles on this blog. But as Japanese, I think I'm the right person to explain these, so please bear for that. This time, let me explain one of the most important Japanese environment-related concepts. This would be included in our upcoming study guide on climate change. So, stay tuned...

Mottainai is a Japanese adjective that means “it is so wasteful that things are not made full use of their value,” or simply puts, “it is too valuable to waste.” This term is used in Japanese daily lives very frequently when things which are still useful and valuable are wasted. Originally it comes from old Buddhism term mottai (things). Nai in Japanese means denying. Therefore, a combination of word mottai and -nai means that things are sadly not in full use as much as it should be, with no respect and thank to both things and their producers such as farmers. Largely it is used in Japan for economical reasons to reduce unnecessary spending and waste. In this sense, it is, in some level, also connected to Japanese Zen’s spirituality which likes simplicity and stoicism of life.

However, this native Japanese word suddenly became an internationally known word thanks to the promotion by Dr. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2004. She discovered the value this word has in the conservation movement and knew that its profound meanings go beyond the concept of 3 Rs. She found this word when she visited Japan in 2005 for a Kyoto Protocol-related event, and learned there was no correctly equated word in any other languages with the same level of respect and love to things the term mottainai has. Since she learned this word, she has frequently used it in her public speeches including the one in the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the Live 8 concert held in England in 2005, while believing that the value and spirituality of mottainai Japanese traditionally have could transcend culture and national boarders.

After Dr. Maathai started to use mottainai frequently, Japanese government under the Koizumi Administration also made an effort to expand its philosophy in and out of Japan to conserve things and manage waste efficiently in the national-level discussion. In addition, a number of corporations use this word in their PR campaigns and green marketing strategies. Akira Yamaguchi, an author of a best-seller simply titled Mottainai (Waste Not, Want Not) (1995), explains its concept in detail that mottainai contains human beings’ awes, thanks, and in-depth love to all creations in our universe, recommending the ideal life in harmony with the nature. He extends mottainai’s philosophy that, for the convenience of our life, the social paradigm of technology-led 20th century such as mass production, mass marketing, and mass consumption destroyed humanity, culture, social values, sense of communities, and loves to the nature in which human beings live, and that the philosophy and implementation of mottainai can be a savior in 21st century which people have to reduce waste and realize carbon-free society.

With the word and philosophy of mottainai, Japanese traditionally considers wasting resources and throwing them away before fully using is the shameful act that profanes and disrespects our Creator of nature. Mottainai reflects a sad feeling that things are lost and underappreciated, as well. Therefore, traditional Japanese culture prohibits people to waste things with a sense of guilty. Most Japanese children are taught by parents with the term mottainai that they must eat every peace of rice in the bowl; otherwise, the leftover means disrespect to blood, toil, tears and sweat of hardworking farmers who produce rice. In addition, children are taught in a Japanese folk tale that if they waste things, “mottainai ghost” would haunt to scare them.

Much before 3 Rs education took place in Western countries, historically Japanese have had the ecological thought, mottainai, in the religious philosophy that human beings are just one of the creations in all nature, and that people should respect awesome magnificence of nature. In this philosophy, the hierarchy between human beings and nature is horizontal. Traditionally, Japanese do not think the nature as “resources” human beings can use as much as they want in the same way the Western culture treats nature. For them, every non-human thing (even stones and flowers) has spirit and soul inside of it. Simply put, wasting things is anti-social, anti-nature, and most importantly, anti-God-in-nature activity for Japanese. No wonder Japan is awarded the gold medal in the Recycling Olympics with the half level of CO2 emissions of the United States (Planet Ark, 2004; The World Bank, 2005). This love and respect toward things can be introduced as a revolutionary idea of conservation movement in the United States where people wastefully consume high volume of resources without understanding and respecting our nature.