Mottainai

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Mottainai written on a truck, followed by the sentence "I strive towards zero emission"

Mottainai (もったいない or 勿体無い) is a Japanese word conveying a sense of regret concerning waste. The exclamation "Mottainai!" can translate as "What a waste!" It is an old Buddhist word that is also connected Shintoism. Recently, Japanese environmentalists have used the term to encourage people to "reduce, reuse and recycle", and Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai used the term as a slogan to promote environmental protection. Mottainai has been referred to as "a part of the Japanese religious and cultural heritage."

Usage and translation

Mottainai is a Japanese term conveying a sense of regret concerning waste. The expression "Mottainai!" can be uttered alone as an exclamation when something useful, such as food or time, is wasted, meaning roughly, "What a waste!" In addition to its primary sense of "wastefulness", the word is also used to mean "impious; irreverent" or "more than one deserves".

Mottainai in Japanese refers both to physical waste and to wasteful action. MacQuillan and Preston propose a more elaborate translation that conveys a sense of value and worthiness as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that which is worthy".

History

Origins

Mottainai originated as a Buddhist term, though this fact is not common knowledge even in Japan. According to historian Yamaori Tetsuo, mottainai is "inseparable from Buddhist ideas about the transience and evanescence of life". The word later become connected to the Shinto concept that all objects have souls.

One of the earliest appearances of the word mottainai is in the book Genpei Jōsuiki (A Record of the Genpei War, ca. 1247). This early use of the word appears in a story about Yoshitsune. On horseback, Yoshitsune dropped his bow into the sea. A vassal cried out, "Don't pick up the bow, let it be!" but he picked it up while being pursued by the enemy Taira clan. After the battle was over, the vassal used the word mottainai in admonishing Yoshitsune that he should have considered his own life more valuable than even a worthy bow.

Modern Japanese environmentalism

In November 2002, the English-language, Japan-based magazine Look Japan ran a cover story entitled "Restyling Japan: Revival of the 'Mottainai' Spirit", documenting the motivation amongst volunteers in a "toy hospital" in Japan to "develop in children the habit of looking after their possessions", the re-emergence of repair shops specializing in repairing household appliances or children's clothes, the recycling of PET bottles and other materials, the collection of waste edible oil, and more generally the efforts to stop the trend of throwing away everything that can no longer be used, i.e. the efforts of reviving "the spirit of mottainai". In that context, Hitoshi Chiba, the author, described mottainai as follows:

We often hear in Japan the expression 'mottainai', which loosely means 'wasteful' but in its full sense conveys a feeling of awe and appreciation for the gifts of nature or the sincere conduct of other people. There is a trait among Japanese people to try to use something for its entire effective life or continue to use it by repairing it. In this caring culture, people will endeavor to find new homes for possessions they no longer need. The 'mottainai' principle extends to the dinner table, where many consider it rude to leave even a single grain of rice in the bowl. The concern is that this traditional trait may be lost.

At the Opening Ceremony of the Science and Technology in Society Forum in 2005, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stated: "In Japan, there has long been a spirit characterized by the word mottainai, which could be translated as 'don't waste what is valuable'."

Use by Wangari Maathai

Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai has used the word mottainai in an environmental protection campaign

At a session of the United Nations, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai introduced the word mottainai as a slogan for environmental protection. According to Mizue Sasaki,

Dr. Maathai, brandishing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word MOTTAINAI, explained that the meaning of the term mottainai encompasses the four Rs of reduce, reuse, recycle and repair ... [and] made the case that we should all use limited resources effectively and share them fairly if we are to avert wars arising from disputes over natural resources.

Maathai has worked to popularize the word mottainai in places outside Japan. At the 2009 United Nations Summit on Climate Change, she said, "Even at personal level, we can all reduce, re-use and recycle, what is embraced as Mottainai in Japan, a concept that also calls us to express gratitude, to respect and to avoid wastage."

See also

• Affluenza
• Anti-consumerism
• Bal tashchit
• Conspicuous consumption
• Freeganism
• Frugality
• Mottainai Grandma
• "Mottai Night Land", a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu song which has Mottai nai in the title
• Muda, mura and muri, three types of waste in lean manufacturing
• Planned obsolescence
• Simple living

External links

• Mottainai Campaign official site
• Mottainai Movement in Brazil