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{{short description|Japanese term translates as "What a waste!"}}
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[[File:もったいない (5305643094).jpg|thumb|{{lang|ja-Latn|Mottainai}} written on a truck, followed by the sentence "I strive towards [[zero emission]]"]]

{{Nihongo||もったいない {{lang|en|or}} 勿体無い|'''Mottainai'''|lead=yes}} is a Japanese phrase conveying a sense of regret over waste, or to state that one does not deserve something because it is too good. The term can be translated to English  as "What a waste!"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14054262|title=Mottainai Grandma Reminds Japan, 'Don't Waste'|newspaper=NPR.org|publisher=}}</ref>{{sfn|Siniawer|2014}} or the old saying, "Waste not, want not."<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240125-mottainai-in-japan-creativity-is-key-to-a-no-waste-ideal Mottainai: In Japan, creativity is key to a no-waste ideal] BBC News, Johnny Motley, 25 January 2024</ref>
Japanese environmentalists have used the term to encourage people to "[[Waste hierarchy|reduce, reuse and recycle]]". [[Kenya]]n environmentalist [[Wangari Maathai]] has used the term at the [[United Nations]] as a slogan to promote environmental protection.{{sfn|Siniawer|2014}}

== Etymology, usage, and translation ==
{{Hatnote|Related: [[wikt:勿体無い|English Wiktionary's entry for 勿体無い]]}}<!--Provides pathway to additional related resources not linked from here; users here need not visit it if they don't care, but for any who are interested, it is a link out to related information.-->
''[[Kōjien]]'', widely considered the most authoritative Japanese dictionary, lists three definitions for the word {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} (classical Japanese terminal form {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainashi}}): (1) inexpedient or reprehensible towards a god, buddha, noble or the like; (2) awe-inspiring and unmerited/undeserved, used to express thanks; (3) an expression of regret at the full value of something not being put to good use. In contemporary [[Japanese language|Japanese]], {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} is most commonly used to indicate that something is being discarded needlessly, or to express regret at such a fact.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=25}} {{illm|Kōhei Hasegawa|ja|長谷川鉱平}}, then a professor at [[Nagano University]], noted that the definition (3) in ''Kōjien'' was the one used most frequently by modern Japanese.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=25}} The second sense is seen in Japanese newspapers when they refer to members of the [[imperial family of Japan|imperial family]] as having been present at such-and-such an event, not necessarily implying wastefulness but rather gratitude or awe.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=25}} ''{{illm|Daigenkai|ja|言海#大言海}}'', another Japanese dictionary, gives a similar ordering of these definitions.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=25}}

Hasegawa traces this increase in the frequency of meaning (3) to a historical semantic shift in which the original meaning, meaning (1), became less prominent.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=25}} Citing the [[Kyoto University]] Japanese literature scholar {{illm|Kōshin Noma|ja|野間光辰}}, Hasegawa states that the word originated as slang in the [[Kamakura period]],{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=25}} and that by the mid 15th century had perhaps already acquired the meanings of (2) and (3).{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=26}}

An archaic Japanese dictionary dates the use of the term "mottainai" back to the 13th-century.{{sfn|Siniawer|2014|p=165}} Two frequently-cited early examples of usages of {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainashi}}, given in both ''Kōjien'' and ''Daigenkai'', are the ''[[Genpei Jōsuiki]]'' and the ''[[Taiheiki]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=26}} A form of the word, {{lang|ja-Latn|motaina}} (モタイナ) appears in the late-14th or early-15th century [[Noh]] play ''{{illm|Aritōshi|ja|蟻通}}'', apparently in a sense close to (1).{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1pp=26–27}}

The word {{lang|ja-Latn|nai}} in {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} resembles a Japanese negative ("there is no {{lang|ja-Latn|mottai}}"), but may have originally been used as an emphatic ("tremendous {{lang|ja-Latn|mottai}}").{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=26}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Mottai}} itself is a noun appearing as such in, for example, the dictionary ''{{illm|Gagaku-shū|ja|下学集}}'',{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=27}} which dates to 1444.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1pp=25–26}} ''Daigenkai'' gives {{lang|ja-Latn|buttai}} as an alternate reading of the word,{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=27}} and it appears written with the [[kanji]] {{lang|ja|勿躰}}, {{lang|ja|物體}}, {{lang|ja|勿體}}, {{lang|ja|物体}}, or {{lang|ja|勿体}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=27}} It means (i) the shape/form of a thing or (ii) something that is, or the fact of being, impressive or imposing ({{lang|ja|モノモノシキコト}}; {{transliteration|ja|monomonoshiki koto}}).{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=27}} The compound that is pronounced as {{lang|ja-Latn|mottai}} in Japanese appears in Sino-Japanese dictionaries as a Chinese word in a sense similar to (ii),{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=28}} but {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainashi}} does not, as it is an indigenous Japanese word.{{sfnm|1a1=Hasegawa|1y=1983|1p=28}}

The 18th-century [[Kokugaku]] philologist [[Motoori Norinaga]], in the preface to his 1798 treatise ''Tamaarare'' ('Ice Crystals (like) Jewels'; {{lang|ja|玉あられ}}) designed to stir people up from their sleepy acquiescence in acquired customs that were not authentically native, and was critical of the use of the word to express gratitude. He felt its use for such a purpose (along with those of {{Wikt-lang|ja|かたじけない|katajikenashi}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|osoreōi}}) was vitiated by its ultimate derivation from imitating forms of Chinese rhetoric and greetings.<ref>Markus Rüttermann, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25791300  ''"So That We Can Study Letter-Writing": The Concept of Epistolary Etiquette in Premodern Japan,''] [[International Research Center for Japanese Studies|Journal of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies]], 2006 18,1 pp.57-128,86.</ref> In his 1934 essay ''Nihon-seishin to Bukkyō'', the [[Buddhologist]]  Katō Totsudō ({{lang|ja|加藤咄堂}}; 1870-1949) included the "aversion to wastefulness" ({{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}}) in a putative series of what he considered to be "core Japanese personality traits".<ref>''Chūō Bukkyō'' 1934  18/3 pp.1-12,11-12 cited in Ives below.</ref><ref>Christopher Ives, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30233609 ''The Mobilization of Doctrine: Buddhist Contributions to Imperial Ideology in Modern Japan,''] [[Japanese Journal of Religious Studies]] 26, 1/2 Spring 1999 pp.83-106,90:'Katō Totsudō also identifies purportedly core Japanese personality traits of aversion to wastefulness (''mottainai'': 勿体無い), gratitude (''arigatai'': 有難い) and sympathy (''ki no doku'': 気の毒) with the Three Mental Attitudes of laity set forth in the [[Upāsaka and Upāsikā|Upāsaka–śīla sūtra]] the mind of poverty (''hinkyūshin'':貧窮心), the mind of requiring blessings (''hōonshin'':報恩心) and the mind of merit (''kudokushin'':功徳心).'</ref>

== 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 [[Polyethylene terephthalate|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 {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}}".<ref name="look-japan-2002">{{cite journal |last=Chiba |first=Hitoshi |date=November 2002 |title=Restyling Japan: Revival of the "Mottainai" Spirit |journal=[[Look Japan]] |url=http://www.lookjapan.com/LBcoverstory/02NovCS.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405084940/http://www.lookjapan.com/LBcoverstory/02NovCS.htm |archive-date=April 5, 2004 |access-date=July 22, 2013}}</ref> The "Mottainai Spirit" is seen as human resources and nature surrounding us. <ref name="look-japan-2002" />   In that context, Hitoshi Chiba, the author, described {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} as follows:<ref name="look-japan-2002"/>{{blockquote|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.}}

In a 2014 paper on an apparent increase in interest in the idea of {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} in early 21st-century Japan, historian Eiko Maruko Siniawer summarized the views of several Japanese writers who claimed that {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} was a specifically Buddhist concept.{{sfnm|1a1=Siniawer|1y=2014|1p=175}} She also cited a number of views of Japanese authors who believed that it was a uniquely Japanese "contribution to the world", whose views she characterized as mostly being "deeply rooted in cultural generalizations, essentialisms, and disdainful comparisons between countries".{{sfnm|1a1=Siniawer|1y=2014|1p=176}}

== Use by Wangari Maathai ==
[[Image:Wangari Maathai in 2001.jpg|thumb|upright|Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai has used the word {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} in an environmental protection campaign.]]

At a session of the [[United Nations]], [[Kenyan]] environmentalist [[Wangari Maathai]] introduced the word {{lang|ja-Latn|mottainai}} as a slogan for environmental protection.<ref>{{harvnb|Siniawer|2014|p=177}}</ref> According to Mizue Sasaki,<ref name=Sasaki-2005>{{cite conference |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001483/148396e.pdf |title=Perspectives of language: cultural differences and universality in Japanese |last1=Sasaki |first1=Mizue |date=7–9 November 2005 |publisher=UNESCO |pages=124–125 |location=Paris }}</ref>

{{blockquote| Dr. Maathai, brandishing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word MOTTAINAI, explained that the meaning of the term {{lang|ja-Latn|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]].}}

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."<ref name="Maathai2009UN">{{cite web|title=Statement by Prof. W. Maathai, Nobel Peace Laureate, on behalf of Civil Society|url=http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/climatechange/shared/Documents/SpeechMaathai.pdf|publisher=United Nations|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601034605/http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/climatechange/shared/Documents/SpeechMaathai.pdf|archive-date=2011-06-01}} Cited in Siniawer, 2014, p. 177.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Affluenza]]
*[[Anti-consumerism]]
*[[Bal tashchit]]
*[[Conspicuous consumption]]
*[[Freeganism]]
*[[Frugality]]
*''[[Mottainai Grandma]]''
*"[[Mottai Night Land]]", a [[Kyary Pamyu Pamyu]] song 
*''[[Muda (Japanese term)|Muda]]'', ''[[Mura (Japanese term)|mura]]'' and ''[[Muri (Japanese term)|muri]]'', three types of waste in [[lean manufacturing]]
*[[Planned obsolescence]]
*[[Simple living]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
*{{cite journal |last=Hasegawa |first=Kōhei |author-link=Kōhei Hasegawa |year=1983 |title=''Mottai-nashi'' Kō |journal=Academic Bulletin of Nagano University |volume=4 |issue=3–4 |pages=25–30|url=https://nagano.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_view_main_item_detail&item_id=812&item_no=1&page_id=13&block_id=17}}<!-- The page numbering system is weird. Apparently it was printed to accommodate both tategaki right-to-left and English left-to-right, with one set of page numbers (the bottom) counting from what would be the front cover of an English book and the other (the top) counting from what would be the front cover of a Japanese book. These are the Japanese numbers, but the more prominent ones at the bottom of the page count down from 182 to 177. -->
*{{cite journal|first = Eiko Maruko |last = Siniawer
|journal = The Journal of Asian Studies
|number = 1
|pages = 165–186
|publisher = Cambridge University Press, Association for Asian Studies
|title = 'Affluence of the Heart': Wastefulness and the Search for Meaning in Millennial Japan
|volume = 73
|date = 2014
|jstor = 43553399|doi = 10.1017/S0021911813001745
|doi-access = free
}}
*{{cite book|first = Eiko Maruko |last = Siniawer
|title = Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVjDwAAQBAJ
|date = 2018
|chapter = We Are All Waste Conscious Now |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA241
|pages = 241–265 (and endnotes pp. 343–347)
|publisher = Cornell University Press |isbn = 9781501725852
}}
*Siniawer, Eiko Maruko (2014). ""Affluence of the Heart": Wastefulness and the Search for Meaning in Millenial Japan". ''The Journal of Asian Studies''. '''73''' (1): 165 – via perusall.


{{Japanese social terms}}

[[Category:Value (ethics)]]
[[Category:Social philosophy]]
[[Category:Japanese philosophy]]
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[[Category:Environmentalism in Japan]]