Article Link: Avoiding waste with the Japanese concept of ‘mottainai’

Mottainai – the Japanese notion that expresses regret of wasting a resource; when directly translated to English, it would mean ‘What a waste!’ or ‘Don’t be wasteful’. This concept is the equivalent of the west ideology of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’, with an additional impression of having respect to the object. While the concept has gained prominence recently through international media and pop-cultural references, it is insisted by many that the spirit of mottainai has been a part of the Japanese culture for a long time.

The representation of Japan and the environment in this article is the concept of mottainai itself – people are aware of the mutual reliance and fleetingness of all things. Having ties with both Buddhist and Shintoism, both reflects the idea of Japanese cherishing and living in harmony with nature and the environment. Buddhist philosophy of interconnectness and frugality shows that there is a sense of wanting to preserve and protect the environment. As for Shinto animism – where spirituality in man-made objects and nature are celebrated, showing that the Japanese have an aesthetic appreciation and respect towards the environment.

What makes the concept of mottainai ‘green’ is the attempt to convey the intrinsic value in an item and to advocate people to utilize it till its full potential; bringing about the concept of recycling. It also serves as a reminder to Japanese that resources are limited and to conserve what they can. As frugality is highly valued in Buddhist philosophy, there is an idea of reducing waste and to reuse objects continuously till the end of its lifespan. Practices of mottainai are such as flushing toilets with waste water, recycling and reusing old kimono cloth to become chopstick holders, purses, fans (Wallace, 2014).

While some may present mottainai as a mentality rather than an economic concept (Coco, 2008), there are many doubts on whether this may be true. Are the Japanese recycling religiously because they love nature? As presented in Totman’s article, recycling was mainly because of economic purposes rather than the benefit of the environment (Totman, 1989). With rapid industrialization and urbanization, the environment has changed drastically. This has led to many Japanese to feel regret that natural sceneries (e.g. fireflies) are not as prevalent as before. This feeling of loss has led to a sense of wanting to preserve the environment through models such as satoyama and furusatos. However as illustrated in Moon’s article, the nature that these urban tourists are presented with is just a construct and commoditized version of nature (Moon, 1997). Therefore, there is a question of whether mottainai is only applicable towards something that is particularly beautiful, useful or something that holds a significant meaning for the Japanese. Furthermore, the concept of mottainai as with other Japanese concepts has been touted as a possible model of sustainable resource management. However, similar to the criticisms presented in Knight’s article, is the concept of mottainai really a solution that tackles the fundamental issues of today’s environmental crises (Knight, 2010)? While mottainai may discourage consumerism and materialism, there will always be conflicts between economic development and preservation of the environment.

References

Masters, Coco. “The Japanese Way.” TIME. N.p., 17 Apr. 2008. Web. 9 Sept. 2016. <http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1730759_1734222_1734215,00.html>.

Wallace, Mary. “Mottainai: How the Japanese Say ‘Waste Not, Want Not’.” We Hate to Waste. N.p., 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Sept. 2016. <http://www.wehatetowaste.com/mottainai/>.

Totman, Conrad. “Ecological Trends (The Period of Stasis (II)).” (1989): 260-61. Print. 11 Sept. 2016.

Moon, Okpyo. “Marketing Nature in Rural Japan.” Japanese Images of Nature(1997): 221-35. Print. 11 Sept. 2016.

Knight, Catherine. “The Discourse of “Encultured Nature” in Japan: The Concept of Satoyama and Its Role in 21st-Century Nature Conservation.”Asian Studies Review (2010): 421-41. Print. 11 Sept. 2016.

Article Link: Welcome to Fujisawa, the self-sufficient Japanese smart town

With sustainability as its focus, Panasonic has built an entire town, the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (SST), which will be home to 3,000 people in 600 houses and 400 apartments at a cost of ¥60bn (roughly SGD$8bn). What sets this town apart from an ordinary town, so touted by Panasonic, is its reliance on smart technology, meaning solar panels in every house, a community solar power generation system, and self-distributing energy management systems. The result? A dent in energy consumption through the use of sustainable energy, which is said to be the key to the success of Fujisawa SST.

This article represents Japan not only as a frontrunner of smart technology but also as environmentally-conscious. In Fujisawa SST, both these representations come together where technological advancements do not come at the price of the environment but instead aim to sustain the environment. It seems as though the key to reducing the damage done to the environment is to be found in smart living, where human and nature are able to co-exist harmoniously with technology as its mediator.

Fujisawa SST runs on renewable energy, where solar panels are fitted into houses, placed along streets, and make up an entire solar farm. Residents are encouraged to be eco-conscious by accessing digital reports called “Portals” to view how much electricity is being used overall as a community or by individual appliances in their home (Channel Panasonic – Official). As such, not only does Fujisawa SST make use of green energy to power its town but it also aims to instil a way of thinking in its residents which would allow them to consume this energy consciously. Ultimately, Panasonic engineers anticipate a 70% reduction in CO2, a 30% drop in water consumption, and a predicted 30% of energy used to come from on-site renewable resources.

In this article, as well as elsewhere, Fujisawa SST is repeatedly described as “green” and “smart” interchangeably. The new green is smart technology, but the definitions of both terms are infinitely broad. Looking back at ideas discussed in class, being green is a concept tied up with nostalgia such as in Knight’s article on satoyama (436). It seems that being green is thus a looking back to the past, a longing for a harmonious relationship between human and nature now long gone. However, in this article, being green is a looking forward, where technological advancements seek to preserve what we have, precisely by making use of these very natural resources and labelling it as renewable, green technology. The relationship between human and nature is continuously being redefined as we figure out new ways to use nature to our benefit while maintaining it, but what remains is that being green is not simply about nature. Rather, in cases such as this, the term “green” has been appropriated by big corporations like Panasonic as a marketing tool to sell their products by promoting a way of life that allows consumers to conveniently envision themselves as green just by using these products.

Word count: 500

Bibliography

Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town. Dir. Channel Panasonic Official. 2014. Youtube.

Haslam, Chris. “Welcome to Fujisawa, the self-sufficient Japanese smart town.” Wired 1 May, 2015. Digital.

Knight, Catherine. “The Discourse of ‘‘Encultured Nature’’ in Japan: The Concept of Satoyama and its Role in 21st-Century Nature Conservation.” Asian Studies Review (2010): 421-441.

(Here’s a video link in case anyone interested in finding out more about Fujisawa SST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtkONvhW6O4)

Article link

Panasonic Eco Technology Center, a recycling plant in the Hyogo Prefecture, is employing cutting-edge technology in the recycling of e-wastes. In the article, the advantages of this innovative method of waste recycling and the recycling culture of electronic waste in Japan were briefly discussed.

Japan is represented as an environmentally conscious country which makes use of legislation and technology to reduce the negative impacts on the environment caused by waste disposal. It is mandatory to recycle items such as cars, computers and other electronics in Japan, in an effort to meet the national requirement of cutting down carbon dioxide emissions and waste disposed.

Waste management has always been a major environmental concern, especially for e-waste, which can contain potentially hazardous components such as heavy metals, toxins and even radioactive material. While e-waste is the main source of toxic municipal waste, part of the discarded e-waste is still marketable for reuse or recycle through material recovery. Yet, most developed countries choose to export their e-waste to their developing counterparts. (Chea, 2007) While Japan pushes for recycling by imposing responsibilities on manufactures and consumers through legislation, a fifth of electronic waste is still being exported overseas and more than a quarter is still sent to landfills. (Kojima, 2008) According to OECD statistics, Japan does not score very well among the OECD countries with a recycling rate of 19%, and ranks 27 out of the 34 OECD countries. (OECD, 2013)

While the article seems to promote waste separation as a novel method in sorting e-waste, Japan has already been treating e-waste differently from other materials.since the 1970s. Trained workers were hired to disassemble and gather recyclable materials, however, the program was of little success as these specialised workers were too expensive to employ, and most e-waste were discarded in a landfill along with other waste. (Kojima, 2008) The technology described in the article is also limited to a single plant, while e-waste distributed to other plants in Japan may still be ‘crushed by machines ’. However, with greater reliance on technology, we can expect less emphasis on manual labour, and this lowered operational cost may encourage other plants to adopt similar technology.

Recycling in Japan is not just a result of environmental consciousness; the effort behind recycling is often propelled by profits. Research behind the technology in recycling is backed by economic motivations, the revenue it is expected to bring from exporting such technology overseas is expected to reach 1 trillion yen by 2020. Similarly, during Tokugawa period, recycling of waste was also motivated by profits. Night soil  had marketable value as fertilisers, providing an incentive for the recycling and utilisation of human waste. Rather being a hundred percent based on an active effort for environmental preservation, more often, recycling in Japan depends on the cost and profits behind the process.

References

Chea, Terence (18 November 2007). “America Ships Electronic Waste Overseas”. Associated Press.

Michikazu Kojima, ed. (2008). “A Comparative Study of E-waste Recycling Systems in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan from the EPR Perspective: Implications for Developing Countries”. Promoting 3Rs in developing countries – Lessons from the Japanese experience (PDF). IDE Sop Survey 30. Japan: Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO. ISBN 978-4-258-58030-9.

Environment at a Glance 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2016, from http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/environment/environment-at-a-glance-2015_9789264235199-en#page50nd reduces waste.

Article

Japanese architecture studio, Suppose Design Office has unveiled its design for a rural house in Hiroshima, named Hiroshima Hut. Tasked with designing a home capable of cultivating a closer affinity between its occupants and nature, the studio created a house that one can see right through, to the trees beyond. Transparent acrylic form the external walls, see-through metal mesh divide its interior, and a concealed underground level affords privacy and additional storage space, keeping visual clutter over the rural landscape to a minimum. The only conspicuous, opaque element in the design is a large, thin roof- illusory suspended in space, with generous overhanging eaves intended to shelter and entice wildlife to its perimeter.

The article describes highly standardised forms of nature surrounding Hiroshima Hut— the animals, docile; the environment, a placid space. Echoing (Saito 1985)’s opinion that “it is the small, gentle and intimate aspects of nature that are chosen as objects and phenomena for praise…”. The narrative further epitomises fantasies whereby humans and wildlife willingly coexist and interact in a harmonious manner, conveniently ignoring the reality that nature has the capacity to cause merciless damage to property and humans.

Though not explicitly mentioned, the architects carefully incorporate various elements of the furusato, the idealised rural village into the narrative of Hiroshima Hut; effectively evoking images of a simple way of life in an unspoilt natural setting where humans engage in leisurely activities staged in the rural idyll (Kalland and Asquith 1997). The Hiroshima Hut can be then identified as a form of Furusato-zukuri, a carrier of the ideals conceived in the architects’ minds, preventing the erosion of national aesthetics against urbanisation and pollution. (Robertson 1988)

Suppose Design Office is portrayed as being reverential to nature. Hiroshima Hut features see-through elements that allows the building to visually blend in with its surrounding landscape. Moreover, the space is not exclusively for human use but allows for animal use too. This further reinforces the myth of the Japanese having a love for nature that is translated into their art and material culture (Kalland and Asquith 1997).

However, the irony lies in the fact that nature here, is still manipulated to create a seemingly untouched landscape for the viewing pleasure of humans. Moreover, the article does not challenge the rationale nor the effectiveness of the architects’ design in achieving its intent of “creating a home that would allow its occupants to be as close to nature as possible”. Replacing opaque walls with transparent ones does not necessarily result in greater nature-connectedness. It is also unclear if the benefits of preserving the visual landscape outweighs the resources required to excavate the land to create an underground level within Hiroshima Hut. Thus, this unquestioning acceptance supports the widely held view that Japan is ‘Green’ and that the Japanese know best when it comes to sustainable resource management. This can be problematic as Dezeen is the world’s most influential architecture and design magazine (Fairs 2016) and widely referenced by design students and professionals worldwide.

Word count: 501

Bibliography

Frearson, A. (2015) “Hiroshima Hut Is a See-through House with Sunken Rooms.” Hiroshima Hut Is a See-through House with Sunken Rooms. Accessed September 06, 2016. http://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/23/hiroshima-hut-suppose-design-office-see-through-house-transparent-walls-sunken-rooms-japan/.