Mottainai, you felt it. It is that feeling which makes you finish the food off your plate despite being full. It is that feeling which prevent you from throwing away your old T-shirt because it is still wearable. Mottainai is a Japanese term that defines shame in wastage. This term was passed down by the Japanese for centuries, and remain closely tied to their livelihood to this day.
Under the teaching of Buddhism and Shintoism, Mottainai, a practice of frugality is inherited by the young generation as a lesson to respect everything around them.
Our mission is to challenge how we understand products, waste, and materials. I am hoping to change the conventi-onal perception of waste from being “useless” to “resourceful”, and to subsequently embrace the adage that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
