Mottainai: Beyond Wastefulness, A Reverence for the Unseen
I find it impossible to leave food on my plate—I always end up finishing everything.
Is it because I feel it would be wasteful? Or is it because I have a strong sense of aesthetics and find the sight of leftover food on my plate unbearably unsightly? I’m not sure. But one thing is certain: I cannot stand seeing grains of rice stuck to the edge of my bowl.
My daughter scolds me for this. "Eating everything won’t do you any good. It only puts a strain on your body."
"Hmmm... but it would be wasteful," I reply.
"Mottainai" is a uniquely Japanese word. The term is related to "物体" (buttai, "physical object"). The character "勿" (mochi, motsu in kan-on reading) is originally a Wu-character (呉字), so instead of pronouncing it buttai, we use its Wu reading: mottai. It conveys a sense of grandeur, solemnity, or even excessive formality. When negated, it becomes "mottainai", implying that something is too precious to be wasted.
This word has a long history. In the Uji Shūi Monogatari, a collection of stories compiled in the early Kamakura period, there is a passage:
"Ah, what a regrettable master! To strip someone naked and abandon them like this..."
This suggests that "mottainai" has been in use for centuries. Perhaps its refined and dignified nuance kept it from fading into obscurity, allowing it to survive into the modern era.
At the same time, I sense a deeper meaning behind "mottainai"—a feeling of reverence toward the unseen, a form of humility before something beyond human comprehension. Could it be that "mottainai" reflects an attitude of standing before the invisible with respect?
However, when my daughter uses the word, I suspect she means it in the sense of "wasteful." The English equivalent, "wasteful," lacks the reverence or awe associated with the Japanese "mottainai." Instead, it seems more about personal gain and efficiency.
Now, since my daughter studied comparative religion in university, I’d like to ask her:
How does Western religion view wastefulness?
How does it compare to Buddhism, Daoism, and Shinto?
Hahaha ♬ But before we get into all that… I’ll just go ahead and finish this pizza—because it would be mottainai to let it go to waste!
Speaking of which, I just remembered an old song: "Micchan, Michimichi~♬♬".
Micchan, too, thought it would be mottainai—so she licked it all up, didn’t she?
いいなと思ったら応援しよう！
