# The Edo era and people's own efforts

People in the Edo era used their goods with care, in keeping with the spirit of mottainai. This is something that modern society can use as a guide in promoting new initiatives to establish a SMC. For example, as many as 1,000 organizations were engaged in recycling in the city of Edo and there were activities aimed at creating a SMC in all four classes of the population: warriors, farmers, artisans and tradesmen.

The expression “shisso kenyaku” (living a simple and frugal life), which also symbolizes the life of samurai, reflects the samurai’s lifestyle of not wasting things. Keizai Zuihitsu (An Essay on Economy), a book describing the rules of the samurai lifestyle in those days, introduces tips on how to practice mottainai: “When buying clothes, buy those with the same pattern for all family members so that they may later be used for patching each other’s clothes”; “Waste threads can be used as a wick”

One piece of literature that describes how samurai and their rulers fostered the mottainai spirit is Seiryoki, written by a medieval general in the Iyo-Uwajima region. This book explains how people in his fief made effective use of night soil.

Even castles were built in keeping with the mottainai spirit. The Hikone Castle used some recycled construction materials for the castle keep, turret and walls. Castles like this are well-preserved and still exist today.

Since farmers in those times mostly cultivated rice, they used many common tools derived from rice cultivation. For example, rice straw left behind after harvest

[Used clothes store]

Source: Edo Shokunin Uta-awase (Edo Artisan Poetry Contest)

(and still used as fertilizer and feed today), was a necessity in every aspect of life, including food, clothing and shelter. This straw had many uses. It was used to make clothing, such as woven hats, rain capes and zori sandals. It was used to make rice bags, fermentation packets for natto (fermented soybeans), and for livestock feed. It was also used for shelter, providing roofing and mats, as well as handicrafts to decorate the house for the New Year. Even when these household goods made from rice straw were no longer useful and were discarded, farmers still gathered them up and used them as fertilizer.

Artisans and tradesmen also worked in a way that saved resources.

The industrial products in the Edo era were all made manually by artisans. This manufacturing process, although requiring a great deal of time and labor, minimized the wastage of resources. For example, in the color plate-making and printing processes used to create nishikie colored woodprints, the surface of each used wood-block was shaved flat so that it could be reused. Artisans making metal products used iron scrap as a raw material because, in those days, the process of refining metals from ores required advanced technology and much energy.

Many tradesmen in the Edo era were engaged in businesses corresponding to today’s reuse and repair industries. For example, as “artisan-tradesmen,” they ran shops to repair broken bowls and other kinds of china (by gluing the pieces back together), pans and pots, wooden tubs and barrels (by rebinding them with

[Waraji sandals dumped at the roadside]

Source: Edo Meisho Zue (An Illustrated Book of the Sights of Edo)