Circular Edonomy: Japan’s successful Circular Economy 400 years ago

What is Edonomy?

By Edonomy, we are referring to the Circular Economy in Edo Period, Japan, lasting from 1603 to 1867. We sometimes call it “Circular Edonomy,” and the focus is usually on Edo City (where we call Tokyo City today.)

Simply put, a Circular Economy is where resources are maximized for their usage cycles and embraces zero waste. As an economic model that has found a following worldwide in recent years, Japan’s Edonomy is gaining attention recently because it had achieved what we are struggling to recreate today.

But why now?

But why are we learning about Circular Economy now?

System change is one of the biggest hope in solving the world’s most dire crisis: the climate crisis. A circular economy is a model that promises to replace our current, detrimental Linear Economy, addressing concerns like the myth of limitless resources and waste as a system error.

Circular Edonomy is a case study of how Japan created a circular economy, and is important for several reasons.

Why is Edonomy important?

One reason is the circumstances Japan was in when they achieved circularity. The country had closed its borders, strictly limiting its contact with the outside world. The bubble meant that the country could not import resources and would have to work within the limits of its available resources.

Thus, limited resources gave the Japanese the motivation to maximize the uses of the resources, often focusing on durability, repairs, and circulating for subsequent uses. This was supported by their culture and mindset, like having a strong distaste for waste.

Even with all the limits ancient Japan faced, it managed to flourish in culture. It wasn’t a survival mode of where-do-we-get-our-next-meal, but it was one of seeking perfection through everyday improvement. Edo City was also the biggest city in the world then, sustainably supporting one million lives through circular systems.

Not forgetting, there were no advanced technology like what we have today. The Japanese in the Edo Period were able to tap on nature’s energy (ie clean energy!) in a carbon-negative way, even without having to understand the carbon cycle.

These reasons are enough for us to search for sustainability hints against today’s global issues.

Features of Circular Edonomy

There are numerous examples to show how Edo City was circular. However, we’ll look at a few categorical aspects that give us an understanding of how Edonomy was achieved.

5 R’s of Edonomy

Starting with daily lives, there is a common understanding of the 5 Rs in ancient Japan among the people. It is similar to how we have the 3 Rs now, but the Japanese practiced it at a higher level. Most of what we do today is Recycle, and we’ve mostly ignored Reduce and Reuse.

The ancient Japanese practiced 5 R’s: Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, and Return. Materials were recycled as much as possible, like using torn clothing for patching or handles for tools (Recycling). Mottainai was also a value that the Japanese valued, avoiding needless purchases (Reduce) and even rented (for example, beds.)

Especially for Repair, it was a widespread practice for citizens to seek out specialists to fix their broken products, from clothing to metal pots and pans. It is a far cry from our current way of consumption, where our first thought would be to replace broken products with new purchases.

Return is less obvious, but almost everything ancient Japanese used were organic. Clothes were made from plants. Japanese houses were made mostly of wood and clay, save for the kitchen stove and pots. All these meant that the materials were eventually compostable and Returned to the earth as fertilizers.

And these industries were profitable (which should be music to C-level ears.) Artisans created wooden bento boxes that became more beautiful as they were used for the next two decades (Reuse). Collectors paid for and sold human and animal fecal matter because they were valuable as fertilizers to farmers (Return). Desirable skills were required to fix different day-to-day items (Repair).

Mottainai, Wabisabi, Taru wo Shiru, Bikan

Why were the Japanese in the Edo Period able to practice the 5 R’s to such a high degree? One vital reason is the cultivation of several treasured values. These values became the foundation for the formation of circular behaviors.

Mottainai: The most common term that many would be familiar with is “mottainai.” Directly translated as “what a waste,” this feeling portrays the dislike for wasting things. However, the word existed before the Edo Period. Throughout the centuries, the lack of affluence has led the common folk to prevent waste through careful use. It is also backed by an appreciation of the origins of the things they use. Because of the deep meaning that mottainai imbues, the phrase is finding environmental importance in recent years with trending popularity together with the concept of zero waste.

Wabisabi: Wabisabi is another interesting concept about one form of Japanese beauty. Wabisabi represents the appreciation for beauty in imperfection, beauty in the aged. How is this related to sustainability in Japanese culture? It is well-represented in kintsugi. Kintsugi is the mending of broken vessels by using gold. While a broken bowl or cup may seem like it has lost its value and beauty, using gold to mend the vessel creates new value and beauty, not to mention uniqueness.

Taru wo Shiru: This phrase translates literally to be “to know enough,” but its essence is in “appreciating that we have enough.” This is highly relevant to how we consume things because it catalyzes our questioning of the differences between needs and wants. It curbs excessiveness and cultivates an appreciation of having.

Bikan (sense of beauty): We shared an aspect of Japanese beauty of wabisabi, but that is not the only aesthetic that arose over the centuries. We will explain more about the ancient Japanese’s understanding of time later, but when creating, artisans take two aspects into consideration: beauty and time. Artisans skillfully craft intricacies into their creations. It can be likened to enjoying a piece of art that appeals to and positively affects well-being. But they also account for how the product would look like decades later, even a century later, and design it to present a different beauty.

Defining our relationship with nature

These values are often found in eastern values, and we can see the differences in how the Japanese defined the relationship between nature and themselves. Japan is a country no stranger to natural disasters, including earthquakes and storms. Such an environment has led ancient Japanese to have reverence for the forces of nature and appreciation for the gifts that it can bring. They understand that humans are a part of nature.

It is quite a contrast from western ideologies, where the core belief is that humans are not only a separate identity from nature, but also the masters and owners of it. It is the same mindset in capitalistic societies, where we assume there are unlimited resources that we can tap on (or abuse) freely for our conveniences.

Today, it is vital to build an understanding that we are part of nature, that whatever we do to nature comes back amplified. Perhaps we’d get a handle on global emissions when everyone finally realizes this relationship and start treating nature right.

A different understanding of time

Time is another aspect where the ancient Japanese thought differently from others. In using resources or creating something tangible, they are thinking of future generations. The language had specific words vocabularies like “genson” (a 4th generation descendent) and “unson” (a 8th generation descendent) as a common reference.

For example, in terms of forestry in Japan, foresters consider who will benefit when planting trees. Different trees grow at different rates, but most take decades, and their descendents will likely be involved in those trees. They also consider who would utilize the wood, especially artisans. Talking about long-term investments!

It is also the same realization we looked at Japanese companies that are hundreds of years old. Their focus isn’t to grow large and be number one in their field. The owners are thinking of creating a company their children would like to join, and thinking of the kind of value they’d like to leave to their grandchildren.

Degrowth

One more tantalizing aspect of the Circular Edonomy is how its growth did not depend on how much it made. Japan’s population grew and flattened out in the later half of the two centuries of the Edo Period. If we measured its GDP during that period, it would be close to 0%. If capitalism is detrimental to nature and we need an alternative economic model, then Edonomy shows the Circular Economy as a promising replacement for decoupling growth from production.

Signs of Circular Edonomy that remains today

Even after centuries, the spirit of sustainability of Edonomy endures till today.

For example, during our online event with a Sado sensei (Japanese tea teacher), we learned that many aspects of the tea ceremony were based on sustainability and circularity. It includes the space for the ceremony (philosophically and architecturally rooted in nature) and the purposeful use of tools (kintsugi for repairs or upcycling broken brushes for new uses.)

The kimono is still a popular fashion choice in Japan, and it was made with zero waste in mind. A long rectangular piece of cloth, with the right cuts and sews, will create a piece of clothing that requires no discard of any cloth. The method also allowed expansion for growing children’s kimono and made it easy for repairs. Discarding kimono is unthinkable for many; passing them on to the next generation is the norm.

Japanese craftsmanship is also coming into focus under the lens of circularity. Interest in Kintsugi, the act of extending the lifespan of products, has found renewed interest worldwide. Artisans’ appreciation for nature also reflects their dependence on limited resources: overconsumption is the same as choking ourselves.

It might be hard to believe, but there are sustainable villages in various parts of Japan, despite population declines in many of these areas. They are often called satoyama and satoumi, where we can learn from the wisdom of circularity they retain. For example, using the river to irrigate the farmlands and promote local biodiversity, then returning the water clean as it exists back into the river downstream.

Composting is also finding a renaissance in Japan as it grows in importance. More and more and becoming aware of food waste problems, especially in Japan, and composting is being made easy with indoor, urban options, like with LFC Compost Kit. Several businesses have also introduced composting, and even one project was launched on a community scale in Omotesando in Tokyo.

If the timing is right, you can also witness the process of Tokowaka at Ise Shrine, where the new shrine is built (which, by the way, only uses natural wood for its structure) to remodel old things and keep them young and eternal. The old shrine is dismantled, materials sent to various shrines around Japan. It’s a circular activity that occurs every 20 years and has been going on for the past 1,300 years.

Circular Edonomy as a worthy case study of a successful Circular Economy

Of course, the ancient Japanese did not call their “model” a Circular Economy. It was not a deliberate effort so that they could boast and become the leader of anything. The circular systems was a natural result from a foundation of sustainable values, respect for nature, and attention to things that mattered.

We are constantly reminded of the problems in society, environment and economy, but often left to inaction because we didn’t have a solution. With the Circular Economy model and pioneers at the frontiers of change, we now have a hopeful tool to create a better future. Circular Edonomy proves that it can be done because it was done before.

[Additional reference] Circular Economy in Japan