"Mottainai" is a Japanese word introduced to the world by Wangari Muta Maathai, who was the first African female to win the Nobel Peace Prize for the environmental field in 2004. This word can be translated in English as "wasteful", and implies a sense of regret that something useful is left unused or wasted. She somehow felt a sense of care for nature and things implied in the word and was very impressed by it. I originally enjoyed wearing old clothes and making collages out of discarded magazines and flyers. When I joined Satake, I learned that rice was harvested from the paddy field and went through many processes until it was ready to be eaten on the table. But the negative side were the byproducts produced in the process. This made me realize that rice could be truly "mottainai". When I visited a rice mill in India some time later, I saw that the rice husk was burned to ashes to be used as bricks, and the rice bran was used as fertilizer for agriculture. I learned from this customer that there was not a single part of rice that was being wasted . After returning from this business trip, I purchased a home-use rice milling machine called Satake Magic Mill. I heard from my senior employee that rice bran could be used as a bathing powder, so that day I milled brown rice and put the rice bran into a tea pack and tried it. It made my skin smooth! I also roasted the rice bran and mixed it with salt to make Furikake seasoning ( a special Japanese seasoning applied to rice) to pour over cooked rice, and made pickles with rice bran paste called Nukazuke. Nukazuke needs to be stirred every day in order to maintain the balance of microorganisms active in it. It's like taking care of a pet, and it makes you feel very attached to pickles and even makes them taste better. Find more>> Source: Online/KSU
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