Columns

The World’s “Invisible Waste Wars”

The Reality of Using Up the Earth’s Resources — in Numbers

Vol.7— The Real Story Behind Resource Extraction — Every day we put on clothes, buy a drink, use a smartphone, or get into a car. It feels so natural we hardly ever stop to think. But what does the Earth lose in the process of making just one of these

Where Buried Things Go

｜ Vol.6— From a “Make It Invisible” Economy to “Design for Circulation” — The Earth accepts everything we put into it. But that doesn’t mean it offers us infinite silence. Hello, and welcome back to our series on learning about the circular economy together. In this sixth installment, we look

The Invisible Pain That Begins After We Throw Things Away

Vol.5 — The Hidden Costs of Waste for Society and the Environment When a new incineration plant or landfill is planned nearby, most of us feel uneasy. The smell, the impact on the landscape, the risk of harmful substances—few would welcome it if they could avoid it. Yet in

The Planetary Cost of a Mass Consumption Society

Vol.4— Do We Have Enough Resources? Can the Environment Withstand It? — “What burden does the Earth bear for a single product—just to be made, used, and then thrown away?” We live surrounded by countless products and services. Yet behind that convenience, the planet’s ecosystems and future resources

The Five Deep Costs of a Mass Consumption and Waste Society

Vol.3— What have we lost in the pursuit of economic growth? — We’ve grown used to a world where “buy and throw away” is the norm. But the hidden costs of this system are deeper—and more quietly devastating—than we may realize. ■ Introduction: Confronting the “Other Side” of

Why Did Mass Production Begin?

Vol.2―Introduction: The Question Before the Circular Economy In recent years—especially in discussions about the circular economy and moving beyond mass consumption—a certain reflective question has begun to emerge: Why have we built a society so deeply predicated on “throwing things away”? To face this question, we

Rethink Waste. Create Value.

Vol.1 — What Is the Circular Economy? The Key Difference from the Linear Model From “throw away” to “create value.” Why question the very idea of “throwing away”? “It’s normal to discard things once we’re done using them.” This mindset is deeply embedded in our everyday lives. Buy

Roots of Company

0:00 /0:52 1× A boy holding a broken “Made in Japan” toy— that was where our journey began. In 1995, as a young backpacker wandering through Calcutta, I found myself among children living on towering garbage mountains. One boy clutched a broken Japanese toy as if it were