After eating his fill, the boy pushes his bowl aside, kernels of rice still clinging to the edges. Summoning the motivation to pick out each remaining grain with chopsticks is understandably difficult. As he rises to leave the table, a woman, her hair pulled into a tight grey bun and spectacles perched on her nose, appears as if summoned. With a walking stick in hand, she chastises him for wasting rice, declaring that if he won't finish the grains, she will. It is Mottainai Bāsan, or, Mottainai Grandma.

Throughout the evening, Mottainai Bāsan reappears repeatedly, criticising the boy for his wasteful habits and insisting that nothing be thrown away. She resourcefully showcases the hidden potential of everyday items: worn-down colouring pencils can be bound together to form a rainbow pencil, while scraps of paper can be painted and taped to create a Godzilla costume.

Mottainai Bāsan is a children's book and anime character with values to extol. There is nothing she cannot see lasting value in. The message appears to resonate: Mariko Shinju, the book's author and illustrator, saw Mottainai Bāsan become a bestseller in Japan, with over 160,000 copies sold since its 2004 publication. Spin-off animations on YouTube have further amplified its reach, amassing millions of views.

The word mottainai (もったいない) encapsulates a deep sense of regret over waste. Central to the mottainai spirit is the belief that wasting anything—food, materials, money, or even opportunities—disregards the effort, care, and resources invested in its creation. Mottainai Bāsan comes from a generation shaped by the hardships of World War II when resource scarcity and rationing made frugality a vital means of survival—wastefulness is simply not in her nature. Much like my late grandmother, who upheld the British wartime ethos of "waste not, want not," Mottainai Bāsan teaches children the value of imagination in making the most of what they have. In doing so, she becomes a bridge to timeless values untouched by the culture of mass consumption.