Consumerist lifestyles feeding global cycles of mass-production/consumption fuel the blazing fires of the environmental crisis. In Japan, like in many other places, young people seek and begin to explore alternative ways of life. This paper focuses on some of these people, called “Nariwai Makers”. Nariwai is a concept proposed by Hiroshi Ito (2012), a pioneer of this kind of lifestyle. Using the Japanese term “Nariwai”, which literally means job or livelihood, Ito proposes his modern version of Nariwai which contrasts the consumerist lifestyles to the ‘art’ of making a livelihood from taking care of existing but unused resources,for instance relying on Social Networking Services (SNS), abandoned houses, DIY skills, upcycling, and similar practices. The project intends to compare (in the way of anthropology and STS) the emergence of alternative living between Japan and the Netherlands.
By doing so, this project develops the methods of comparisons and rethinks concepts of "sustainability" and "de-growth".