The staff ate it later

I did chuckle a bit, but the idea of mottainai is just way more prevalent within Japan, compared to Western countries. I can't speak for other Asian countries, but it's very easy to feel that compared to North America and Europe (places that I've lived in). Funnily, I've felt it in post-soviet countries as well, but that's coming from the feeling of scarcity in the beforetimes.

I’ve also lived in NA Europe and Japan and disagree with this sentiment.

“Don’t waste stuff” is taught by plenty of parents, people talk about using every bit of the buffalo in America. Everyone in my generation has the grandparent who threw nothing away.

There’s maybe more modern examples of cultural thrift in Japan due to the postwar experience compared to the US… but even then.

I feel like I’m talking to aliens when these discussions of “unique Japan” things come up that are, in my experience, plenty present abroad.

I don’t even think Japan is particularly that good about reuse and waste beyond its recycling programs!

Maybe I'm wrong, but from my personal experiences in NA and Europe, even though wasting is "frowned upon", there's no feeling of "guilt" with the action of "waste". Honestly, I'm not sure how to explain it.

To understand "generational" behavior it's helpful to understand the prevailing conditions at the time.

Obviously these become somewhat sweeping generalizations but they largely hold.

A concern either waste directly correlates to abundance. Countries with historical (ie post war) food insecurity treat food like it is precious. Even if it has since become abundant.

People who grow up with financial insecurity spend money very carefully, even if they now earn plenty.

These attitudes span generations. The attitude of parents often gets taught to children. Although in some cases a generation will "flip".

For example, the post war boom in births lead to a generation that had to compete for infrastructure all the time. There were limited school places, jobs, promotions etc. "Winning" became the driving force. Winners got rewarded, losers got left behind.

Their children (x-gen) refused to play the game. They prioritized family over work. They handed out trophies for "participation". They talk about "work / life" balance.

Each of us is a product of our upbringing. Some things we carry forward as important values. Others we actively discard as unwanted mistakes our parents made.

On the upside our kids will do the same.

From my experience, the idea that you shouldn't waste things, and food in particular, is similar in Japan and France. That was even stronger with my grand-parents who lived through food scarcity during WWII in France.

US however seems pretty unique in its not caring about waste. Heck, it's really tough not waste food because all servings in restaurants are for 3 people so unless you bring everything in boxes you'll be wasting things.

Middle class millennial French here: there's a very real concept of guilt in relation to food at least (somewhat less for electricity and water, but still).

It's considered a normal habit to always finish what's on your plate, even when you're not hungry anymore. But it's true that attitudes have softened a bit in this regard, especially at the restaurant; but when you're in control of the amount you're taking, you're still expected to not have "eyes bigger than your belly".

Did you have grandparents who lived through the Great Depression? Were your great grandparents adults during that? Mine were. My parents also both grew up fairly poor, partly in single-mother homes with multiple siblings. The guilt about wasting things, especially food, can be very real in North America.

Maybe your generation or your family's economic class is just very different from mine.