Awai Commons: An In-between Commons. Hospitality, open boundaries and the cultural ground of food in Japan

Elinor Ostrom's first design principle holds that enduring commons have clearly defined boundaries. Many commons I have studied in Japan, Taiwan and Gabon do not close their boundaries. They live from what arrives from beyond: wild plants at the edge of the field, what the sea brings ashore, visitors to a forest. This paper proposes the concept of Awai Commons, an in-between commons. Awai is the Japanese word for the in-between, where relations arise. An Awai Commons endures not by excluding, but through three acts of hospitality: receiving, preparing and returning. I outline the concept, contrast it with bounded commons, and show why it matters for problems such as nitrogen, which no place can keep inside its boundary.