Before Marie Kondo captured the world's attention with her advice to get rid of things that don't bring you joy, there was another Japanese tidying guru.
Her name is Hideko Yamashita. And while Yamashita, 70, has never reached Kondo's level in terms of the fame brought to her by Netflix, she's a big fan of the modern movement to declutter the house, or “Kondo,” as it's come to be called overseas. He is widely recognized in Japan as a person who was at the forefront of the movement. -ing. ”
The two women, born 30 years apart in Tokyo, both preach the idea that families hoard too much. They claim that getting rid of unnecessary items and creating a minimalist, uncluttered space can improve your mental well-being.
Yamashita said she respects Kondo, 40, for bringing these ideas to the Western world. In a statement, Kondo's spokesperson acknowledged that Yamashita had been a leader in the tidying trend for years, but said Kondo had developed her own philosophy.
More than 20 years ago, Yamashita began holding seminars in Japan on dansaku (Japanese tidying techniques). In 2009, Kondo's book “A New Way to Tidy Up: Decluttering,'' which was published more than a year before the release of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,'' rose to fame.
Ms. Yamashita hosts a weekly TV show that features Japan's most maximalist families and is widely viewed in Japan. She also runs a school that trains students (mostly women, middle-aged and older) how to become professional tidying experts.
When offering advice on decluttering, Ms. Yamashita wears a stylish one-shoulder apron with a red obi and runs around clients' homes. With her neatly styled chestnut bob and warm, slightly crooked smile, the septuagenarian radiates energy.
Mr. Yamashita and Mr. Kondo approach decluttering in different ways. Kondo's books and Netflix series offer easy-to-understand organizational techniques wrapped in her signature cheerfulness and positivity. She teaches us to keep the things that make us happy and be grateful before we throw away the things that don't.
Converts to the Marie Kondo school argue that Ms. Yamashita is more abstract, philosophical, insightful, and less approachable. When sorting out what to keep or throw away, Yamashita encourages clients to consider why they attach to certain objects and how excess or attachment affects their emotional state. .
“For me, decluttering isn't about tidying up, organizing, or throwing away things you don't enjoy,” said Yamashita, sipping sesame soup noodles at a Tokyo restaurant. “It's about getting people back to a state where it feels natural to separate from things.”
“When you have too much stuff stuck in people's homes and hearts, it starts to fester,” she continued. “It's similar to how we eat and then release. It's a normal part of our existence.”
“Dhanshari is about creating an exit and getting back into the flow,” she added.
Yamashita first encountered decluttering during her university days in Tokyo, where she studied yoga and Buddhist teachings that emphasize letting go of attachments. After graduating and moving to Ishikawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, she began applying these principles to clean up her own home, which she shared with her husband, son, and mother-in-law.
She learned from her mother-in-law how difficult it is to encourage others to declutter. When Yamashita tried to throw things away, her mother-in-law rummaged through garbage bags and scolded her, saying, “It's a waste.''
Her mother-in-law complained that the house was too small. “I wanted to shout, 'If you throw things away, you'll have more space!'” Yamashita recalls.
In 2005, Mr. Yamashita, then 50 years old, built another building near his parents' house, which he named “Danshari Open House.” So she began teaching her yoga students the principles of housekeeping.
Four years later, Yamashita published her own book, which was an instant success and led to dozens more books. Yamashita's books have sold more than 7 million copies.
Tomoko Ikari, an associate professor specializing in consumer behavior at Meisei University in Tokyo, says there's a reason why decluttering has resonated so strongly in Japan: The idea of living simply and detaching from desires He said that it is incorporated into the Buddhist teachings that shape Japan.
But despite the popular image of orderly Japanese homes and a lifestyle rooted in a Zen minimalist aesthetic, Japan is a country with limited space and a population concentrated in large cities. According to Ikari, many homes are small and crammed with things.
“There were people who knew about decluttering, but before Mr. Yamashita's rise to prominence, there were only a few,” Ikari says. “Years later, what started with Mr. Yamashita influenced the global 'Sparkling Joy' phenomenon we see today.”
Early one morning last fall, Yamashita arrived at a small apartment on the eighth floor of a nondescript building in northwest Tokyo to discuss decluttering. Her video crew was there to record the session for her YouTube channel.
Wearing light-wash jeans and a frilly white blouse, Yamashita breezed through the entrance hall and into the main living area, stopping to admire the scene before her.
Tote bags, baskets, and basket towers were filled with clothes and toys. In one corner of the room, dozens of dusty bottles sat behind bean bag chairs and a small trampoline was placed on its side. The surface was barely visible, buried under an avalanche of old equipment, picture frames, and office supplies.
“Well, this doesn't make you feel refreshed, does it?” Yamashita said with a smile as she turned to Risa Kojima, the apartment's wide-eyed owner, standing in the living room. “Are you going to refresh this?” she asked.
Ms. Kojima, 41, and her husband, Takashi, both work full-time and have three sons: a toddler, a kindergartener, and an elementary school student. In addition to his main job, Mr. Kojima juggles several side jobs, such as photography and event planning. My husband is responsible for most of the housework and childcare.
Ten years after moving in, the couple's 750-square-foot apartment had remained so cluttered that they no longer noticed it.
Starting in the living room, Kojima and her husband began organizing baskets filled with old pens, game consoles, and tangled charging cords. Ms. Yamashita flew around the room in her distinctive apron, wiping down surfaces and peppering the couples with questions.
One of the first questions to ask is: “What's more important to you: the comfort of this space or the love you have for these items?” Which is more valuable? ” — Mr. Kojima seemed to be caught off guard and confused.
As is often the case with Yamashita's TV show, by the end of the five-hour session, Kojima had some answers.
“I realize there are too many things outside, but I need to look deeper into the fact that there are so many things,'' Yamashita said while cleaning.
Kojima answered, “I think my head is a mess,'' due to work and other activities. “So many things are pushed into your head all the time,” she said.
Mr. Yamashita pressed on, saying, “Obviously no one can see what's inside your head, but in this space, you can.'' Then she pointed to the living room. “Do you see how the challenges you're working on in your head manifest physically here?” she asked.
“I think the problem is that we don't even realize that there are too many,” Kojima says.
During a break between the morning and afternoon sessions, Yamashita walked with a video crew and Kojima to a small ramen shop down the street. Sitting at a low, mat-covered table in the corner of the restaurant, Mr. Yamashita talked to Mr. Kojima about the difficulties of Dansha-ri.
“In many ways, having to face yourself is like having to face yourself,” Yamashita says. “We all have so much going on when it comes to relationships and work that it's hard to work on reducing it.”
Her goal, she said, was to help the working mother of three learn how to notice when things were getting too far. “What we're doing with things you have in your home is just training,” she said.
