How Japanese Minimalism Changed My Life: 5 Principles to Declutter Your Life

1. Create space by decluttering your physical possessions. (Does this item give me joy?) 2. Embrace space by having as much physical space as possible where you live. (Organize all the things in your life purposely.) 3. Eliminate choices. (Maybe wear the same outfit every day. Maybe eat the same breakfast every day. Maybe you only drink water.) 4. Everything is transient, nothing is perfect, and that's ok. 5. Can we apply the idea of simple living to our thoughts and our actions?

Thanks for another informative video. I followed Marie Kondo's methods several years ago and I was amazed by how much I decluttered. But this year, I have been on a new declutter focus following some of the Swedish ideas, especially "Death Cleaning", which has been even more effective and less rigid than Japanese methods. I am now living an "intentional" rather than "minimalist" life. It's not about stuff, it's about everything and what meaning it has in your life. It took 6 months of reviewing every single item I own and decluttering what no longer bore purpose in my life. And I cannot believe how much I removed from my home, even though I have been careful and frugal and well organised and tidy. The great thing is I have no urge to buy anything to replace what I decluttered. Second, I follow a Chinese philosophy, "You know you're rich, when you know you have enough". I have less and less but feel richer and richer. Mentally, I feel lighter and lighter and not weighed down by stuff. This also goes for a digital and financial declutter. Finally, a friend of mine, an architect, told me years ago that we look at housing in terms of how much storage space there is. The danger with this is that we fill it with stuff. Hence, the smaller the place, the less storage available, the better. We soon realise how we don't need so many things. My goal is to have as many empty drawers and cupboards and spaces where practicable, without the urge to fill these spaces up. It is amazing how this intentional way of living saves you so much money and my goal is to fill my life with experiences rather than stuff. Humans consume too much and end up throwing most of it away. Look at fast fashion! I have a clothing budget of $15 per month and I often don't even spend that. I realised after my last decluttering purge, that so much stuff I bought was hardly used and now I think of all the money I wasted. I don't want to do that anymore. As a society, we have too much FOMO! This has to stop and we have to realise that we are falling victim to marketing and advertising ploys time after time.

Just got back from Japan. Everything is clean sleek and not cluttered. People are kind and courteous. My friend left iPhone on bullet train. It was returned within an hour. Healthy food. I wanted to stay but language is difficult ❤

I was in Japan 30 yrs ago, wish I could visit again. The most beautiful country and culture I ever visited.

I read a book and then sell it or donate it. Even her book!! In the last year I have only kept one book the whole time, my Bible. Life changing when you move house.

Japan has a culture of year-end cleaning. I think most Japanese do a bit of decluttering at this time :)

I'm a long time simple living fan. Great video! Funny you mention only drinking water, because that's exactly what I do. I also only eat plant foods. My grocery shopping is VERY easy and simple, as is my food prep. I have home clothes and street wear. The home clothes are all very similar to each other. The street clothes are also same styles so I don't have to think too hard about creating an outfit. I only have a few jewelry pieces and accessories, like a scarf and one bag that match everything else. This winter I'll complete my goal of digitizing ALL photos, recipes and paperwork, so nothing to store physically. The relief is real!!

As a japanese who can't clean my room,this video has great meanings for me.Most japanese now should reconsider these types of japanese culture. Sorry for my poor vocabulary and grammar😢 Thanks for posting this video!

Adapt to a lifestyle, be thrifty, set a budget, save money, and make investments to live within your means. I benefited from this as a six-figure income. With this strategy, my retirement savings have increased by almost $1 million.

We have all heard about the 'Does it bring me joy?' concept. But I think the way you rephrased it as 'Does this bring value to my life? ' is much more profound. We have plenty of things that we need in our homes that provide purely practical value. No joy there LOL

Those Rothco prints behind you spark my joy. I used to do art like that but it's been in the back of the closet for years. Time to get out the paints again!

Minimalism is always intriguing but has been born from prosperity. Giving things to charity shops is very noble if you prefer to not deal with selling them. I visit a Habitat for Humanity thrift shop regularly and have seen both the very poor and the very well off shopping there. It's a joy to see a poor older lady happily taking a piece of fine china to the cashier counter. The lady obviously recognized the quality and was able to add it to her house for $2.00. Half my furniture is used and I am happy with it. I don't feel that I am taking from the poorer shoppers there since I have donated many items there myself. God bless Jimmy Carter and his beloved wife.

great vid as a resident, decision fatigue is real been really trying to open up my mind and clear clutter it's tough, but worthwhile

Thank you for this video and the message you've shared. I was feeling quite anxious just now, until I watched your video. It's put things into perspective 💛

I found you really interesting to listen to, and you spoke sooo much sense. I too followed Marie Kondo's methods in the past, which worked in some ways for me, but some were too restrictive for me too. I like to see things I love out in my home, and would not be happy in a minimalist home. I definitely have way too much stuff in my home that I need out of it, but I am so desperate for money, I try and sell it to no avail it seems?! I have two rooms full of things I have not touched in about 7 years. I only go out of my home to walk my dog, due to my sever anxiety, which the stuff in my home is not helping of course! I have not been out and about since 2020. I can not afford to get someone to help me remove things from my home, as I am living on my pension. So I have to do what I can on my own. Blessings to you from Jilly & Madge the rescue greyhound, from West Devon, England. xxx

2:03 wow ! Love this clean view of your comfy and tidy place !

Thank you for your video, very refreshing. I have been doing minimalism for several years. I usually take time to refresh the minimalism idea (although it's almost always the same), but I like your video, very refreshing and good explanation. Salute!

Respectfully, her name is Marie, not Mary.

Thanks Zach, i really enjoyed the video. And thanks for the recap it was helpful.

Well done! This is gold!