Less is more

robert99

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Less is more as Japanese minimalist movement grows:The Asahi Shimbun
Fumio Sasaki's one-room Tokyo apartment is so stark friends liken it to an interrogation room. He owns three shirts, four pairs of trousers, four pairs of socks and a meager scattering of various other items.

Money isn't the issue. The 36-year-old editor has made a conscious lifestyle choice, joining a growing number of Japanese deciding that less is more.

Influenced by the spare aesthetic of Japan's traditional Zen Buddhism, these minimalists buck the norm in a fervently consumerist society by dramatically paring back their possessions.

Sasaki, once a passionate collector of books, CDs and DVDs, became tired of keeping up with trends two years ago.

"I kept thinking about what I did not own, what was missing," he said.

He spent the next year selling possessions or giving them to friends.

"Spending less time on cleaning or shopping means I have more time to spend with friends, go out, or travel on my days off. I have become a lot more active," he said.

Others welcome the chance to own only things they truly like--a philosophy also applied by Mari Kondo, a consultant whose "KonMari" organizational methods have swept the United States.
 
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I liked the KonMari book.:) She was on the Time's list of 100 most influential people in 2015. I have minimised my possessions over the past few years and I find it so much easier to clean my home and keep things tidy with less stuff around. If I lived on my own I would be a lot more minimalist.
 
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Less is more as Japanese minimalist movement grows:The Asahi Shimbun
Fumio Sasaki's one-room Tokyo apartment is so stark friends liken it to an interrogation room. He owns three shirts, four pairs of trousers, four pairs of socks and a meager scattering of various other items.

Money isn't the issue. The 36-year-old editor has made a conscious lifestyle choice, joining a growing number of Japanese deciding that less is more.

Influenced by the spare aesthetic of Japan's traditional Zen Buddhism, these minimalists buck the norm in a fervently consumerist society by dramatically paring back their possessions.

Sasaki, once a passionate collector of books, CDs and DVDs, became tired of keeping up with trends two years ago.

"I kept thinking about what I did not own, what was missing," he said.

He spent the next year selling possessions or giving them to friends.

"Spending less time on cleaning or shopping means I have more time to spend with friends, go out, or travel on my days off. I have become a lot more active," he said.

Others welcome the chance to own only things they truly like--a philosophy also applied by Mari Kondo, a consultant whose "KonMari" organizational methods have swept the United States.
Her book is fantastic.
 
^ Wow, that is very minimalist! I love looking at Joshua's apartment. Tour My Minimalist Apartment | The Minimalists

For me it is getting rid or letting go of things that don't matter to me. I found the capsule wardrobe one of the best aspects as now I just pick one of the outfits from the few clothes I have and I don't have to waste mental energy thinking about it. It helps to avoid decision fatigue.:)
 
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