Goodbye, Things: On Minimalist Living

This is one of the golden rules of minimizing: If you want to buy something, first get rid of something else.

Liquor is not happiness but a temporary respite from unhappiness.

Watashi no uchi niwa nanimo nai (There’s Nothing in My House), became a big hit. I was one of the many people who had been shocked to see pictures of Mai’s sparse home. She’s been given the nickname Sute-hentai (Weirdo Obsessed with Throwing Things Away).

Information and material overload
The development of technology and services that make it possible for us to live without as many possessions as we had in the past
The Great East Japan Earthquake

Danshari, the art of de-cluttering, discarding, and parting with your possessions
The “simple life”
Working and thinking like a nomad

Reducing the number of possessions that you have is not a goal unto itself. I think minimalism is a method for individuals to find the things that are genuinely important to them. It’s a prologue for crafting your own unique story.

Satoshi Murakami lives the life of a nomad, carrying around his homemade Styrofoam house. Keigo Sakatsume has no home, and he lives on the road with a tote bag as his sole possession.

It’s quite well-known that Steve Jobs considered Master Kobun Otogawa of the Soto school his master and had at one point seriously considered studying Zen at the temple Eiheiji, located deep in the mountains on the coast of the Sea of Japan.

“Feeling” Happy Instead of “Becoming” Happy

15 More Tips for the Next Stage of Your Minimalist Journey