Meet the Original Decluttering Guru (No, It’s Not)

Before Marie Kondo captured the world’s attention with her encouragement to get rid of things that don’t make us “happy,” there was another Japanese teacher of decluttering.

His name is Hideko Yamashita. And while the 70-year-old Ms. Yamashita has yet to reach Ms. Kondo’s level of fame with Netflix, she is well-known in Japan for spearheading the modern movement of decluttering our homes — or, as it is called overseas, “kondo -ing.”

The two women, born thirty years apart in Tokyo, both preach the idea that households accumulate too much. Letting go of unnecessary things and creating a more minimalist and peaceful space, they say, can improve mental health.

Ms. Yamashita said she admired Ms. Kondo, 40, for bringing these ideas to the Western world. Ms. Kondo’s spokeswoman acknowledged in a statement that Ms. Yamashita has been a leader in cleaning trends for years, but Ms. Kondo said she developed her own philosophy.

More than two decades ago, Ms. Yamashita began giving seminars in Japan on danshari, the Japanese art of humiliation. In 2009, her book “The New Tidying Up Method: Danshari” — published more than a year before Ms. Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” — made her famous.

Ms. Yamashita hosts Japan’s most-watched weekly television show, taking in some of the country’s most exclusive properties. He also runs a school that trains students — mostly women, middle-aged and older — on how to become professional outreach experts.

When doing danshari consultations, Ms. Yamashita struts around her clients’ homes in a stylish shawl with a red sash. With a well-groomed chestnut bob and a warm, slightly crooked smile, the septuagenarian exudes energy.

Ms. Yamashita and Ms. Kondo approach it in different ways. In Ms. Kondo’s book and Netflix series, she offers easy-to-follow techniques for organizing, wrapped in her cheerfulness and positivity. Keep the things that make you happy and thank those who don’t throw them away before discarding them, he said.

Ms Yamashita is more abstract, philosophical and analytical – less approachable, say converts to the Marie Kondo school. When sorting out what to keep or toss, Ms. Yamashita encourages her clients to think about why they hold on to certain things, and to consider what excesses and impulses do to their moods.

“To me, danshari is not about cleaning, organizing or throwing away things that don’t bring joy,” said Ms. Yamashita, dousing soba noodles in sesame broth at a restaurant in Tokyo. “This is about returning people to a state where separation feels natural.”

“When people’s homes and minds are overwhelmed with too many things, they begin to weaken,” he continued. “It’s like how you eat it and then take it out — it’s a normal part of our existence.”

“Danshari is about creating an outlet and restoring that flow,” he added.

Ms. Yamashita first encountered danshari during her school years in Tokyo, when she studied yoga and Buddhist teachings that emphasized renunciation of attachment. After graduating and moving to Ishikawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, he began applying these rules to foreclose on his home, which he shared with his wife, son and mother-in-law.

From his mother-in-law he learned the difficulty of encouraging others to shame. When Ms. Yamashita tried to throw something away, her father-in-law rummaged through the garbage bag, scolding her with “mottainai” — a Japanese word for regret for littering.

His mother-in-law complained that the house was too small. “I wanted to shout, ‘You’ll have more space if you just take things off!'” Ms. Yamashita recalled.

In 2005, Ms. Yamashita, then 50 years old, had a house built next to her family’s house, and called it “Danshari Open House”. There he began training yoga students in the principles of domestic humiliation.

Four years later, Ms. Yamashita published her book — an instant success that was followed by dozens of others. In total, Ms. Yamashita’s books have sold more than seven million copies.

Tomoko Ikari, an associate professor of consumer behavior at Tokyo’s Meisei University, says danshari resonated strongly in Japan for one reason: The idea of ​​living simply and letting go of wants. is part of the Buddhist teachings that help shape Japan.

However, despite the popular image of peaceful Japanese homes and lifestyles rooted in a minimalist Zen aesthetic, Japan is a country of limited space with large urban populations. Many houses are small and full of possessions, said Mrs. Ikari.

“Some people knew about danshari, but it was very little before Mrs. Yamashita came along,” said Mrs. Ikari. “Years later, what started with Mrs. Yamashita resonated in the global ‘joy’ phenomenon we see today.”

One morning last fall, Ms. Yamashita arrived for a danshari consultation in a small apartment on the eighth floor of a nondescript building in northwest Tokyo. His video crew was filming the session for his YouTube channel.

Dressed in light jeans and a purple white blouse, Ms. Yamashita breezed through the entrance hall to the main living room, pausing to take in the scene before her.

A tower full of baskets, baskets and bags is filled with clothes and toys. In one corner, dozens of powder bottles sat behind a bean bag chair, and a small trampoline sat on the side. The surface is almost invisible, buried under a rush of antiques, photos and office supplies.

“Well, that’s not refreshing, is it?” Mrs. Yamashita remarked, smiling as she turned to Risa Kojima, the wide-eyed owner of the house standing in the living room. “Are you thinking of doing it?” he asked.

Ms. Kojima, 41, and her husband, Takashi, both work full-time and have three sons — one a baby, one in kindergarten and one in elementary school. In addition to her day job, Ms. Kojima takes on a number of other roles, including photography and event planning. Her husband handles most of the household chores and child care.

Ten years after they moved in, the couple’s 750-square-foot home was in such disrepair for so long that they didn’t really notice the mess anymore.

Starting in the living room, Ms. Kojima and her husband began sorting through baskets filled with old pens, gaming devices, and charging cords. Ms. Yamashita moved around the room with her signature doll, mopping the floor and asking the couple questions.

First question – “Comfort in this space and your attachment to these things – what is more important to you? Which is more important?” — seemed to catch Ms. Kojima off guard, leaving her reeling.

At the end of the five-hour session, as is often the case with Ms. Yamashita’s TV show, Ms. Kojima had some answers.

“You feel that there are too many things out in the open, but we need to investigate further, you have a lot of things,” said Mrs. Yamashita in the middle of cleaning them.

“I think my mind is messed up,” Ms. Kojima replied, from work and elsewhere. “I have so many things on my mind,” he said.

Mrs. Yamashita stressed, “Of course, no one can see inside your head, but it can be seen, in this space.” He then acted in the living room. “Can you see how the challenges you face in your head are physically represented here?” he asked.

“I think the problem is that I don’t even know when it’s too much,” Ms. Kojima said.

During a break between the morning and afternoon sessions, Ms. Yamashita, along with her video crew and Ms. Kojima, walked to a small noodle shop down the street. Sitting at a low table in the corner of the straw-matted restaurant, Ms. Yamashita commiserated with Ms. Kojima about the difficulties of danshari.

“In many ways, facing reality is like facing ourselves,” Ms. Yamashita said. “We all carry a lot of stuff and it’s hard to work on narrowing things down in terms of relationships and work.”

Her goal, she says, is to help the working mother of three learn to be smart when things get tough. “What we do with things in your house – it’s just training,” he said.