METHODS FOR MORE THOUGHTFUL JOURNEYS

MARIE KONDO’S NEW BOOK EXPANDS HER PHILOSOPHY BEYOND TIDYING TO EXPLORE TRIPS AND GRATITUDE

- STORY: TARIRO MZEZEWA / NYT

It’s been more than a decade since Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up landed on American bookshelves, reshaping how we think about clutter with its now famous question: “Does it spark joy?”

Over years of travelling to foreign countries, Kondo learned that behaviour that was instinctual to her, like greeting her home before tidying or thanking objects before tossing them out, perplexed non-Japanese people, she said.

“What stood out to me most was how often people asked me, ‘Why do you do that?; about actions that felt completely natural to me,’ she said, speaking via email through an interpreter.

Her new book, Letter From Japan, is an attempt to answer that question and show readers small ways of bringing Japanese traditions and practices into their lives.

“What I want to convey is not that the Japanese way of thinking is the only correct one or that it should be recommended as the ‘right’ way,” she said. “Rather, by learning about other cultures, we can come to understand our own more deeply.”

The following interview with Kondo has been edited and condensed for clarity.

HOW HAS TRAVELLING OVER THE PAST DECADE CHANGED HOW YOU THINK OF OTHER CULTURES AND PLACES — AND JAPAN?