It is not often that I read a book twice in the first week. Don’t forget, Fumio got rid of all his towels, and now only has a Japanese towel that he uses for everything – bathing and washing his dishes included. Fumio seems to think that the memories in themselves are sufficient – this may be a matter of the different extent to which one wishes to be a minimalist. Yet, it is hard to argue that some objects are desirable because they bring back memories. He tells us to spend less time shopping.įumio is a minimalist indeed, and his philosophy is about living and appreciating life in the present, and happy memories.

He tells the reader who is thinking whether to keep a thing or discard, ‘Don’t think. But first, one has to rid himself of the greed that pervades the modern world the psychological attachment to acquisition as a sign of achievement and the accumulation of things as a measure of self-worth.

He places experiences above material possessions, but he says we should enjoy the few material possessions that we do have.įumio gives plenty of tips as to how to start a minimalist life. It may border on parsimony, but the line is drawn by Fumio – minimalist living includes enjoyment of possessions and experiences. A £20,000 will not have fifty times the battery life of a £400 one, and it is probably true that even Bill Gates cannot eat six meals a day, as Fumio says, but the point that the author is making is that not only should we not acquire things, we need not acquire expensive things. As a Japanese, he once was a hoarder! Not anymore, as he tells us his reasoning that we do not need most of the things we possess. If they read Fumio, they will go right ahead and chuck their stuff.įumio is a minimalist, not so much because he is a Japanese, who are more minimalist than many other societies, but because he was reacting to his ‘overly cluttered pigpen’. There are people who are on the verge of deciding whether to keep their keeps sakes or throw them away.

But there are many in the middle, who at times feel that their lives and living conditions are cluttered. Some people are neat and minimalist by nature, and this book will not add much other than the pleasure of reading a fine personal account of the life of a minimalist. Some people are hoarders by nature and this book will never appeal to them. He got rid of all his books (all £7,000 worth), CDs, rolls and rolls of developed photographs, and, well, almost everything else he owned. Fumio advocates a style of living that is close to that of the ascetic, and is difficult to live as he does – he has only four shirts.

Sasaki fumio