Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism

by Fumio Sasaki

Unnecessary material objects suck up our time, our energy, and our freedom.

Tyler Durden said it best in the film Fight Club: “The things you own end up owning you.”

My feeling is that minimalists are people who know what’s truly necessary for them versus what they may want for the sake of appearance, and they’re not afraid to cut down on everything in the second category.

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.

There are limits to the amount of happiness that you can feel, and a ridiculously expensive item is not going to make you ridiculously happy. A $500 ring won’t bring you five times as much joy as would a $100 ring.

Why do we own so many things when we don’t need them? What is their purpose? I think the answer is quite clear: We’re desperate to convey our own worth, our own value to others. We use objects to tell people just how valuable we are.

One of the main reasons we become depressed or consider committing suicide is that we convince ourselves of the lack of value of our existence.

People can’t manage to go on in this world if they don’t believe in their own worth. A small amount of self-appreciation and narcissism is indispensable for us to live. Some may say, “It’s up to us to determine our own value,” and I agree to some extent, but if we’re completely alone and never see anyone or connect with others, then there’s no way for us to affirm our worth. I think that no matter how much of a lone wolf someone may appear to be, there’s some level of desire within them to have another person—anyone—turn their attention to them. Like dogs, we simply can’t bear absolute loneliness. Unless we can see ourselves reflected from another person’s perspective, it isn’t possible for us to really know our worth.

For a minimalist, the objective isn’t to reduce, it’s to eliminate distractions so they can focus on the things that are truly important.

Once you’ve gone ahead and minimized, it’s time to find out what those important things are. Minimalism is like the prologue of a book; the stories to follow can only be created by the individual. As I’ve said, minimalism is so effective and its methods so worthwhile that people can get confused and think it’s their true objective. But remember, the important thing is what you’re going to do after. Once you’ve said goodbye to all those extra things, it’s time to create your own unique story.

Minimalism naturally narrows down your choices so you can arrive at quick decisions.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”