BLOG 40: こんまりさん!

This week, I watched one season of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, who is also known as こんまりさん。

My favorite episodes were “Empty Nesters” (2019, Episode 2) and “When Two (Messes) Become One” (2019, Episode 8). They showed families at very different stages of life. “Empty Nesters” followed Wendy and Ron Akiyama, who had accumulated belongings from three generations of their family. 

Wendy and Roy Akiyama with Marie Kondo

“When Two (Messes) Become One” followed newlyweds Angela and Alishia as they combined their possessions and established a shared home.

Angela and Alishia with Marie Kondo

One expression that helped me understand Marie’s philosophy was りその暮らしについてかんがえろ, meaning “to think about one’s ideal way of living.” 

Another important instruction was おなじカテゴリーの物を一 つの所にあつめてください, or “Please gather items from the same category in one place," as seeing everything together allows them to understand how much they own.

(These are the categories Kondo identifies)

Oftentimes, doing this would result in huge piles like this!

Marie also asks people to judge each object according to whether it sparks joy: 手にとった時に、ときめくかどうかをかんじてください (te ni totta toki ni, tokimeku ka dō ka o kanjite kudasai), meaning “When you pick it up, please feel whether or not it sparks joy.” I recognized our new L11 grammar pattern 〜た時に, meaning “when [something happens]."

When an object does not spark joy, Marie teaches the participants to thank it before letting it go: 手ばんす物には、かんしゃの気持ちを伝えます (tebanasu mono ni wa, kansha no kimochi o tsutaemasu), meaning “We express a feeling of gratitude to the things we let go.” 

Overall, these episodes helped me distinguish そうじ　from かたづけ . そうじ primarily means cleaning away dirt, whereas かたづけ involves sorting possessions and establishing order.