The Art of Discarding

by Nagisa Tatsumi

  Think like this!

  When we’re surrounded by so much stuff, this kind of careless “temporary” storage is just dangerous. It makes it more difficult both to get rid of things, and to find important things when necessary.

  We have to be firm—make decisions now. If you feel like putting documents on the top of a pile, stop. If you’re about to put some cans of soup in the tableware cupboard, stop. If you’ve been given a freebie hand towel, don’t just shove it into an empty space in the wardrobe. Think: “Is this really the place for it?”

  Half the documents can probably be thrown away; the rest can be put in a file. If you’re thinking of putting cans of soup in the tableware cupboard, then your shelf for cans must be full. Some of the cans already there are probably out of date. Or perhaps space is taken up with old bento boxes or packs of tissues. As for the hand towel, why not put it straight in the trunk of the car as a cleaning cloth? Or if you’ve got plenty of car cloths already, you could use it to wipe the floor and throw it away.

  You’ll often find that avoiding “temporary” storage for one thing will reveal other things that should be thrown away.

  3

  “SOMETIME” NEVER COMES

  You can say things like “I may use it sometime,” or, “One day it may be useful” until the cows come home. Little girls dream that some day a prince will come along—but that day is never likely to arrive. And before she knows it, the little girl is a middle-aged woman…

  Danger items

  Clothes, bags, and accessories; books, magazines, documents, pamphlets, catalogues; videos and negatives; presents; light fixtures and televisions, etc., that are being replaced.

  When does it happen?

  “Sometime” often crops up when people aren’t sure whether to get rid of something. You don’t have a clear basis for decision making, so you use “sometime” as an escape route.

  SITUATION 1: PUTTING CLOTHES IN THE CLOSET

  The closet’s so full everything’s getting creased. I’d better sort it out. Now, what’s this? Something I haven’t worn for a while! It looks rather small—I’m getting a bit fat round the middle. But I liked it when I bought it, and I may lose weight sometime. Yes, I think I’ll keep it. What about this? I suppose I should get rid of it—I got it when I was a student. The design’s really old. But then 1970s clothes are getting popular again. I may want to wear it sometime.

  SITUATION 2: LOOKING AT AN INTERIORS CATALOGUE

  I’m so glad we changed the curtains. This is a really useful catalogue. Look at these lights, and the basin. Very smart. Beautiful interiors. We may want to get new furniture sometime. I’ll keep the catalogue for reference.

  SITUATION 3: TIDYING UP A PHOTO ALBUM

  Children grow so fast! All these photographs… When she was a baby we took five rolls of film every month. Oh dear! The negatives box is completely full. Perhaps I’d better throw some old ones away. But what if she wants her own copies when she’s grown up? I’d better not get rid of them, after all. They may be useful sometime.

  SITUATION 4: BACK FROM A WEDDING

  That was a grand affair! Look at this huge thank-you present bag—that’s Nagoya for you! I wonder what’s inside. A great big box. Wait a moment… a zaru soba set. It looks expensive. But I can’t remember us ever eating zaru soba. I wonder if we’ll use it. But it seems a shame to give it away. We might use it sometime, so let’s hang on to it.

  SITUATION 5: BACK FROM THE ELECTRICAL STORE

  Here we are—a thirty-six-inch TV! Makes the twenty-four-inch one look small, doesn’t it? It’s certainly the bigger the better when it comes to a television. Now what about the old one? There’s nowhere for it to go. We’ve already got one in our bedroom, and the children have got one too. Shall we get rid of it? But it costs five hundred yen to have something that size taken away. And it still works perfectly. Someone might want it sometime. Let’s put it away till then.

  SITUATION 6: OPENING A DELIVERY

  Mom’s sent some miso. Wonderful! It’s come in a special parcel box. Typical of her. She really likes to do things properly. What shall we do with the box? It’s in good condition. It might be useful when we send something ourselves. Or if we move house… it’s always difficult trying to collect cardboard boxes for a move. I’ll keep it. I expect we’ll use it sometime.

  The “sometime” or “one day” mentality

  Our survey showed that above all it was books, magazines, and clothes that people have difficulty dealing parting with. It’s a problem caused by the “sometime” mentality, which generally applies to things that can still be used, rather than things like rotten food or broken TVs.

  The character in Situation 1 is middle-aged; his shape won’t change until he’s far too old to wear a young person’s clothes. And even if fashion comes full circle, the clothes are still going to look old and he’ll never wear them.

  The person in Situation 2 may buy new light fixtures or furniture in years to come; but if and when they do they’ll want to look at the latest catalogues, not the one they have now.

  The negatives in Situation 3 will just accumulate, and no one will ever use them to make new prints. The soba set in Situation 4 will never be used. No one will ever want the old TV in Situation 5 and the people concerned will eventually pay for it to be taken away. And boxes like the one in Situation 6 simply accumulate, taking up space at the top of a cupboard.

  Let’s take the example of clothes. All of us have had the experience of opening a closet, seeing something that looks rather good and thinking, Yes, now’s my chance to wear it—sometime has come! But then we put it on and realize it’s not quite right. There’s always a reason why we stop wearing something, or why we never wore it in the first place. But we don’t think through these reasons carefully. We just see that things look wearable and keep them. That’s how they accumulate.

  Ultimately, the “sometime” mentality is another version of the “waste” mentality. You don’t want to dispose of something because it’s a waste. If you keep it, you feel there’ll be a chance to use it “sometime.” But you have no idea when that might be. If you do have a definite idea of when, then you have a clear reason for keeping it—the vague notion of “sometime” doesn’t cross your mind.

  Think like this!

  The best way to tackle the “sometime” or “I’ll use it one day” mentality is to tell yourself: “No use in three years means no use at all.” A period of three years can be applied to almost all day-to-day items—clothes, plates, TVs, fans, futons, telephones, back-issue magazines, empty boxes, etc. If you have had the opportunity to use the item during those three years, but didn’t, just face the fact that it’s not necessary—before three years turn into thirty.

  Of course, three years is not appropriate for everything. Meeting documents or magazines, for example, have a shorter cycle, so set different periods for them, as applicable—maybe three months or a year. And for some items a longer period may be necessary. The essential thing is to adopt the attitude that if you haven’t used something for a certain period, you’re never going to.

  (And at the risk of going on too much about the girl and her prince mentioned earlier, I’d suggest that if he doesn’t arrive in three years, she’d better settle down with an old childhood playmate before she gets too old.)

  4

  “REALLY CONVENIENT!” TO SOMEBODY ELSE—IRRITATING JUNK TO ME

  Are you living a really inconvenient life surrounded by “really convenient” devices? If you can break the spell of “convenience,” you’ll see how the illusory value of things just falls away.

  Danger items

  This is an issue particularly with gadgets, tools, and appliances, but can also apply to other things you obtain in case of a particular eventuality.

  When does it happen?

  Tools and appliances have particular functions: scissors cut, pots are for boiling, screwdrivers are for turning screws… With such clear uses, why would you want to get rid o
f them? Well, the danger lies right there—in their supposedly convenient functions.

  SITUATION 1: A JUICER YOU BUY AT A DEPARTMENT-STORE DEMONSTRATION

  My husband’s always eating out, so he never has enough vegetables. Juicers have bad press though, don’t they? People buy them and don’t use them. But this one’s different? The old ones were difficult to clean, but this one’s easy? I see. You just take this out? Well, it looks good. Convenient. I’ll have one—for the sake of my husband’s health.

  SITUATION 2: A FRIEND HAS GIVEN YOU A SLOW COOKER

  It cooks on its own, wonderful for stews. But I can’t really think how I’m going to use it. It saves on gas and it’s safe, so that’s good. My friend used it for a year and said it was really convenient. She doesn’t exaggerate, and her cooking’s about the same level as mine. If she says it’s useful, then it must be. Maybe I’ll use it when the baby’s older and eats more. I’ll keep it a bit longer.

  SITUATION 3: YOU SEE A NEIGHBOR USING LONG-HANDLED PRUNERS

  I don’t feel safe on this step ladder cutting these branches. The wife won’t help at all. Oh! The woman next door’s using something interesting. Looks good. Very quick. I’ll have a word with her. Long-handled pruners? Easy for women to use, you say? Really convenient? I see. We’ll try some. What? We’ve got some already? The wife bought some at the same time as you did? I didn’t know that. She’s always said she couldn’t reach the branches.

  SITUATION 4: SOFTWARE YOU WERE TOLD ABOUT BY A COLLEAGUE

  I’ve had a PC for about a year now and I feel I can just about use it for work. But I have more and more files and I keep losing track of where they are. I’m doing lots of different types of work now—maybe I’d better use that management software my colleague installed for me. Apparently, it sorts files automatically by name and date, and it’s got a good a search function. He said it was really good for people who use PCs for work. He persuaded me to have it. But I’m not sure about it. Can someone like me handle it? Maybe I could… once I’m more used to the PC. I suppose my colleague must be right. He knows all about computers. I’ll leave it installed for a while.

  SITUATION 5: INSTANT MEALS RECOMMENDED BY A FRIEND

  It’s such a pain cooking when you come home late. That’s the problem with living alone. I’m going to stock up with those frozen dinner meals Yuko recommended. They last a long time, so I won’t have to eat them all quickly. And when you want one, it’s only a question of heating it up. Yuko said they’re really convenient. Let’s have a look at the label. Yes, they keep for a while. Oh, I think I’ll buy ten.

  SITUATION 6: A COLD COMPRESS USED AT NURSERY SCHOOL

  So this is the cold compress advertised on TV? My daughter’s always getting a temperature, so it could be useful. The child in the ad seems very happy sleeping with one on his forehead. I’ll try one on Saya. I’ll ask the teacher which brand is best. They’re all the same, she says. It’s a really good idea to get a pack for the first-aid box, she says. Well, she works with children, so I’ll take her advice.

  The “really useful” mentality

  One only has to think of the constant profitability of pyramid sales schemes to see how enticing “convenience” can be. But you can see how the situations described above will pan out. The software in Situation 4 will remain a mystery, staying unused, taking up space on the hard drive. The person in Situation 5 will carry on eating out or grabbing pot noodles at a convenience store on the way home; microwave meals are not a part of her life, and by the time she remembers them, they’ll be past their use-by date…

  Of course, most of the recommendations that we encounter in daily life come with the best of intentions, a factor which only makes things worse. People who’ve found something useful can be very persuasive, and when they say it will be “great for you” it’s very hard not to be persuaded.

  Let me put this in a wider context. It seems to me that Japanese people in the decades after the war were swept up with this idea of “convenience.” Rice-cooker jars from electricity companies, twenty-four hour baths from gas companies, sticky-tape cutters from stationery companies, new models from motor companies—all marketed on the basis of “convenience.” The message was never a gentle “It’s really convenient, so why don’t you try it?” It was more a question of “It’s REALLY CONVENIENT so you’ve GOT TO use it!”

  If you consider post-war history, it’s not surprising that a lot of housewives suffer from a kind of “really convenient” syndrome. I mentioned my mother’s generation in the introduction—they were particularly vulnerable. And it was infectious. A would recommend something to B and then B would recommend it to C and so on. (I can’t count the number of things I have that my mother has recommended as “convenient”!)

  Another set of people who are particularly vulnerable to the “real convenience” syndrome are those who are entering a new stage of life. There’s the “really useful” business-card holder they get from an uncle when they start work, the flood of “really useful” gifts they receive when they first have children, the “really useful” pots and appliances a daughter gets from her mother when she moves away from home for the first time. They’ll give them a go and try their best to appreciate their convenience. But it doesn’t take long to find out that these extremely convenient items are nothing of the sort. They just get in the way.

  Of course, having said all that, some things you get really are really useful. Just pick wisely.

  Think like this!

  The key is to know yourself.

  You’re not someone else. You’re you. If you keep this in mind, then you’ll know that you don’t want things that don’t seem necessary. After the war every time a company developed a product it tried to create a demand for it. Their products didn’t develop in response to existing “needs”; the “needs” were generated for the product. I won’t go into a detailed discussion of marketing here, but what I will say is that it’s about time we were free from that kind of strategy.

  5

  NOTHING IS SACRED

  “Sacred” is a status given to certain things irrespective of usefulness or age. It has little to do with their true value.

  Danger items

  Documents, mementos, food, books, etc.

  When does it happen?

  The following situations show typical patterns of behavior for people who regard things as “sacred”:

  SITUATION 1: DOCUMENTS

  For goodness’ sake! I should have a secretary. Doing all these things at the same time—it’s beyond my management ability. Flooded with client faxes every day, wads of documents every time there’s a meeting and always having to check through past data and media reports. And at the end of a project all the papers have to be kept just in case. Oh no! I thought all that was trash, but it’s important data. I nearly threw it out. It’ll have to be distributed for reference at the next meeting.

  SITUATION 2: MEMENTOS 1

  She was such a cute baby. Look at this tiny thing she used to wear. They grow up so fast! Well, I suppose I’d better give it to the bazaar. The shawl’s got some lovely lace, though… I think I’ll keep it. And these baby clothes she wore when we went to the shrine—they were a present from my mother-in-law, so I can’t get rid of them. Oh! Etchan loved this! She used to point at it and say “Bear.” Everything’s so full of memories!

  SITUATION 3: MEMENTOS 2

  The bookcase is getting too full. I’d better get rid some of some books. The problem is this shelf… I’ve kept all my books from university, but I’m sure I won’t use them again. Maybe they’d be useful for work at the institute. Let’s have a look. Wow! This takes me back. All that underlining! I took it all very seriously. Studied hard. Oh, what’s this? Michiko 7pm. Shibuya—by the Hachiko Statue in Shibuya. Ha ha! Must have written that down while I was on the phone. Michiko! I wonder if she’s married… Well, it’s nice looking at these books from time to time… full of memories.

  SITUATION 4: FOOD

  Th
e ham in the fridge has spoiled. Again! What about this? Is this meat OK? All this milk—consume by… tomorrow! We’ve got to be more careful. Didn’t your mother tell you not to waste food? Think of all the starving children in the world! And what about the farmers? Oh dear. I’m turning into my father.

  SITUATION 5: BOOKS

  You’re getting rid of this? Throwing it out? You shouldn’t do that. Books should be treasured. I get cross with the children if they don’t respect books…

  The “sacred” mentality

  The first thing I’d like to say is that you shouldn’t automatically treat work documents as “sacred.”

  It may be unfair of me to quote a book on document management, but I am going to do so, because while the author fully appreciates the importance of getting rid of things in general, he treats work documents, and only work documents, as “sacred”: