“It’s also partly why I wrote this book.

That’s the minimal version of the message that I’d like to convey in this book.” That’s why it’s time to say goodbye to all our extra things. Quick Summary of Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki “When you think about it, there isn’t a single person who was born into this world holding some material possession in their hands.” - Fumio Sasaki He introduced me to some new minimalist terminology I’m interested to explore further: color minimalism, information minimalism (although maybe this is just another term for preventing decision fatigue), and LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability). Fumio has obviously deeply studied the subject of minimalism and implemented it in his lifestyle. Just a normal person trying to figure things out in the world.Īlthough it seems like he has a slight obsession with Steve Jobs/Apple and some of his examples show the extremes of how minimalism can manifest itself (radical minimalism), I still took away a lot of positives from this book. The reason I like this book is because he’s like any of us. Yet, he says minimalism has opened his mind and life to a happiness he’s never before experienced. “I haven’t accomplished much yet and there’s nothing that I can really be proud of, at least not at this point in my life.”

And, it’s written by someone who isn’t a well-known author, speaker, top simple living leader, or Zen Buddhist teacher like Haemin Sunim.įumio Sasaki is 35 years old, male, single, Japanese, and lives in Tokyo. It opened my eyes to the universal nature of minimalism and to the Japanese culture.

Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki is a breath of fresh air.