I'm moving soon in Tokyo. Where do I even start decluttering?
Start with three things: set a deadline, write down how you want to live in your new home, and tidy by category, beginning with clothes. Do the deciding before you move, so you pay to move only what you want to keep. Leave storage and arranging for after the move, when you can see the new space.
A move is one of the most powerful chances you will ever get to tidy your home. Moving day is a deadline that won't shift, and a new home is a fresh start. Here is how to use it.
What are the first 3 steps?
1. Use moving day as your deadline
In the KonMari® Method, tidying works best when you do it in one go: in a short time, and all the way through. That needs a deadline, and a move gives you one.
But a move also brings contracts, paperwork, and packing. It is easy to feel stretched. So put tidying in your calendar as its own task, with dates, before the packing starts.
2. Write down how you want to live in the new home
Take 10 minutes with a pen and paper. Write a few words about the life you want there. Do you want a room where you can focus on work? A space where the family enjoys time together? A home where you can switch off and reset after a long day? Rough is fine.
Then look at the floor plan. Give each room one role: "The living room is where we relax." "The study is for focused work."
3. Tidy by category, in the KonMari® order
Don't go room by room. Go by category, in this order:
Clothes
Books
Papers
Komono (everything else: kitchen, bathroom, tools, hobbies)
Sentimental items
Gather all the items in one category in one place. Pick up each one and ask: does it spark joy? Or will it support the life I wrote down? Keep those, and let the rest go with thanks. In a family, each person tidies their own things.
The bonus: when you tidy by category, you can pack by category. Every box holds one kind of thing, so it is easy to decide where it goes in the new home.
If you are not sure what to let go of, I wrote about what usually goes before a move in Tokyo, and what is hardest to decide.
Why not wait until after the move?
Because in Tokyo, deciding before the move saves money, time, and energy.
You pay to move every box. Moving prices in Japan depend on three things: how much you have, how far you go, and when you move. Fewer things can mean a smaller truck and a lower quote. From mid-March to early April, when Japan's school and work year starts, prices can be around twice those of quieter months.
You already know your ward's garbage rules. Each ward in Tokyo has its own sorting rules and its own booking system for large items (sodai gomi). Booking to pickup can take a few weeks. In a new ward, you learn it all again, in the same weeks you are registering your new address (you have 14 days after you move in). And everything has to be gone before you hand back the keys, so book large-item pickup early.
What can wait until after the move?
Anything about placement and storage can wait.
Where things go. You can plan from a floor plan, but you really see a home once you are in it: where the light comes in, which drawer you reach for first.
Storage boxes and organizers. Measure first. Closets in Japanese homes come in different sizes. A traditional oshiire closet is often deep, around 80 cm, so boxes from your old home may not fit. Try what you already have first. Shoe boxes make good drawer dividers.
A few truly hard decisions. Put them in one "maybe box" with a date on it, such as one month after the move. If you haven't needed anything in it by then, let it go.
What if I only have a few weeks?
If a transfer gives you only a few weeks, do just two things before the move.
Decide on the big items first. Check the new floor plan against your sofa, bed, and bookshelves, and check the door and elevator size. Big items cost the most to move and take the longest to dispose of.
Pack the rest by category, with clear labels. Then put one date in your calendar, within the first month, to sort what you brought. Without a date, boxes can stay closed for a year.
That is enough. You have just moved some of the deciding to after the move.
A quick plan
Before the move: decide what to keep. Set dates, write down how you want to live, tidy by category, and book large-item pickup. Don't buy storage boxes yet.
After the move: decide where things live. Unpack by category, measure your closets, and check the maybe box. Try not to bring in new things before your things have a place.
Ready for a fresh start
A move is a new beginning. Use it to choose what comes with you.
I work in person with families across central Tokyo, in English or Japanese, before a move, after a move, or both. If you have a question about your own move, or there is too much to decide alone, I can walk through it with you. See how the program works.
