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finally a commune with babies. about the balance between shared and private spaces.

How to Win Friends & Influence People. Essentially, the book can be summed up into five simple steps:

1. Pay someone a genuine compliment. It has to be sincere. It can’t be a fake compliment. 

2. Ask them a question about their favorite subject, which is typically something about themselves. And then just listen, listen, listen, and listen until they’re done talking. 

3. Try and quickly assess their needs.

4. If you were trying to sell something or get something from someone, consider a trial close. Give the person a chance to either lean in or opt out. 

5. Close. The only difference between four and five is the word if in form. 

If Japan truly were a minimalist paradise, why would it need Kondos and Sasakis in the first place?

The world still turns to Japan for things; it also turns to Japan to rid itself of them. There’s only one problem: Japan isn’t anywhere near as tidy as outside observers give it credit for.

Subtractive is contemplative; additive is stimulating. But, above all, the Japanese are master ‘editors’, he says, picking and choosing between polar opposites to suit the occasion. This is why Japanese people continue to remove their shoes indoors, even as they choose to live in Western-style houses. It’s why they continue to distinguish between Japanese-style and Western-style foods, hotels, even toilets. To Matsuoka, the subtractive and additive approaches aren’t inherently in opposition; the distinction is simply a matter of context.

‘Today, the idea that you’ll hold on to a lot of things for your whole life is fading,’ said Tsuzuki. ‘Take clothing. It used to be the case that good clothes cost a lot. You’d buy them and take care of them and wear for years. So you’d naturally build up a collection. But now we’re surrounded by low-cost retailers that are just good enough. You wear it for a season and that’s it.’

And I think if we go further towards the convenience where there is no friction, then we don't make choices anymore. Then we're just consuming. I think USBs force people to make choices. And those choices define you. And that's what's beautiful about it.