Book - Kaizen: The Japanese Method for Transforming Habits, One Small Step at a Time

Sadly, this is the worst book I have ever bought. I read about it in a magazine and as I like all things Japanese, felt it had my name all over it.  On looking it up and reading that it had been written by a British person during a relatively short and recent period of living in Japan, I was in two minds and decided this is one that can wait until it’s available from the library.

I should have stayed with that opinion.

I felt compelled to support a local bookseller during the lock-down period and the first couple of books I wanted aren’t available in paperback. So I went down the list and bought three other books, including this one, that otherwise I would have got from the library. 

I thought this period of staying at home is a good time to get into some better habits and as I adore the Japanese, I could learn from this book. Instead, I’m told to tidy my clutter (I don’t have any - I can’t abide it) and to have more joyful work (I’ve always loved my work).

It’s entirely patronising assuming the reader lacks self-esteem. There’s a chapter “how to stop feeling so shit about yourself”. I couldn’t ever feel shit about myself if I tried. I definitely do not want to imagine ‘my eyeballs are swimming in cooling pools of water’ or anything else (p 99). And if the author thinks the Japanese will put down their screens to read a book on a commute she’s never been to Tokyo.

I really don’t want to “see how you feel” or “reflect on how much zen you feel” or “see if it makes me feel any different”. I feel angry I spent £10 on this book.

At first, I read a couple of chapters then skip read until the Work section and then jumped through the pages just in case there were any nuggets. There were none unless as an adult you still have to learn not to work in the place where you want to relax in (the bedroom). This is the reason I got rid of my desk years ago so no part of my house looks like an office. The author tells me emails are stressful. They are the source of joy/revenue/information to me so I’d say it’s a case of you managing them rather than them managing you. And it’s definitely not rocket science to not mix with people who are negative towards you. It’s a no-brainer

However, if this is all new to you then I have an excellent book going spare.

The only part of this book that made sense to me is the Japanese phrases.

The man who moves a mountain begins by caring away small stones.

But then we are told money is a major source of anxiety. It if you let it, for crying out loud.

OK, there was one tiny nugget: in order to increase intake, drink a glass of water for each trip to the loo. I can’t see how this is Japanese but it’s a decent tip. I give myself deadlines of how much water to have drunk by certain times a day, but this is good too.

I just wanted to learn how the Japanese manage to stay incredibly serene and calm when facing bad moments. I guess I’ll have to go back to Japan.