A calmer home that takes less work to keep
The Japanese House Rules, by Hiro Endo
Ninety small house rules from Japan, worked out in an ordinary Minnesota house.
Each rule tells you why Japanese homes do it, what it costs and how to start this weekend.
Get the complete guide for $47793 pages and 90 printable sheets, through GumroadEarly-bird price $47. Regular price $79. 30-day refund.
Rule 10: Every Thing Has an Address
Rule 21: One Drawer Tonight
Rule 64: Film the Windows for One Winter
A note from Hiro
Why I wrote it
I grew up in Sapporo, in the north of Japan, where winter comes early and the houses are built for it. Twenty-some winters ago I moved to Minnesota with my American wife. That first winter I put bubble wrap on the living room window, and she asked if we were moving.
It took me years to see what my mother's house did that ours did not. She was not tidier than me, or more disciplined. Her house had rules, small ones that nobody had to think about, and the rules did half the work.
This guide is those rules, ninety of them, brought one at a time into our ordinary American house, not always gracefully. We have two teenagers, a garage that is still my work in progress, and a wife who is not easily convinced. For each rule I have written down why it works for us, what it costs, how to start and where to be careful.
Small habits, a calmer home.
Hiro
Who it is for
This guide is for you if
- You have lived in your house for years, and it holds more than you use.
- You would like the house to take less work to keep, not more.
- You have cleared a parent's home, or you think about what yours will hold one day.
- You like to know the reason behind a habit before you take it on.
- You want small steps you can start this weekend, not a remodel.
One rule at a time is enough. You can read it in order, or open it at any rule and start there.
What is inside
90 rules in 11 parts
Here are the eleven parts, with a few of the rule titles from each.
Part One · 9 rules
What Japanese Homes Never Have
- Shoes Stop at the Door
- Carpet Is a Floor You Clean Forever
- One Fridge, Not Two
Part Two · 10 rules
The Putting-Away Rules
- Every Thing Has an Address
- Nothing Lives on the Floor
- Put the House Back Before Bed
Part Three · 9 rules
How to Clear Out
- Count Before You Clear
- One Drawer Tonight
- The Maybe Box Gets a Date
Part Four · 7 rules
The Hard Things to Let Go
- Sentimental Things Go Last
- A Gift Is for Using
- Someday Is Not a Date
Part Five · 8 rules
Cleaning a Little Every Day
- Clean While the Kettle Boils
- The Last One Out Wipes the Bath
- Fire Day, Water Day
Part Six · 8 rules
A House That Is Easy to Clean
- Fewer Surfaces, Less Dust
- Three Cleaners Do Most Jobs
- Osoji: Clean the Year Out
Part Seven · 11 rules
The Smell of a Closed House
- Boots Dry Inside Out
- The Washer Door Stays Open
- Let the Bed Breathe
Part Eight · 9 rules
Winter: Close the Way the Cold Comes In
- Find the Draft With the Back of Your Hand
- Film the Windows for One Winter
- Curtains Down at Dusk
Part Nine · 5 rules
Damp and Mold
- Wipe the Window Every Morning
- Two Windows, Five Minutes
- Know Which Mold Is Yours to Clean
Part Ten · 4 rules
When the Power Goes Out
- Light Without Flame
- Keep Water for Three Days
- Stay Warm and Fed Safely
Part Eleven · 10 rules
A House for Later Life
- Put the House in Order at Your Own Pace
- Write Down Where Things Are
- A Smaller House Can Hold a Full Life
At the back of the guide
- The house auditWalk your house room by room, with short yes-or-no checks that each point to their rule.
- The 12-month calendarWhat to do each month of the year, each job with its rule number.
- 90 printable sheetsOne for each rule, in large type with tick boxes, as a second PDF at US Letter size.
- Sources and free updatesThe sources for every rule are listed at the back, and every later version is yours at no charge.
A look inside
Real pages from the guide
These pages come from the finished guide. Tap a page to see it larger.
How each rule works
What every rule gives you
- A storyFrom our house in Minnesota, or my mother's in Sapporo, so the rule is easy to remember.
- The reasonWhy Japanese homes do it, in plain words, with the source listed at the back.
- The American sideOne honest line on where the American way is the better one.
- The stepsNumbered and short, in the order you would do them.
- What it costsA cost box in dollars, with the month the prices were checked.
- A safety boxWherever heat, damp, ladders, electrics or cleaners come into it.
- Start this weekendA short plan with tick boxes, so the rule leaves the page.
- The printable sheetOne for every rule: the steps and the weekend plan on a large-type page, to print and keep.
The price
The complete guide
The Japanese House Rules, by Hiro Endo
Regular price: $79 regular price
- The guide: 90 rules in 11 parts, 793 pages
- The room-by-room house audit and the 12-month calendar
- 90 printable sheets, one for each rule, at US Letter size
- Free updates
Checkout is handled by Gumroad. 30-day refund.
Questions and answers
Questions people ask before they buy
My house is nothing like a Japanese one. Will this work?
Yes. Every rule is written for an American house, with American rooms, American stores and prices in dollars, and most of them were worked out in our own ordinary house in Minnesota. Each rule also has one honest line on where the American way is the better one.
I am not a tidy person. Is it still for me?
Yes. It is not a minimalism challenge, and nobody will ask you to empty your house in a weekend. Most rules are small habits, like one drawer tonight or a wipe while the kettle boils, and you can start with any one of them.
How soon will I notice a difference?
Every rule ends with a short plan called Start this weekend, with tick boxes, and most plans take an hour or less. Pick one rule, do this weekend’s part of its plan, and you have made the first change by Sunday night.
I rent. Is it still for me?
Yes, most of it. Most rules are habits: where things live, a drawer a day, airing the rooms, a little cleaning every day. A few touch the house itself, such as window film, door seals or a hook in the door trim. If you rent, check your lease before you fix anything to a wall or a window, and ask your landlord about anything bigger. A few rules, like the ones on storm windows, are mainly for owners.
What format is the guide?
A PDF you can read on any phone, tablet or computer that opens PDFs, which is nearly all of them, or print on ordinary US Letter paper. It has 793 pages at 6 by 9 inches, set in clear 13.5-point type, and the contents page is a set of links, so you can tap straight to any rule. On a phone the page is small, so you may want to zoom in or turn the phone on its side. The 90 printable sheets come as a second PDF. There is no app and no subscription: Gumroad sends the download link when you pay.
What are the free updates?
When I correct, improve or add to the guide, everyone who has it gets the new version at no extra cost. Each version has a number, and a short log at the back says what changed.
What if the guide is not for me?
Reply to the receipt email from Gumroad within 30 days of buying, and you get your money back.
Ready when you are
The complete guide, the printable sheets and every free update.
Get the complete guide for $47793 pages and 90 printable sheets, through Gumroad