75 The Untidiness of Marie Kondo & Shinto: A Chat w. Kaitlyn Ugoretz of Eat Pray Anime

On this episode of the Japan Station podcast, Kaitly Ugoretz of the YouTube channel Eat Pray Anime discusses the allure and eclectic spirituality of Marie Kondo, as well as online Shinto communities.

About Kaitlyn Ugoretz Kaitlyn Ugoretz is a Phd candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her primary area of research is online religious communities, in particular Shinto communities. She is also the author of a recent article about Marie Kondo titled The Untidiness of Marie Kondo's Eclectic Spirituality. Kaitlyn also runs the YouTube channel Eat Pray Anime. Topics Discussed

• About Marie Kondo/KonMari
• About the "untidiness" of Marie Kondo
• How people have tried to connect Marie Kondo and her ideas to Shinto
• Marie Kondo's website
• The "Danshari" method of tidying up
• The prevalence of so-called tidying gurus in Japan and in the West
• The "Japanese-ness" of Marie Kondo as a marketing tool
• How Marie Kondo appears to be far more popular in the US than in Japan
• The allure of Marie Kondo
• The Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
• The narrative of self transformation found in Marie Kondo's shows and others like it
• About Marie Kondo's second Netflix show Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo
• About Kaitlyn Ugoretz's research on online Shinto communities
• What Shinto practice looks like
• About Shinto practice outside of Japan
• Practitioners of Shinto outside of Japan
• What attracts people outside of Japan to Shinto
• About the YouTube channel Eat PrayAnime
• And much more!

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Links, Videos, Etc.

To read Kaitlyn Ugoretz's article about Marie Kondo, use the link below.

• The untidiness of Marie Kondo's eclectic spirituality

To check out Kaitlyn's YouTube channel, Eat Pray Anime, use the link below.

• Eat Pray Anime

Here is one of the Eat Pray Anime videos that was mentioned during the episode.

• Can Anime Characters Become Gods? Anime Pilgrimage Explained!

You can follow Kaitlyn Ugoretz on Twitter as well.

• @KaitlynUgoretz
• @eat_pray_anime

To check out the previous episode of Japan Station, use the link below.

• In Search of the Japanese Wolf (Alex K.T. Martin) | Japan Station 74

Don't forget to check out the latest episode of the Ichimon Japan podcast.

• Why do hands come out of the toilet in Japan? (About Japanese toilet hands, ghosts, yokai and urban legends) | Ichimon Japan 51

If you would like to support the show by picking up some merchandise, make sure to visit KimitoDesigns.com.

• KimitoDesigns.com

Special Thanks

Opening/Closing song: Oedo Controller (大江戸コントローラー) by Yunomi featuring Toriena (Used with permission from Yunomi) To listen to more of Yunomi's music, check out his Soundcloud page or YouTube channel.

Japan Station cover art: Provided by Erik R.

Featured image: Courtesy of Kaitlyn Ugoretz

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Full Show Notes

• Get the full version of show notes at https://www.japankyo.com/category/podcasts/japanstation/