I love the idea of keeping things tidy and disposing things that simply take up space and will never be used nor offer any other utility --because I wish I could be more disciplined (not that I'm a packrat by any stretch).

That said, many people in Japan _have to_ keep things to some kind of minimum due to inherent space constraints, given the size of dwellings 1 or 2DKs. Many people simply have no choice.

In places like the U.S. or AU, one can get away with having too many things because most people inhabit places bigger than they need.

Funny thing is, I hear people who make a good living saying, if I have not used something in x-time, I throw it out or donate it, as a sort of signaling.