Noriko Kondo is often described as a "charismatic role-model for housewives." Always seen smiling, she pops up all the time in homemaking magazines and on television offering tips on how to organize the chaos in the average Japanese kitchen, closet or creaking set of drawers in homes filled to capacity and beyond with stuff.
"People think it's very difficult to organize their home, but it's actually fun and simple," says Kondo, 45, whose books are best sellers and who has a series of DVDs due out next month.
Speaking from her experience of visiting more than 2,000 homes through her husband's house-moving and home-cleaning business, in addition to her visits for TV programs, Kondo believes the main reason many Japanese have trouble organizing their homes is not so much because their homes tend to be on the small side, but because they often lack any fundamental vision of what they want for their home -- and life.