It is not yet December and I've already got Christmas sorted. My son gets a crumb brush (windmill palm bark, US$24, or S$33), his sister an earthsaver ridged soap rest (hinoki wood, US$16) and dad a flower bouquet tote (raw denim, US$42). My wife will undoubtedly purr over her 4,096Hz tuning fork (with smoky quartz crystal, US$75).

I know that these items will either be worn out or somewhere at the back of a drawer a year from now, but it's the giving that counts, and I can already picture their faces: each one a picture of joy sparked by Japan's minimalist martinet and joy-sparker-in-chief Marie Kondo.