Dokusho no Aki: Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Revisit “Essentialism” and “Do Less”

Have you heard of dokusho no aki (“autumn reading”)? 

If you grew up in Japan, you may remember this from your school days.

This Japanese concept is said to come from a Chinese poem written in the Tang dynasty that Natsume Soseki referenced in his novel Sanshiro in 1908!

Now, the period of October 27 to November 9 is dokusho shukan (“reading week” or “book week” – which is actually 2 weeks) and 2024 marks the 78th year of this tradition.

So I thought this was a great time to share this fun photo from my latest shoot with the terrific TopTia Photography.

The books here are all special to me because I have a personal connection with the author of each! (Feel free to ask me if you’re curious about any of them 😎)

For now, I wanted to highlight the book at the top: Essentialism by Greg McKeown.  That’s because this book is probably what sparked my fascination in doing less, but better. I wrote about it on the Sasuga! Blog in 2017!

I then came across Do Less by Kate Northrup (I only have the Kindle version), which opened my eyes to creating more ease for high-performing women in Japan (including myself) by aligning our tasks and activities to specific phases of our menstrual cycle (or using techniques to compensate when that’s not possible due to work schedules).

Now, in perimenopause and without a regular menstrual cycle, I’m still using this concept in an adapted way.

Incidentally, men can also benefit from aligning with the male hormonal cycle, which I talk about in Japanese here.

Both these books, Essentialism and Do Less, were pivotal in my journey from overthinking and overdoing to less effort and more impact. 

You may enjoy reading them or the other books in the photo.

What books have made a big difference in your life?