Marie Kondo is set to return to our screens in her latest Netflix series Sparking Joy With Marie Kondo.
Kondo, 36, first rose to prominence following the international success of her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up which was published in 2010.
Since then, the Japanese organization consultant has written more books including Spark Joy, and Joy At Work: Organizing Your Professional Life, and starred in the Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.
Her latest show sees her apply the core principles of her cleaning, tidying and organizing method to help people declutter their lives, not just their homes.
In this series, fans get to see more of Kondo's personal life, with glimpses of her home life with her husband Takumi Kawahara and their three children.
Explaining her decision to include more of her own life in the show, Kondo said in a statement ahead of the series' debut: "The world has changed so much since we filmed Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.
"The separation between home and work, and work and community, has shrunk. It felt only right that I share with viewers my mix of home-professional life in Sparking Joy with so many people going through a similar balancing act."
Who Is Takumi Kawahara?
Kawahara was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan and met Kondo while he was a student.
The pair met while standing at an elevator at a speaking event, and he became a confidant and advisor to Kondo before they married in 2013.
He previously worked as a corporate HR consultant in Tokyo before quitting his job to help Kondo expand her work as her manager.
The couple founded KonMari Media Inc in 2015 which looks after Kondo's books, media channels and the KonMari Consultant program.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Kawahara became the company's CEO in 2018.
Both he and Kondo are credited as executive producers on Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and Sparking Joy.
Kawahara is also a follower of Kondo's tidying methods as she told Good Housekeeping in 2016: "He was able to clean and be very organized even before he read my book, but it was certainly even more pronounced after he read my book.
"He became even more efficient. Fundamentally speaking, we're in the same groove."
How Many Children Does Marie Kondo Have?
Kawahara and Kondo now live in Los Angeles, California with their three children, daughters Satsuki and Miko, and a son born in April 2021 whose name has not been revealed.
Before giving birth to their first child, Kondo told the Wall Street Journal that she and her husband had a tidying up "festival."
She explained: "When we found out we were having a child, my husband and I went through a decluttering festival by reviewing things we had. And we discussed how much space—for example, how many drawers—we could give to our daughter."
Both Kondo and Kawahara shared their thoughts on parenting on KonMari's website.
Before the birth of her son, Kondo wrote: "Watching my children grow is a source of daily happiness.
"When I was little, I imagined being a good mother to my children one day—just as my own mother was to me. I had a very strong bond with my paternal grandmother, Oba-chan, and feel lucky to have had many good role models for how to take care of children.
"But the time and labor involved in raising a family is more than I ever imagined—especially in their infant years, when I had virtually no time for myself. The experience has made me more thankful toward my own parents."
Explaining that becoming a mom helped her let go of the pursuit of perfection, she continued: "Motherhood has helped me be kinder and gentler with myself, and that is a gift in and of itself."
In an interview posted on the site's blog, Kawahara said: "I feel like most aspects of parenting come naturally to me. I'm full of love and affection for my daughters, and it just flows out of me."
Asked what parenting advice he wished he'd been given before becoming a father he said: "Tidy your house before you have kids.
"I'm married to Marie, so of course our house was tidy before we became parents, but we weren't fully prepared for the mess and disorder that comes with kids.
"Once you become a parent, your schedule goes out the window—things like tidying can become a low priority."
They began teaching their children the importance of tidying up young as Kondo told the Wall Street Journal: "It's never too early to learn how to tidy up."
Satsuki was already copying her mother at just two-years-old, having a go at folding clothes.
Kondo continued: "I was surprised to see her putting books, stuffed animals and toys for playing house back in their place more precisely than I expected.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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