Areas of Unrest

1 August 1999 - Ittoen

There are legions of armchair travelers, with little desire to go anywhere but a great interest in reading about the discomforts of those who do. I am an armchair housekeeper.

Oh, sure, I do essential housework - I wash dishes at least once a day, swab the toilet somewhat regularly, etc., but my apartment is rarely immaculate, except when I break down (usually in response to impending company) and get someone in to clean it. But I love to read about housework, particularly books about the sociology of it. Which is one of the reasons I just read Other People's Dirt by Louise Rafkin. (I'd also heard her interviewed on NPR, but would probably have bought the book even if I hadn't.) It's a collection of essays about Rafkin's experiences as a housecleaner. It's generally interesting with some truly appalling stories. Are there really people who leave wadded up used tissues in their beds and used condoms on the bathroom floor? Or, perhaps even more astonishingly, don't flush the toilet?

But what struck me particularly was the final chapter, about Rafkin's trip to Japan to spend a week in a cleaning commune. Ittoen is sort of a cult, founded by a man named Tenko Nishida around the turn of the century. There appears to be a certain amount of meditation and chanting, but the main thing that distinguishes Ittoen is the notion of service. Members of the group go door to door, offering to clean toilets. Other people come to spend time at the Ittoen commune as part of group dynamic training and to promote humility; when Rafkin was there, she encountered a large group of Mr. Donut employees who spent three days scrubbing and one day meditating about the experience.

This probably qualifies as the cult I am least likely to ever join, but if somebody wanted to start an American branch, I'd be quite happy to volunteer my apartment.

Having said that, I should probably go back to dealing with the household paperwork and general decluttering attempts.