Japan’s Not As Clean As You Believe

Day 38 of writing every day.

In the Western Media’s continued practices of making Japan and other non-Western countries seem exotic to attract attention to what it is they’re showing, one of the recurring ideas is how clean and selfless the Japanese spectators are at the end of a ball game at a stadium compared to their international counterparts.

This is backed with footage of Japanese spectators going around with garbage bags picking up any litter that they or other people might have left behind after the game is over when the seats are mostly empty.

It really depends on what part of the population you’re looking at, I believe. My guess is that spectators who regularly attend sports events as enthusiastic spectators are probably in a fan club, official or unofficial, where members have some kind of governing rules that they hold themselves and each other responsible for following.

The idea that a portion of random groups of Japanese spectators always bring garbage bags and start picking up others’ garbage is just fantasy to my understanding. You’d never see something like that on the streets of Osaka.

Who really keeps things clean?

The elderly tend to sleep lighter and wake up earlier than everyone else I hear, but if that’s just hearsay, please do point out what is correct. When people litter the streets, and it happens all the time, it’s usually the elderly I see around the city I live in that’s out early or at random times of the day with garbage bags and trash picking tongs.

The typical kinds of everyday garbage include plastic bottles, cans, food packaging, plastic bags, cigarette butts, etc. These are all everyday consumable goods that often litter the streets and anywhere people go. In that sense Japan is just like many other countries where there aren’t strict laws that punish even the slightest littering offense.

I’d say that compared to Westerners in general, a lot of the younger Japanese people have some degree of germaphobic tendencies, treating a little bit of dirt or grime as being disgusting. My interpretation of their reception to the idea of holding the container or packaging of food and after they finish eating or drinking until they find the proper place to dispose of it, is a big disgusting no.

It is because of this attitude, I suspect, that so many younger people just litter without any regard for the environment. Japan does not have a system of public trash cans and there might be cultural reasons for it, but it might be as simple as deterring wildlife from encroaching on human occupied lands. It’s only at big open events hosted or sponsored by businesses that there’d be temporary garbage bins as having waste disposal would be essential for people to attend and be expected to buy food and drinks.

And the overall pickiness about cleanliness in Japan means cleaning staff are always on the move on a regular basis. Few people will want to go anywhere they consider dirty even if there’s no reason to believe there are any sanitary concerns. Just being able to smell something is enough for some people to be offended.

So props to all the cleaning workers and neighborhood volunteers that keep things clean.

Ignorance about garbage

What goes on with waste is unclear to anyone not truly experienced with the industry. There are news stories that occasionally mention illegal dumping or how little recycling actually happens, etc.

To everyday people, waste disposal workers pick up our garbage and we get to go on with our clean trash free lives not knowing nor caring where it goes or what happens to it. The government doesn’t bother to inform or educate people about it properly either.

Japan has lots of vending machines, probably more than any other country by ratio to the population. To serve the customers and not burden with empty containers, but also to help collect recyclable materials, suppliers often have a bin next to them specifically for plastic bottles and cans.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who ignore the signs asking people to keep their garbage out and put in only plastic bottles or cans. This abuse by bad actors only causes trouble for the workers who come by to pick up and or clean out the bins who then may need to do further sorting for the end disposal and processing of the contents.

It’s no different than littering in my eyes. I guarantee that you’ll see people littering into these collection bins without even trying in Osaka. As I mentioned earlier, so many people detest the idea of holding anything that’s considered garbage after consuming it. They see the collection bins and just stick their food packaging or plastic/paper cups from Starbucks in it and consider themselves good citizens for not just tossing it in a bush or on the street.

This bad behavior goes on unchecked I believe because vending machine businesses can’t expect to operate responsibly without the collection bins to help contain what would otherwise become waste once their refreshments are drunk. After all, plastics and cans stick around in the environment for a long time, and still can be of value as recycled material.

More bad behavior

I love living in Japan, but at the same time there are contradictions in behavior and image.

Public drinking is allowed in Japan and it’s considered a shameful sight, especially for older men, to have a can of beer or something stronger like “Strong Zero” and day drink in public spaces or on the train. It’s not good manners to do so. A person who engages in such behavior can be seen as lacking any responsibility to be sober during the day and is therefore good for nothing.

Some of these folks will leave their can behind on the train, perhaps empty or with some contents remaining. You can also find them outside in parks or benches, and basically where there’s space to sit and watch the world pass by.

The convenience of public transportation in the form of trains that run to midnight in the city also means some people will drink a lot and just stumble their way home as long as their body can remember the way to the train station. I’ve heard people talk about not remembering the night after drinking but making it home on their own and passing out just fine.

Not all nights end up so well though, and it’s quite common to see vomit on the street, men peeing in public next to a pole or wall, or people passed out (sometimes in or next to their own vomit) in areas near train stations surrounded by bars and restaurants that serve a lot of booze. These sightings increase around different times of the year where celebrations are common.

Drunkards who make it inside the train station and then pass out then become the responsibility of the station staff who may then have to call for emergency response in case the would have been passenger is experiencing alcohol poisoning or perhaps fell and tripped on the stairs. I’ve even seen someone puke inside another passenger’s bag. Sometimes people puke on the train and their mess doesn’t get cleaned up until the train reaches the end of the line or when they go to the train yard. That makes for an uncomfortable ride as no one wants to step or go near that stuff but still have to get on the train and just do their best to avoid it.

One time a big guy who probably stuffed himself too much with food (I’m not sure if he was drunk) managed to get on the train. This was a couple years ago, but on the platform I saw him kind of wobbling like something was gonna come out. He was with a friend, maybe, who was motivating him to get it together, and he managed to hold it in for some time. I kept my eye on him on the train since he was standing close but not next to me.

Not surprisingly, he threw up on the train and I managed to get to safety without getting any splatter on me. The poor woman who was sitting in the seat he was standing before, however, got hit with a huge wave of vomit you think you’d only see in movies as special effects meant to gross people out. I was kind of shocked by how nasty it was and the woman who got covered by the man’s puke was probably both shocked and enraged. They got off at the next station and I assume the train staff and maybe the authorities got involved.

I can still remember the noodles that were mixed in with the half digested food that came out with the vomit. Hopefully I won’t ever have to bear witness to such a thing again as I lost my appetite for noodles for a couple weeks.

Anyways I hope you know that Japan isn’t as clean and beautiful as what others tell you if you’re exposed to more of what everyday life is like for normal people.

Thanks for reading!