We need to learn from Japanese how to keep the streets , cities clean. It’s very annoying to see plastic cups,plastic bags,lunch boxes littered everywhere.

@konsolennerd

Ай бұрын

I like the idea but it isn’t going to work in the west. Here in Germany many cities have tried reducing the available trash cans, so people just dump it everywhere. It’s a combined mess of „I don’t give a …“ and also to some extent mass migration from countries where people lack education.

@inquisitvem6723

Ай бұрын

There is a trick to not have to carry trash around without littering, but not sure if I should share it

Glad you are talking about this ! If I am your guest I need to know what to do with my trash 😢 in fact I gave it some thought and if you are sincere about welcoming me on my trip, then please make it easy for me to dispose of my trash 😢 ! You see I am only here for a short while and I may not want to carry trash around in my back pack. I was hoping to carry things i need and stuff I bought for the day that makes me happy!! Like gifts for others at my home ! If someone acted badly and really inconsiderate you have my support always, but as for trash a good host doesnot expect guest to take their trash with them

1:34 Ah.. a local...👋🏽👋🏽

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

😂 she’s local 🗼 :kanae

The worst displays of littering I've seen in Japan were by locals not tourists. Most locals, and most tourists, don't litter in Japan. Also, most litter on Japan streets is fortunately quickly removed. During my 10th trip to Tokyo in March this year, shared by a friend on his 1st visit to Japan, we visited the Shinjuku cat corner around 9.30am. This was during the student graduation period and many students were in the city. I was so embarrassed, and embarrassed for the Japanese people's reputation of 'non-littering' after talking it up to my friend that everyone takes their litter home. The square outside of the station was littered with hundreds (not exaggerating) of cans and food packaging strewn absolutely everywhere. On my next visit to Osaka in May I headed to the renowned Triangle Park. Again it was about 9.30am and I was shocked to see piles of rubbish at the base of a lamppost stacked more than a foot high and spreading four to five feet almost blocking the entire sidewalk spilling out onto the road. Not just one, there was another pile further along the road this time stacked up against a shop wall on the sidewalk. I could continue to name other badly littered areas encountered during my past Japan trips but I won't. Australia is world famous for its beautiful beaches partly thanks to locals promptly picking up any rubbish found and taking it home. The majority of Japan beaches lay littered without the same enthusiasm. To keep things in perspective, the seaside town and beach where I live has virtually not a piece of litter anywhere. I'm always taken by that when I return from Japan. Japan with its 130 million population and 20+m tourists in Japan at any one time, it's obvious a very high percentage of all people are doing the right thing when it comes to disposing of their trash. Personally I bring some black plastic bags which I keep in the water bottle compartment of my backpack. It disguises my litter until I find a bin or get back to my accommodation. Hopefully we'll start to see some positive videos across KZread reflecting on how responsible 99.99% of the tourists are when visiting Japan. By the way, I love Japan ❤️ Just keeping it real.

@LiterallyJustAnActualPotato

17 күн бұрын

I agree. Sometimes I see the younger people in Japan being loud, obnoxious, and littering. It’s awkward. Most Japanese people are very polite and don’t litter, and I also feel embarrassed for them when I see the younger people behaving so badly. I also bring a small trash bag with me in my purse! But mine are pink haha. I use them to hold trash that might get my purse dirty (drink cups, snack wrappers, etc) until I find a place to throw them away or until I get back to my place. It’s a great life hack!

Thanks John for the informative video as usual. I have already planned to carry recycle bags with me when I go to Japan next year. When you are in foreign country you just gotta play by their rules.

It's great that Japan still has plastics bags that can be bought in shops. For many Western tourists, these plastic bags are a far memory and the only carry bags they can get in their home country are paper bags or varying strength and zero water repellence. I might get a pile of plastic bags to take home on my holiday!

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

You don’t need plastic bags if you don’t make trash. If you’re eating where you buy the food, in your room, on a train like the Shinkansen, there’s a place to throw it away. I’m not sure you need a pile since you can ask to buy them for ¥5 at convenience stores or buy a lot of them at the ¥100 shop Daiso which is also EVERYWHERE! Maybe nice to take home. They’re still useful. It’s just street food, drink cups. If you’re buying convenience store food, return it to the convenience store when done 😉

Very good information as always, thank you

Not emptying community trash cans is a problem,....... not an excuse for not having cans! All STOP!

Great to see you both! what an interesting story about the spittoons that Kanae shared. We always learn something from your videos! Hope you and Kanae enjoy a happy lunch!

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

I forgot about those! Her grandfather also told me about it years ago. Nasty habit I’m glad is gone. I can’t imagine Japan in the 1970s!

REALLY helpful vid! ありがとうございます。

Thanks for this fascinating and enlightening episode, John and Kanae -- I knew that trash bins had been banned after the sarin attacks, but it was good to remember that the Tokyo of my early childhood was dirty and smelly in places. And I loved learning about the spitoons!

Sure sometimes it can be a bit frustrating to find trash bins, but i always had something like a backpack or a bag from the Konbini with me.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

If you can find a konbini, you can find a trash can 🚮 😉 I hope that solves 99% of people looking for one who can’t wait until they go back to the hotel.

@illum1nds

Ай бұрын

@@onlyinjapanGO yeah sure i forgot that one, that's the easiest way...i forget this often, but i still learning ^^ I don't know, i never really felt like that it is too complex or that i'm in need of a Bin 😂 I like how Japan does this and how astoundingly clean it is.

I always bring a bag for my trash.

Thanks for sharing it. ✌️

Hello from the other side of the world where it is cloudy and muggy. I wanted to thank you for your informative videos as I just came back from Japan and carried my own trash bag, watched how loud I was talking and didn’t travel to Kyoto. Instead traveled to Kamakura, Nikko, Aomori, Nagasaki, Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo. Japan is amazing! Thanks again 🌸💃🏽

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

You’re very welcome and I appreciate your kindness ^_^

You remembered reading a time magazine in third grade????? Love the videos btw, always a treat to watch even if I don’t comment every time

Thanks for the video. Coming to Japan in July, and I was a little bit confused about this. Last time was in 2006, and there was trash cans in malls and stuff, so it really wasn't a problem. It was back when they still had public ashtrays.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

I remember those days 😂 and smoking cars in trains, smoking sections in restaurant and you had to walk through it to get to the non-smoking areas in the back! Hahaha! Before the age of the Karen. It’s really cleaned up. I think taking trash back to the place you bought your stuff makes a lot of sense.

I was in Yokohama for the Babymetal shows and made my way up to the Meiji Temple/Yoyogi Park area. I was sitting in front of the I’m Donut? and witnessed Japanese and Tourists leaving trash in that area at the corner. I thought I had entered a complete different country because everywhere else I went was really clean. I always carried a small backpack where I kept my trash until I found a trash can or could throw away at my hotel.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

I asked Peter to go with me there a few weeks ago, now I’m glad or I’d have seen what you saw 😳 places with street food or where people take out and eat near by have the worst issues right now. Tsukiji Market is a mess. Shibuya ward has a lot of challenges ahead of them.

@Adrenaline_fix

Ай бұрын

Baby metal brings out the worst of its own kind domestically, to expect manners of such crowd is surprising even if it's common logic of an everyday living LOL

It makes me sort of sad as an adult tourist who picks up after themselves that others. aren't doing the same. Japan is wonderful for it's cleanliness. Lets help keep it clean. I'm glad you are talking about it, Japanese are not going to be direct about it and maybe someone should.

I remember seeing a sign in Akihabara St. ground level pointing where the bins are I think the real reason for the lack of public bins is the cost of disposal. Like mentioned at 6:50, freeloaders dumping contents from home. Also illegal dumping of bulk items exists such as bicycles dumped in the water. The rise of boba tea is another concern what I've read. The waste produced from the cups and leftover liquid. Disposing in bins only for cans and bottles. End: I think the "moenaigomi" is a broad and vague term that you can throw anything recyclable. There's only two bins.

At last they now have English text now as I found them very confusing during my previous visits.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Yes, that was a no-brainer! How could we expect tourists who can’t speak Japanese to know it’s NOT a trashcan esp if they’re never seen this kind of recycle ♻️ system before next to vending machine. I think bg summer 2025, a lot of these issues will be much closer to being solved.

Canada has had the same setup as Japan for years.

It's all for show. Japan still incinerates nearly 75% of its waste. Sure, there is a SLIGHT downward trend but all these recycling bins are more for PR than the environment.

Hey John. I usually finish eating my combini purchase outside the store where I bought it, so I can use their trash receptacles. I don’t know if a store cares if I dispose of trash from things I ate when I did not purchase from their store. It seems they would care. For instance, I wouldn’t want my neighbor using my trash cans outside my home.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

At many Konbini, you can eat inside the store too :) I like that mini cafe style. No trash to carry after. Nice to find a park nearby too. No reason to carry around trash if you eat near the store, right? Mostly carry away drinks and street food.

I've been at the tokyo station today...unlucky I missed you

John are going to make on an episode on the main channel?

Why are there different bins for newspapers and papers?

@gotakazawa408

Ай бұрын

This is because the recycling plants are different for each material, so they are recycled into different products.

I prefer a city without trash cans. It is like its said in the Japan Times, people will bring their trash from home too and will throw it in the public trash cans, and the trash cans will overflow and smell. And also like John said, I can see that many times in Convinient stores. Many people throw their private home trash in the Convinient stores trash cans. Many convinient stores tolerate that, but I saw also some staff who complained about that. Convinient store trash cans are basically for trash from goods which were bought there. For tourists, yes, they should understand to bring their trash back to the hotel or to the store where they bought it. Keep Japan clean.

Kanae got a tough task 😅She must be careful not to touch things because they may contain microbes or infections Where I live I always take trash with me if I can't find a trash can Although people here do not respect cleanliness and throw away anything They even throw away bus tickets when they reach a station, even though there is a trash can near the station I always put tickets in my pocket 😅if I can't find a trash can and sometimes I forget them there One of the things I love most about Japan is cleanliness I don't know why some people ruin this thing One time I was about to get the biggest spit in my face 😅 Because suddenly a man turned around to spit, I saw his spit on the floor. It was the biggest spit I have ever seen

I was there 2 weeks ago!

Also in the netherlands there is a extra charge on bottles. So that you have to return it get your monye back.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Like 10 cents in Michigan! Newman & Kramer trying to do the impossible, taking 5 cent NY bottles and getting 10 cents in Michigan! Seinfeld was genius. Japanese just recycle everything! It’s like a religion here.

To those about to compare these to the NY. Subway or the Philly Septa, two notoriously unclean public transit systems, consider this: the Tokyo public transit system is financed adequately and annually. Japan does not have a for profit healthcare system that results in an opioid epidemic, and they have a moderate but still poor safety net system to assist with houselessness. As Americans we should first examine those short comings of our supposed greatest country in the world before we chastise others for not cleaning up after themselves.

Had a real struggle finding a trashcan when i was in japan. Walked atound with it all day. As a tourist. There is no home to throw it in. Was in osaka and tokushima.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

You didn’t see any convenient stores? That’s hard to believe. Every station, supermarket, convenient store, McDonalds etc has one. They’re just not on the street, just gotta know where to look and know you know 😉

@MaDmanex100

Ай бұрын

@@onlyinjapanGO Oh so you can go into the store and ask them to throw it away? More trashcans would help out alot in the more popular streets Though!

Excellent, thanks..

~I took to the combini, and i bring it to hoteru, maybe i trow it in the restaurant~😊or station_platfront or by a museum you visit.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Most restaurants will take your trash too, we often ask and have never been declined as it’s a service for eating there. It’s usually an empty drink cup or snack bag, nothing major.

Where would you throw left-over food?

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Burnable trash 🚮 ➡︎ 無えるゴミ

Hey dude... Question - what about folks who take their dog for a walk and then the dog craps... i assume that they're required to pick up after your dog- under threat of a firing squad. Where do they throw away the dog waste?

Very interesting how Japan became the clean country it is today.

Was just in Japan for 4 weeks. Trash I will carry for a couple of hours, looking for can. After that .......I just leave it somewhere. Can return it to conbini. Some locations just do not have trash cans......I am sorry. No seating or water fountains either.

7-eleven always got trashcans

Just watched a CNA insider video on the sarin attack and if folks would just inform themselves they could see that was an awful tragedy and the repurcussions of it, wow. we should be compassionate and respectful of the reasons trash cans were taken away.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

I remember the years after, the search for them and the replays of videos on the news. Dead of riding the Hibiya Line and removing the trash cans also calmed people at the time. It was awful. I believe there are very good documentaries on this, I think I saw one on Netflix a while back. When VIP like the US president visits, all recycle bins and garbage cans in stations and public spaces are covered or closed. Those are when we can say Tokyo has no trash cans.

If possible, try to eat at restaurants when you're in Japan. Most restaurants offer lunch menus, and even in big cities like Tokyo, you can find meals for around $10 USD (without tipping). For example, dishes like "gyudon" or "marugame udon" are very inexpensive compared to Western countries, costing about $4 USD. Additionally some convenience stores also provide seating areas where you can eat food purchased there. This way, while traveling, you’ll only need to carry a bottled drink, which means you won't generate much waste. Drinks are always available at convenience stores and vending machines, and you can easily dispose of them. As a Japanese person living in Japan, I haven't needed to use a public trash can in the past 30 years for these reasons.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Excellent advice. Very true, I rarely need to throw things away. If I bring food, the trains have garbage cans or at the stations when I get off. Having a plastic garbage bag with me is no longer something I think about except when I use it and forget to put another one in 😂

@gotakazawa408

Ай бұрын

@@onlyinjapanGO That being said, I always carry plastic bags with me. It's not for my own use, but to give to anyone who might need one. This is an example of "omotenashi."

I can confurm as a dutchi that the trains are not that clean. But has also to do with the mentalty of som people. But i have som times. have a difficult to understant burnebles because alot of stuf can be recalybles

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

I always rode the train from Almere to Amsterdam with friends when I stayed there. My hypothesis was that the perfect sentry of the trees all in straight lines. Everything new and perfect made some people go crazy and rebel but messing up the trains 😂 Almere is unique. Miss my friends, have to go visit again soon.

The thing is, people who are interested enough in Japan to watch a channel like this one will likely not litter. But the cheap yen means that people who would aren't really in to learning about Japanese culture but fancy a change from Bali or Thailand for their asian vacation are now coming to Japan and doing thier usual habbits(not that it's ok to act that way in those places either, but it happens). So unfortunately, I don't think this will make reach the people causing the issue. They're slobs at home, they're slobs at their usual vacation destinations, they're going to be slobs in Japan too.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

You’re right, but there is a good % of new viewers watching, many finding no trash cans and googling it. Our current viewers who watch help make sure it’s suggested to others. It’s fascinating how KZread and a community can make an impact, find a small % of tourists who didn’t know and perhaps keep places a little cleaner or help with confusion. If it’s useful, it’ll be viewed and shared. A lot of these are also a time capsule of this exact time when Japan was grappling with a tourist boom and things weren’t going smoothly. How did they react and why, how did tourists react. I want back and watched the episodes when tourists couldn’t come, a fascinating and disappointing time. Anyhow, I’ll keep trying to reach everyone with info and nuggets of history and culture that challenges every viewer, like spittoons on Tokyo streets for citizen loogies yuck! Glad I wasn’t here for THAT era!

You won't believe this, but for my next trip I actually purchased a bag dispenser (normally for pets) to hang on my backpack, I got it from the most famous Chinese webshop. I stuffed it with 'normal' small trash bags so that I can carry the trash in my backpack. My problem is solved! 😆

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

It is! (I believe it 😂)They have these thin plastic bag for meats and veggies at the supermarket that work well, weigh nothing, take up almost no space. I take 5-10 of those for later 😂 great for drinks so bag doesn’t get wet. They have bigger ones in the US near veggies. I like that they’re see through, easy to seperate for later but they do break if you’re rough with the trash.

dude bought starbucks. unsubbed for life

@softbeak8333

Ай бұрын

right?? what an ignorant pr*ck. it's just as scary how ambivalent people can be towards genocide while touting good things!!

We have trash cans like the ones in Tokyo station an all train stations but no one has ever placed the right rubbish in the right place, I even take the garbage with me until I get home and then dispose of it there

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Wow, it’s not so hard - like it’s marked with symbols and writing and colors - and clear bins you can see what’s inside 😂 it would require more brain power to get it wrong IMO hahaha!

@AngelicaLeDang

Ай бұрын

@@onlyinjapanGO I think it's out of laziness and not caring and Australia being a multicultural country will have many people that come from many different countries and some can not even read english let alone speak it

@LeeLloyd

Ай бұрын

@@onlyinjapanGO I don't think it is so much about "easy" or "hard" as it is about what people are used to. In most of the world, trash is trash. Maybe in most developed countries they might sort trash from recycling in two, or at most three bins. But for example, I just rented a commercial property in Japan, and the city sent me, no joke, an eight page manual on trash sorting and disposal. Eight pages! That is most definitely not what anyone else in the world is used to. You can't say it is really simple common sense, when it takes eight pages, several illustrations, multiple tables and a calendar to explain. You make a perfectly valid point that people shouldn't litter. I don't think any reasonable person would disagree that littering is a bad thing to do. But most people on vacation are not mentally prepared for trash cans that require an instruction manual and a tutorial video to properly use.

You look different! 🤔

We have the same issue in Virginia. Trash everywhere you go. Keep up the good fight. I am supporting your movement of 'How to throw your own trash away".

there is 1-2 cobinis almost every 50-100m where most tourists are, so there are rubbish bins almost every 50-100m where most tourists are. GEEZE

Tourists will Just throw it at some alley when nobody is around.

@Gazumi-inOZ

Ай бұрын

And many more Japanese will do the same 😕

This is a timely topic, and perhaps those who watch will try to be better. 👍 Cities like New York are an example of the infestation of rats because of trash. People tend to be more mindful of their trash if they have to carry it around...they don't want the hassle, so they minimize their trash. For example, bring a reusable water bottle instead of drinking out of a PET water bottle. Great episode, John! Unfortunately, those who are not responsible will continue to litter and they will only act if they get fined.

Incoming complaints from people saying tourists won't be able to read the Japanese, English, or understand the pictures 🙄

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

😂 maybe it’s written TOO SMALL. Maybe they need international icons or emoji ❌🚯🚫🙅🏻

I think some people are getting lazy and don't bother to read or something. I hope your teaching Leo about matters and morals. I'm not like that .

That local looks suspiciously familiar. I'm thinking that's a plant!

Great live on the cleanest big city in the world very interesting on the trashcan history, please do steam about the many man hole covers of Japan.

its not that inconvenient to carry your trash for a short while conbini's are everywhere....these new tourists to japan need to learn to be responsible and respectful

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Right, newbie tourists just need to learn the way of Japan 🇯🇵 starting with where the trash cans are. Hint; not in the streets. Inside so it can be monitored and cleaned more frequently without bad smells and mess.

@Omni0404

Ай бұрын

I feel rude walking into a konbini and throwing stuff in their trashcan without buying anything though. Then the circle of trash continues.

Pollution is not the same as littering. And even if Japan was less clean in the 80s, it doesn't mean it was dirty by international standards. If you were to believe the Japanese media, school bullying is huge problem in Japan. But does this mean school bullying is worse in Japan than for example in the US? I think it's more a question of that if you don't have teenage pregnancies, drug use and school shootings, that's the problem that rises to the top. Yes, I'm aware of the serious school related incidents in Japan, it still doesn't compare to the US, even if you control for population size. There's also a ton of footage of Japan from previous decennium all the way to the 1920's, even here on youtube, that disprove this trashy Japan image. Having traveled a lot, and lived on three continents before even finishing high school because of my dad's employment, I couldn't help but noticing similar behavior and mannerisms of groups separated for generations, but I'll stop there for obvious reasons.

@onlyinjapanGO

Ай бұрын

Less clean? It was freakin’ polluted, by all international standards. I think school bullying is worse. The data on teens ending their lives is clear in that 😢 it’s gone up. There are different issues but there are certainly issues that need to be address. A lot to like and many things to dislike about schooling in Japan. www.nytimes.com/1970/07/27/archives/tokyo-smarting-from-4day-smog-sunshine-lack-of-wind-and-car.html the “Japanese Miracle” had a bad side. The Tama River was atrocious. Sumida River had a stench in summer. Car pollution was next level, beyond anything in LA or NYC. These led to measures to clean up which proved successful over time but it *was* dirty.

@schorriemorrie_04

Ай бұрын

@@onlyinjapanGO With rapid development comes pollution, this happened since the start of industrial revolution in England. It's still happening today in places like China with their polluted groundwater and 'cancer villages', although it should be easier to prevent now than it was in the past. But that's a separate issue from leaving trash everywhere like you see in many developing countries today. I urge anyone to find that in the many videos of pre-war Japan here on youtube. I don't know how true this is, but the narrative in Japan is that pre-war Japan was very poor, not that I would accept that as an excuse to litter. Suicide in general is more accepted in Japan, so I would expect this to effect all age ranges.