The next thing that jumped right out at me about Tokyo was how incredibly clean everything was. We never saw any trash. I’m talking, ANYWHERE.
And because it’s illegal to smoke on the streets, other than in designated areas, there are no cigarette butts. The only time I saw a cigarette butt was when a French guy standing by the Osaka Train station casually flicked one into the street. It pissed me off so much that I stomped it out, picked it up, and then flicked it back at him. He was so freaked out, he turned and ran up the stairs to get away from the big, crazy American guy.
This lack of litter is doubly amazing given the fact that there are very few trash containers provided on the streets or in the parks — though when they do, they are invariably sleek and modern looking. You have to carry your empty water bottle or whatever in your pocket or bag until you get to a business where there is a trash can. Imagine if we did this in the U.S. Many Americans are essentially pigs, even with litter cans lining every street. We’re still too lazy to put our trash where it belongs. If we were to adopt the Japanese model, we would be waist deep in trash. And then we’d blame the government for not providing litter baskets.
And in a city where it seems like half the people at any given time are walking their little dogs there is zero dog poop. The owners clean up after their pets with zest and great joy.
Chewing gum stuck to the sidewalk? Absolutely not.
The Japanese are so clean conscious that they have neighborhood patrols, usually comprised of old men and women in neat uniforms, going around the streets where they live each day with brooms and little green dustbins, sweeping the streets and watering the flower planters. They even sweep up the individual leaves.
I saw lots of older folks down on their hands and knees, hand-trimming the small green spaces in front of their homes.
And on the day the garbage goes out, they pile the plastic bags neatly in a row and then drape netting over it so it won’t blow away and no animals can get into it. The fact is, the Japanese are not wasteful like us, so they produce very little disposable trash. Unlike New York City, where the trash piles can often be as tall as a human, there were no rats or other vermin feeding on the garbage piles. And there was no rotten smell. Even the trash trucks were clean and odor free.
The Japanese are raised from childhood to respect beauty. And the fact that most Japanese are Buddhists just adds to this ethic. So, it’s just second nature for them not to litter or sully their home.
I have no illusions that we can change the way Americans treat the world around us, but I think we would do well to start ingraining this Japanese sense of beauty into our little ones right now. And then, maybe the next generation will understand that you don’t spoil the place where you live.
