Random J in Japan: So fresh and so clean
Saturday 4 July 2009 @ 3:57 pm | By Random J 6 Comments
Japan is clean. I’d heard and read about how clean the countries streets are, but I don’t think I expected the streets to be as clean as they are. Seriously. Japan’s streets are dead clean. I’m from London. So I’m used to seeing rubbish on the sidewalks, people littering, bins overflowing and dog shit smeared into the road. In Japan, I saw none of these things. People actually carry bottles of water with them when they walk their dogs, so that if they piss on something they can pour water over it to rinse it off. Only in Japan.
Sure, there were some area’s that looked a little run down. But even these area’s were pretty garbage free. And any garbage that was spotted was placed in neatly tied garbage bags of the appropriate colour corresponding to what type of garbage the bag contains.
Part of the reason why Japan’s streets are so clean is because people tend not to eat on the streets. In the West we’ll pound the pavement whilst snacking on a sandwich, a chocolate bar, some french fries, fast food. Pretty much anything we can eat without the need for a plate, a knife and a fork: we’ll eat on the go. In Japan? No deal. Because of this general social rule, there is a distinct lack of dustbins. So if you were unlucky enough to decide not to eat your Burger King in the joint, then a daily excursion can quickly turn into a scavenger hunt for a dustbin. And chances are if you find one, it’s only for a particular kind of rubbish which means you’ll still be left with whatever you couldn’t chuck. (Garbage separating = an integral part of Japanese life). As time goes on you slowly acclimatize to the country and turn a little Japanese, you begin to learn the Nihongo way: you either eat your food where the hell you bought it, or you want till your ass gets home.
Japan has many wonders and marvels to catch your attention. But the one you’re constantly hit with is how generally clean the streets are. It really is hard to hate the lack of dustbins and general rule of not eating on the streets, when the streets are so clean as a result. It definitely hit me hard when I landed in the fly tipping site that is London.
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Abraham 'Velcor' Duarte
David 'KidKobun' Bruno
Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano
Random J
Sol
That sounds like heaven……. if that’s the case, then NYC is a nightmare, take it from me. x.x
I live in the Coney Island neighborhood and a McDonald’s recently opened right next to the train station. OMG, as soon as that thing opened, the streets practically flooded with wrappers and bags. It was SO disgusting!!! Seriously, not enough people give a shit about its condition…
Lovely!!
:P
I hadn’t ever vacated anywhere as clean as Japan. Places I’ve been have been cleaner than London. But not so much so that it took me aback and made me consciously and socially aware. But Japan was a real eye opener. It made me realize how terrible the UK is when it comes to things like recycling and just overall hygiene on the streets.
Japan is so clean that it definitely leaves a lasting impression on you when you head back home. I’m sure not every place in Japan is clean and spic-and-span. But the places I saw were. And for such highly populated cities and districts to remain so clean is pretty impressive.
We could learn a lesson or two from them. It does bother me a bit to see trash around a trashcan which has almost no trash in it. Along with rode sides full of garbage thrown out the window.
agh.. i would love to walk down those streets… i love my city… but its a shithole…
not a day goes by that i don’t get a whiff of piss or if i’m unlucky enough, of shit… some of it of human origin
-__-
and don’t get me started on the garbage
I can back what J says. My brother Jiro went to Tokyo representing Mexico on the FOODEX at 2006. Since we are descendants, he was easily mistaken for a Japanese native, and he did not have a single word to answer to them, just a big confused face.
When he took walks touring around the city, he saw complete cleanlyness… and close to no dustbins as J said. Not to mention that greens and fruits where skyrocketing expensive. All complete and perfect order.
Tijuana, on the contrary, one of the most complicated places to be. Littering on the floor or in the “appropiate dustbin” is almost the same, since they are both as much unattended.
Here on Mexicali are garbage to, from people and from the air. I really like to visit Japan, I love a clean city ^^