I didn’t think it was a problem personally, just kept some small trash bags in my backpack. Even though it’s not what I’m used to doing in my native country, I didn’t really mind 🤷
Lol my parents just got back from Japan and that was the only negative they mentioned.
Yeah, you do sort of get used to it though. I would only want trash bins back if they come with the guarantee of frequent emptying because it’s going to smell in the summer
I don’t know, I’m conflicted about this matter, on one hand I live in a touristy city too and I can see that if the trash bins are not emptied regularly they can overflow with trash (and that happens every time when there’s high season for tourism), I feel that by not providing trash bins the environment around touristy areas is cleaner than it would be otherwise. Of course this is inconvenient for tourists as they have to bring their trash with them… But I guess we’ll live with it.
Just carry your trash with you, this is really not that complicated. Carrying food is definitely more challenging, but most places that sell food provide trash bins. Let’s stop with that idea that trash should be taken care of by other people. Your trash, your responsibility.
Yeah having to wander around looking for a conbini to throw trash in as a tourist sucks, so does the amount of trash piling up at night.
There has to be a more efficient way to handle this
As a recentish resident, for me it is the lack of trash bins and relatively few benches where I’m used to having them
This isn’t a surprise. I just returned from a month in NYC, my home before moving to Japan. The level of filth and dirt and grime everywhere was frightening. Corner trashcans were overflowing. Rats were everywhere. I couldn’t wait to return.
Tourists all carry backpacks. I can’t help but wonder why they are incapable of carrying trash in them.
Take your trash back home. Ez fix
Fuck that. The US has tons of trash bins, and they just overflow while people keep balancing trash on higher and higher piles. Then a gust of wind blows, or some asshole knocks the bin over, and trash spills all over the place.
Just carry your trash with you for a few minutes until you can find a bin. If that’s your biggest problem visiting Japan, then count yourself lucky to have such a petty first world problem.
Blame Aum Shinrikyo and their 1995 sarin attacks. Public trash bins were ubiquitous before then but have vanished ever since.
From my trip last month, I observed that certain cities had more trash cans, and that most of them were located at subway stations. I also started to eat my convenience store food outside the store so I can throw my trash inside. I did the same with street vendors selling food: eat it nearby and then hand my trash back to the store. Ended up with little to no trash at the end of the day.
Will the frustration reduce tourist though?
The pet bottles and can bins next to vending machines seem to be less and less these days
It’s a pain in the ass sometimes..
All the trash you accumulate as a traveller and your hotel only gives you a 1L trash bin typically. “Bring your trash home” just isn’t as viable, so you have to rely on the konbinis which isn’t really fair to them either.
I remember having to walk countless blocks to find garbage when I visited Tokyo, definitely confusing, even less trashcans than the USA has and they don’t have enough either. Funny that Tokyo is spotless and all of american big cities are covered everywhere in garbage though
They lack of rubbish bins doesn’t bother me now I am used to it. I would like to have more places to sit, both outside and also in shopping malls! The only place to sit down is a cafe
There is also fucking n o w h e r e to sit down in public (or at least there wasn’t in the area of Osaka I visited). But that’s about the only bad thing I could say. Nicest city I’ve ever been to.
My friends cousin got sick on the train and I helped them vomit into a bag. Finding a trash can in the subway was a nightmare I never want to experience again.
The government should aid businesses that collects trash for a fee. And give them a permit to operate in public areas.
Maybe they need to put actual bins in hotel rooms for all the rubbish you inevitably bring back with you. Most of them are the size of a can of coke, it’s ridiculous
I just go to any konbini to get rid of mine. You’re rarely too far from one.
I’m concerning people throwing trash on street since there is no place. That’s a lose-lose situation.
We have the same issue in South Korea. Trash cans for the city require a heavy maintenence budget, and the cities manage to stay very clean in spite of the lack of trash cans, so municipal governments apparently prefer to spend the money on other priorities.
Everyone saying it’s not a big deal, just throw it away at a conbini…true it’s not a big deal, but you’re not supposed to throw stuff away at conbini if you didn’t buy it there lol.
So it’s not a big deal but it IS an inconvenience to carry trash until you get home.
As someone who visits to another, get over it. Be responsible. This isn’t your house. Follow their rules. Carry a bag or something.
Some countries outsource service fees (tipping),
some countries outsource dealing with trash
Carrying an empty PET bottle for hours on end cause you can’t find a trash can is a right of passage for anyone in Japan. True fact.
It’s pathetic, the J-Government gladly welcomes the enormous income it receives from foreigners touring the country, but is too cheap to provide trash cans for waste disposal for the visitors, then turn around and complain about tourists trashing the place. Where else are they going to put the thrash then? For all the income it receives from tourists, the least they could do is provide proper trash disposal areas.
Everyone here who is saying it’s not a big deal, just take it home with you…this is a complaint by tourists. Imo tourists have every right to complain about the lack of public trash cans. They don’t know all the garbage sorting rules, they don’t know the little hacks for where to throw stuff away, and a lot of conbinis in major tourist areas don’t have bins. It’s not fun to carry trash around with you all day long when you’re going into shops, riding public transport, carrying luggage etc.
We all know the reason is because of the terrorist attacks a few decades ago. But other major tourist areas in the world have trash bins with relatively no issues. (Yes I know of the London Underground bombing – no need to bring that up lol.)
Tbh I’m tired of Japanese media showing all the trash piled up in touristic areas…when there is no where to dispose of it and tourists are frustrated. “Just carry it with you” is very easy to say as a resident.
You’re supposed to take your trash with you and dispose of it when you get to a store, hotel or home. That’s the culture. It’s keeps the streets cleaner, keeps people responsible for their own garbage while also learning to conserve.
it was like hitting the lottery once you see a trashcan finally 😂 go empty out all the trash in your pockets
If I were to choose, I’d relocate all parking lot and road work guardian ojisans to trashbin duty and reinstate public bins.
So many excuses, but with conbinis starting to hide or remove them, followed by many vending machines scrapping even bottle recycling bins, it’s starting to become a bit ridiculous.
I recently went on a business trip with a Japanese colleague to the U.S.
He’s getting a bit long in the tooth, and suffers from incontinence. He has to wear disposable underpants and often has to change several times a day. Luckily, there were trash cans all over the place meaning he didn’t have to carry around his piss-soaked pants all day while he did his fieldwork.
Shame that people suffering from his predicament and other various issues won’t have that luxury when visiting Japan on holiday…
And don’t give me any of this horseshit about Japanese people not littering. Come to the countryside and there are endless examples of people chucking conbini trash and emptying their ashtrees out of their windows. The mountains are equally full of trash of all kinds.
I get tired hearing the hackneyed, BS excuse about terrorism being the reason for so few bins in Japan. It’s pure parsimony, that’s it.
I’m in Japan right now and this is one thing that definitely surprised me—no trash cans and nowhere to sit down. The few trash cans you do see all say they’re reserved for the specific items from the business, which makes sense given the scarcity of trash disposal, but I’ve never seen such a thing before. I’ve currently got a corn dog stick and wrapper in my pocket with a handful of receipts, so I’m making it work, but having a few cans at stations would be really nice. At least they have free public restrooms, unlike some places (looking at you, Europe).
Yes that is such an odd thing not to have, also lack of places to sit.
im fine with no bins on the streets but if i remembered correctly most shopping malls/toilets didnt have any bins as well. where am i to throw my food waste/waste?
When I went to the Ghibli Museum my accommodation was quite far so I didn’t have much time and just bought something at McDonald’s for take away, I had to carry the McDonald’s bag for the next 4 hours because there was not a single trash can around the whole Inokashira Park and came back to the original McD to dispose it.
I know is not the end of the world but why they can’t put 2 or 3 trash cans here and there??
I don’t think people really understand the infrastructure required for trash bin collection. It seems like a small added cost that could be paid with public funds but there are other things like insurance, more work placed on separation facilities, and all for the benefit of tourists, paid for by taxes paid by residents who are so used to not having them, wouldn’t use them.
Not saying it’s a bad idea. I’m saying it’s a very hard sell.
43 comments
People living in Japan too.
I didn’t think it was a problem personally, just kept some small trash bags in my backpack. Even though it’s not what I’m used to doing in my native country, I didn’t really mind 🤷
Lol my parents just got back from Japan and that was the only negative they mentioned.
Yeah, you do sort of get used to it though. I would only want trash bins back if they come with the guarantee of frequent emptying because it’s going to smell in the summer
I don’t know, I’m conflicted about this matter, on one hand I live in a touristy city too and I can see that if the trash bins are not emptied regularly they can overflow with trash (and that happens every time when there’s high season for tourism), I feel that by not providing trash bins the environment around touristy areas is cleaner than it would be otherwise. Of course this is inconvenient for tourists as they have to bring their trash with them… But I guess we’ll live with it.
Just carry your trash with you, this is really not that complicated. Carrying food is definitely more challenging, but most places that sell food provide trash bins. Let’s stop with that idea that trash should be taken care of by other people. Your trash, your responsibility.
Yeah having to wander around looking for a conbini to throw trash in as a tourist sucks, so does the amount of trash piling up at night.
There has to be a more efficient way to handle this
As a recentish resident, for me it is the lack of trash bins and relatively few benches where I’m used to having them
This isn’t a surprise. I just returned from a month in NYC, my home before moving to Japan. The level of filth and dirt and grime everywhere was frightening. Corner trashcans were overflowing. Rats were everywhere. I couldn’t wait to return.
Tourists all carry backpacks. I can’t help but wonder why they are incapable of carrying trash in them.
Take your trash back home. Ez fix
Fuck that. The US has tons of trash bins, and they just overflow while people keep balancing trash on higher and higher piles. Then a gust of wind blows, or some asshole knocks the bin over, and trash spills all over the place.
Just carry your trash with you for a few minutes until you can find a bin. If that’s your biggest problem visiting Japan, then count yourself lucky to have such a petty first world problem.
Blame Aum Shinrikyo and their 1995 sarin attacks. Public trash bins were ubiquitous before then but have vanished ever since.
From my trip last month, I observed that certain cities had more trash cans, and that most of them were located at subway stations. I also started to eat my convenience store food outside the store so I can throw my trash inside. I did the same with street vendors selling food: eat it nearby and then hand my trash back to the store. Ended up with little to no trash at the end of the day.
Will the frustration reduce tourist though?
The pet bottles and can bins next to vending machines seem to be less and less these days
It’s a pain in the ass sometimes..
All the trash you accumulate as a traveller and your hotel only gives you a 1L trash bin typically. “Bring your trash home” just isn’t as viable, so you have to rely on the konbinis which isn’t really fair to them either.
I remember having to walk countless blocks to find garbage when I visited Tokyo, definitely confusing, even less trashcans than the USA has and they don’t have enough either. Funny that Tokyo is spotless and all of american big cities are covered everywhere in garbage though
They lack of rubbish bins doesn’t bother me now I am used to it. I would like to have more places to sit, both outside and also in shopping malls! The only place to sit down is a cafe
There is also fucking n o w h e r e to sit down in public (or at least there wasn’t in the area of Osaka I visited). But that’s about the only bad thing I could say. Nicest city I’ve ever been to.
My friends cousin got sick on the train and I helped them vomit into a bag. Finding a trash can in the subway was a nightmare I never want to experience again.
The government should aid businesses that collects trash for a fee. And give them a permit to operate in public areas.
Maybe they need to put actual bins in hotel rooms for all the rubbish you inevitably bring back with you. Most of them are the size of a can of coke, it’s ridiculous
I just go to any konbini to get rid of mine. You’re rarely too far from one.
I’m concerning people throwing trash on street since there is no place. That’s a lose-lose situation.
We have the same issue in South Korea. Trash cans for the city require a heavy maintenence budget, and the cities manage to stay very clean in spite of the lack of trash cans, so municipal governments apparently prefer to spend the money on other priorities.
Everyone saying it’s not a big deal, just throw it away at a conbini…true it’s not a big deal, but you’re not supposed to throw stuff away at conbini if you didn’t buy it there lol.
So it’s not a big deal but it IS an inconvenience to carry trash until you get home.
As someone who visits to another, get over it. Be responsible. This isn’t your house. Follow their rules. Carry a bag or something.
Some countries outsource service fees (tipping),
some countries outsource dealing with trash
Carrying an empty PET bottle for hours on end cause you can’t find a trash can is a right of passage for anyone in Japan. True fact.
It’s pathetic, the J-Government gladly welcomes the enormous income it receives from foreigners touring the country, but is too cheap to provide trash cans for waste disposal for the visitors, then turn around and complain about tourists trashing the place. Where else are they going to put the thrash then? For all the income it receives from tourists, the least they could do is provide proper trash disposal areas.
Everyone here who is saying it’s not a big deal, just take it home with you…this is a complaint by tourists. Imo tourists have every right to complain about the lack of public trash cans. They don’t know all the garbage sorting rules, they don’t know the little hacks for where to throw stuff away, and a lot of conbinis in major tourist areas don’t have bins. It’s not fun to carry trash around with you all day long when you’re going into shops, riding public transport, carrying luggage etc.
We all know the reason is because of the terrorist attacks a few decades ago. But other major tourist areas in the world have trash bins with relatively no issues. (Yes I know of the London Underground bombing – no need to bring that up lol.)
Tbh I’m tired of Japanese media showing all the trash piled up in touristic areas…when there is no where to dispose of it and tourists are frustrated. “Just carry it with you” is very easy to say as a resident.
You’re supposed to take your trash with you and dispose of it when you get to a store, hotel or home. That’s the culture. It’s keeps the streets cleaner, keeps people responsible for their own garbage while also learning to conserve.
it was like hitting the lottery once you see a trashcan finally 😂 go empty out all the trash in your pockets
If I were to choose, I’d relocate all parking lot and road work guardian ojisans to trashbin duty and reinstate public bins.
So many excuses, but with conbinis starting to hide or remove them, followed by many vending machines scrapping even bottle recycling bins, it’s starting to become a bit ridiculous.
I recently went on a business trip with a Japanese colleague to the U.S.
He’s getting a bit long in the tooth, and suffers from incontinence. He has to wear disposable underpants and often has to change several times a day. Luckily, there were trash cans all over the place meaning he didn’t have to carry around his piss-soaked pants all day while he did his fieldwork.
Shame that people suffering from his predicament and other various issues won’t have that luxury when visiting Japan on holiday…
And don’t give me any of this horseshit about Japanese people not littering. Come to the countryside and there are endless examples of people chucking conbini trash and emptying their ashtrees out of their windows. The mountains are equally full of trash of all kinds.
I get tired hearing the hackneyed, BS excuse about terrorism being the reason for so few bins in Japan. It’s pure parsimony, that’s it.
I’m in Japan right now and this is one thing that definitely surprised me—no trash cans and nowhere to sit down. The few trash cans you do see all say they’re reserved for the specific items from the business, which makes sense given the scarcity of trash disposal, but I’ve never seen such a thing before. I’ve currently got a corn dog stick and wrapper in my pocket with a handful of receipts, so I’m making it work, but having a few cans at stations would be really nice. At least they have free public restrooms, unlike some places (looking at you, Europe).
Yes that is such an odd thing not to have, also lack of places to sit.
im fine with no bins on the streets but if i remembered correctly most shopping malls/toilets didnt have any bins as well. where am i to throw my food waste/waste?
When I went to the Ghibli Museum my accommodation was quite far so I didn’t have much time and just bought something at McDonald’s for take away, I had to carry the McDonald’s bag for the next 4 hours because there was not a single trash can around the whole Inokashira Park and came back to the original McD to dispose it.
I know is not the end of the world but why they can’t put 2 or 3 trash cans here and there??
I don’t think people really understand the infrastructure required for trash bin collection. It seems like a small added cost that could be paid with public funds but there are other things like insurance, more work placed on separation facilities, and all for the benefit of tourists, paid for by taxes paid by residents who are so used to not having them, wouldn’t use them.
Not saying it’s a bad idea. I’m saying it’s a very hard sell.