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Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

bbc.com

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Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#101

Post by theboulevardier »

Aperocky wrote: post #13
Reason077 wrote: post #4

Sadly, this is the opposite of the UK cultural attitude. Kids here learn that cleaning up is someone else’s responsibility. Littering becomes a habit from an early age. Even compared to Americans, we are terrible litterers. You can see this in people’s behaviours in fast food restaurants: in the US (as in many other countries), customers will bin their food wrappers and return their tray when they leave. Even groups…

Whoa, that sucks. Out of curiosity, do people in UK tip? In the states, if there's no tip, then it is expected for the customer to clean up after themselves.

In the UK, we generally tip for a great service. If I buy a meal and the food and service is just fine, then no tip. Though if the food and service are great, I will generally tip 10 - 20% depending on how generous I'm feeling at the time. Tips generally aren't expected, and you won't be shamed if you don't tip.

I would clean up after myself somewhere like McDonalds or Burger King, though in a cafe or restaurant I wouldn't. In a restaurant I usually put the plates together to make it easier for the waiter or waitress to clear the table and try not to be too messy.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#102

Post by crimsonalucard »

jaynetics wrote: post #26

The cleanliness is impressive, but what impressed me even more was the efficiency. One morning in Tokyo, I saw construction workers starting to dig up a street. It was a large operation, they were exposing some massive pipes, and there were a few policemen, politely pointing pedestrians to a way around the site. In the evening I went the same way again, to see how far they had gotten with the digging. However, there…

Don’t feel bad, in San Francisco it took them 1 year to fix the 24th st. Bart escalator. 1 year. It’s pathetic.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#103

Post by scruple »

claudeganon wrote: post #9
fiblye wrote: post #5

Undiluted orientalism. I was in Osaka this weekend and litter is everywhere. By far one of the dirtiest major cities I’ve seen in East Asia. In the city I live in in Japan, the rice fields are full of coffee cans, plastic bottles, and bento packaging thrown out from cars. Streets are covered in cigarette butts and somehow I see natto containers in the middle of nowhere. Going hiking, I see tea bottles and plastic bag…

> I was in Osaka this weekend and litter is everywhere While I generally agree, the funny part about this is that it’s not uncommon in Japan for people to refer to people from Osaka as being “not Japanese.”

Osaka really is _different_ in a tangible sense. They seem to buck the conservative/traditional trends as a point of pride. That said, 2 of the most disgusting (public) bathrooms I've ever had the displeasure of stepping into were in Osaka. That's been a sticking point for me and it's come up in conversation nearly every time I have a conversation about Japan. I thought Osaka was fun, and it has a great culture, but you need to be prepared for it's reality if you are in Tokyo or Kyoto first.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#104

Post by ensiferum »

choonway wrote: post #39

Q:Why is Singapore so clean and tidy? A:Because there is a horde of foreign workers doing the cleaning up.

It isn't clean at all tho. For a place that on paper has hefty fines for littering the city is a dump.ok sure enough the inner city center is quite clean but you only have to travel 5-6 stops away for exampleto Lavender (Indian neighbor... Hehehe) and it's a total dump with trash all over the streets.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#105

Post by scruple »

davidmurdoch wrote: post #49

American (US) in Tokyo for the first time here. About an hour ago (10:30 pm here) I saw two men with a bucket and washcloth scrubbing the floor right next to Shibuya Crossing ("the busiest crosswalk on the world"). Moments before that a man was sweeping a walkway between passer-bys). The clothing store withers swept each changing room in between guests. Though a block away was the smoking area, littered with thousand…

Each time I've been to Osaka it has been remarkably different than the other cities we traveled to in Japan. It may come down to timing. My wife and I have only visited Japan during times of Japanese festivals.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#106

Post by brookside »

multani wrote: post #68

I was cycling in Japan for about 2 weeks, just a few weeks ago. I was also impressed in most places by how clean it was, not only in the cities, but more generally speaking about everywhere. At some point though, I was cycling along the coast of Mie then Wakayama prefectures, and although the scenery and roads were clean, I had a glance just behind the ramp walk, and realized that behind the trees, in the bush next t…

Interested in the cycling part of this. Any routes you recommend?

I did the short Shimanami Kaido over the inland sea which was, of course, wonderful.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#107

Post by briandear »

tlear wrote: post #74
fiblye wrote: post #5

Undiluted orientalism. I was in Osaka this weekend and litter is everywhere. By far one of the dirtiest major cities I’ve seen in East Asia. In the city I live in in Japan, the rice fields are full of coffee cans, plastic bottles, and bento packaging thrown out from cars. Streets are covered in cigarette butts and somehow I see natto containers in the middle of nowhere. Going hiking, I see tea bottles and plastic bag…

I live in Japan as well. Hiking.. have you actually hiked anywhere in else in the world? Most places you can fill a garbage bag in an hour just walking on a trail. Took my climbing friends from Canada on a long Hike in Kita Alps, they brought a garbage bag as they always do to gather other peoples trash. We managed to find 2 empty water bottles in 3 days having covered close to 50km. See the campsites near huts after…

San Francisco Bay Area hiking areas seem really clean to me.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#108

Post by nicoburns »

williamdclt wrote: post #23
Aperocky wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa, that sucks. Out of curiosity, do people in UK tip? In the states, if there's no tip, then it is expected for the customer to clean up after themselves.

There's usually a 12.5% service charge in restaurants, but I've rarely seen tipping (I'm a foreigner living in London)

That 12.5% service charge is a tip (you don't have to pay it if you don't want to, and it will generally go to the servers).

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#109

Post by briandear »

rjf72 wrote: post #56
fiblye wrote: post #5

Undiluted orientalism. I was in Osaka this weekend and litter is everywhere. By far one of the dirtiest major cities I’ve seen in East Asia. In the city I live in in Japan, the rice fields are full of coffee cans, plastic bottles, and bento packaging thrown out from cars. Streets are covered in cigarette butts and somehow I see natto containers in the middle of nowhere. Going hiking, I see tea bottles and plastic bag…

Does Osaka have the same school cleaning culture with a meaningfully large number of schools? In particular I know some schools in Japan (not sure what percent) do not even employee janitors because of this culture of cleaning responsibility. It'd be an interesting way to test/refute the obvious hypothesis that the article is promoting. If the answer is yes, then the hypothesis can, more or less, be rejected.

Chinese public schools have the kids clean the school as well.

Re: Most first-time visitors to Japan are struck by how clean the country is

#110

Post by corey_moncure »

fiblye wrote: post #5

Undiluted orientalism. I was in Osaka this weekend and litter is everywhere. By far one of the dirtiest major cities I’ve seen in East Asia. In the city I live in in Japan, the rice fields are full of coffee cans, plastic bottles, and bento packaging thrown out from cars. Streets are covered in cigarette butts and somehow I see natto containers in the middle of nowhere. Going hiking, I see tea bottles and plastic bag…

Things are changing.

15 years ago, it wasn't like this. As recently as 8 years ago you started seeing people exhibiting blatantly antisocial behavior in public, littering, not giving way in the roads, noisy devices, etc. When they open their mouths you realize they are not Japanese. The frequency of such encounters has increased steadily with time.

I was in the area last year and was shocked at how bad it's gotten. Rokko-san, trashed. Garbage bags ripped open and left to lay on the streets of Osaka. It's unbearably sad to see this happening.

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