Japan is a soccer-loving nation, and so sports enthusiasts across the country were excited as the 2022 World Cup opened. Somewhat less joy-inducing, though, was that the Japanese team’s first match would be against perennial powerhouse Germany.
Any fears that Germany would steamroll Japan turned out to be misplaced, though, as Japan completed a stunning comeback 2-1 victory. With all the energy and adrenalin the Japanese athletes were feeling after the win you might expect them to cut loose and party wildly.
Maybe they did just that, and maybe they didn’t. But before any team celebration that may or may not have happened, the Japanese team made sure to leave their locker room immaculately clean.
“Spotless,” the official FIFA Twitter account says, and they’re not kidding. There’s not a single piece of trash left behind or even so much as a drop of sweat. The used towels have been neatly folded and stacked, as have the leftover bottles of water that were provided to the team. On the table, what appear to be leftover meals and snacks are lined up in tidy rows.
There are a few pieces of paper the Japanese team left behind, but they’re not torn open wrapper or crumpled up memo sheets. Instead…
…on the table are 11 origami cranes, an appropriate number for a soccer team, and a message saying “Thank you!” in both Japanese and Arabic.
Meanwhile, supporters who attended the game continued Japanese fans’ international sporting event tradition of cleaning up their section of the stadium before heading home.Because while beating Germany on the soccer field isn’t something that Japan does very often, good manners are a constant.
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Japanese soccer fans’ awesome manners are spreading to another country at World Cup
-- Now even countries that aren’t playing against Japan are cleaning their stadiums at the World Cup
-- Japanese soccer team receives worldwide praise for behavior at Asian Cup
© SoraNews24
15 Comments
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Elvis is here
At-a-boy. Big pat on the 丁髷 from Elvis.
wallace
It might be awesome but there are low-paid immigrant workers who need the money to put food in their bellies. Sometimes kindness is not so kind.
We live in a very clean location countryside/beach but there are many which are not.
Peter14
Japanese team and fans showing the world the gold standard in behavior.
Very impressive, and there will be cleaners and managers thankful for the effort expended to keep things clean.
Well done Japan. Welcome in my country any time!
Mark
So what? Is cleaning a zero-sum game?
Dr.Cajetan Coelho
FIFA 2022 World Cup is bringing out the best from all those privileged to be in Qatar. Footballers are displaying their awesome talent and fans express their joy through their melodious singing, Qatar is turning out to be a conducive space for good behavior. Hats off to the hosts and to their organizing capacities.
smithinjapan
The irony is this is the kind of story that will make huge news in Japan but nowhere else. Nor will anyone who took these PR photos bother to check if other locker rooms might also be clean.
miss_oikawa
Nor will it magically eradicate the highways of all the rubbish that is strewn on the verges by people who can litter without others seeing them therefore feeling no shame.
Zizi
@Smith
Spot on. I've never seen so much patting oneself on the back as I witnessed in Japan.
I can fully imagine people asking foreigners if they've seen Japanese fans cleaning the stadiums and leaving the changing rooms clean.
I'm sure this changing room thing happens all the time in football. Only the Japanese seem to self promote.
Snacks of self importance.
theFu
The winning team, cleans up after themselves. It is sad that is amazing. All teams are guests. They should all be cleaning after themselves. Builds character and keeps people humble.
Folding and stacking the used towels is a bit much. Placing them in a bin would be sufficient.
The posts are from FIFA, not the Japanese team.
All of Japan should be proud and happy. They cleaned and they won. Nothing negative in either of those actions.
Patricia Yarrow
We would be cleaner in Japan and here in Tokyo if the government provided the trash cans again. Anyway, good on the Japan soccer team. I wish we could be so tidy and clean here in our daily lives, especially in the train stations. Bring back the bins, please!
starpunk
The Japanese Olympic Team did the exact same thing (w/o the origami birds) a few years ago at the Moscow Olympics. Even though they lost a soccer match (winning silver instead of gold) they were graceful about it and were the REAL champs.
And now they've done it again, showing class. How many athletic teams from other nations (incl. mine) trash everything up like a bunch of booger-brain chumps? Once again, Japanese athletic team players have shown the world what the spirit of playing truly is and whether they win or lose - they show the world what being champs (or graceful losers) is all about.
Kudos to their World Cup Team - true champs once again. The world salutes you all!