Win or lose: Japanese fans tidy up at World Cup

Japanese fans tidy up at World Cup

And that long-haired (presumably) Costa Rican lady in the blue is quite, ahem, ‘tidy’ too.

TT

Again Japan, regardless of the outcome of the game, setting an example for the rest of the world..

Very good japan people !!..

And that long-haired (presumably) Costa Rican lady in the blue is quite, ahem, ‘tidy’ too.

Soooo presumably..

No helpig with cleaning, waiting for the silly selfie.. LOOOL !!..

“Nobody in Japan would report on this,” she said, noting the same clean-up happens at Japanese professional baseball games. “All of this is so normal.”

Not true. Just watch the morning shows and the self-patting on the back: “Sugoi desire ne.”

> Not true. Just watch the morning shows and the self-patting on the back: “Sugoi desire ne.”

Exactly. I mean look here. This is the second time in less than 7 days

Good to see. If Japanese fans leave their trash then they should clean it up at the end of the game.

This story is getting old and tired. When the spotlight is on, Japanese people do the right thing! That’s not news anywhere. As another poster said, have a look at the local park for the truth.

A spokeswoman for the Japanese Football Association said it's supplying 8,000 trash bags to help fans pick up after matches

As I suspected, this is not some spontaneous act on the part of fans/players. It’s organized by the JFA/government of Japan. Like having Abe come out dressed as Mario, it’s all part of a soft power PR image campaign.

The main, overriding reason is that Japan has hardly any public trash bins. People in Japan don't do it out of culture respect, they do it because the authorities force them to.

Aum shinrikyo's nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway led to the removal of thousands of bins, which were never replaced after the threat ended. Also, many municipal govts are strapped for cash and thus don't want to pay for garbage collection. And at my park, the bins were removed because local people were using them to dispose of their household garbage!

Japan's public sports faclities, where I play badminton, are also sparse and spartan, with almost no janitorial services, which are seen as costly and troublesome. The place gets really stinky in summer. The staff who are there sit behind the counter and do very little. Give me systematic trash collection any day.

Midori Mayama, a Japanese reporter in Qatar for the World Cup, said that fans collecting rubbish was a non-story back home.

Non-story? What are we reading then?

Hypocritical behavior.

there is no cleaning by the fans at Japanese games or by players in locker rooms.

and littering in public places is everywhere in Japan.

this is not some spontaneous act on the part of fans/players. It’s organized by the JFA/government of Japan. Like having Abe come out dressed as Mario, it’s all part of a soft power PR image campaign.

I doubt very strongly that the Japanese team spontaneously decided to make paper cranes and lay them out neatly for the cleaning staff to find. It was scripted.

@Not_my_real_name

I can't recall. Where did/do you see that?

Pretty much at any big stadium in Japan. Ever been to one?

I was paid 15,000/night to clean up a stadium in Osaka from 11pm-4am. With 20 other young japanese. Just to collect what has been left by the japanese public.

Now imagine the mountain of garbage.

“Nobody in Japan would report on this,”

Because it's not news, and it's nothing special. And no one IS reporting on this, outside of Japan. The only reason they ARE reporting it (since it's so normal and all according to the same person quoted) is because they are doing it for the cameras at an international event. Trust me, no one else knows or cares, just like NO ONE around the world is using "mottainai" in regular conversation, and plenty of other people clean up after themselves and others. This kind of insular back-patting is one of the major problems society has here and leads to the "Oh, wow! You cleaned up your garbage! Just like we invented in Japan!" kind of mentality you get from silly questioners here.

Still can't believe in this day and age, people can't be bothered by taking their trash with them and dispose of it in a proper waste containers. I see it everywhere. It is not that difficult.

There's a lot of junk in blue

I’ve got a class tonight, and I’m dreading the point where the ultra-patriotic old woman brings this up. I’ve got to sit/stand there while she undermines the stereotype of the ‘humble Japanese’ by constantly banging on about either ‘Cool Japan’ or another Japan versus foreigners framed opinion. While the actions of the footballers is undoubtedly admirable, it does spark endless, ‘isn’t Japan absolutely wonderful’ conversations that get old very fast.

In MHO it is OTT.

Japan will have to throw everything they have at Spain if they are to have any chance. Win or die.

Again, so many angry comments from people triggered by the Japanese being courteous.

Very admirable but aren’t they told there are employees allocated that job? Those employees want to earn their money not have some volunteers do it for them.

Japanese morals and foreign morals are different, so it is better not to do this kind of act. There are always people who criticize it as hypocrisy.

The few times I have been in a stadium here, I saw people bringing back the trashes to the disposal place but I never saw them cleaning.

foreign morals 

First time I heard that. I thought morals come from religion such as Christianity Buddhism Islam or society. However they all say pretty much the same thing for morality such as "Do unto others as you would have them done unto you"

The Japanese are generally a lot cleaner than most other countries I have been to, but it still amazes me how much garbage there is around the country, especially roadside. I see it all when I go for my weekly run. Its often a pile of cigarette butts from someone that has decided to empty their entire ashtray beside the road, or its something else plastic purchased from the konbini.

While its nice to see the Japanese fans cleaning up, I sure hope they couldn't find a garbage can within 10km of the stadium because thats sure the case in Tokyo.

Of course, that's awesome they do that, but I hope they realize the clean up is already added on to the ticket price. They should be getting discounts !!

looks to me like more than half of those people are not Japanese......

Genuine respect for fellow human beings and for Planet Earth is the way forward. Cleaning the mess one has made and leaving the place neat and clean for other visiting dignitaries is an inspiring way of "doing dignity". Fans, footballers, members of their support staff, match officials, sponsors, media figures, and TV viewers from Asia, Australasia, Africa, Europe, and from the Americas are privileged to witness the Japanese way of proceeding. The Samurai Blue fans are taking humanity to the next and a higher level. Hats off to them.

Why is the AP writing this dreck when the reporter should be asking about that pathetic performance against Costa Rica?

Moderator: There is a separate story about the game.

As I suspected, this is not some spontaneous act on the part of fans/players. It’s organized by the JFA/government of Japan. Like having Abe come out dressed as Mario, it’s all part of a soft power PR image campaign.

I doubt very strongly that the Japanese team spontaneously decided to make paper cranes and lay them out neatly for the cleaning staff to find. It was scripted.

They did it because they're courteous. I don't know why so many people commenting here never learned that in elementary school.