Tidy Japan fans make us proud, says Yoshida

Exactly! And do they seek credit for it? Nope.

They don't seek credit for any of that, no. In Canada they just do it. Maybe it's a tourism drawer or something else but Canadians are very conscience on trash and recycling. It's just natural for them. Even their city metros are clean. Very efficient, fast, LOUD but still clean (rubbish free). Hard to beat that.

starpunk: "You ought to visit Canada. Their cities are almost completely litter-clean. Even cigarette butts on city corners are rare."

Exactly! And do they seek credit for it? Nope.

Lack of litter bins in Japan is the reason. When many Japanese go abroad they assume it's the same situation in other countries, so they pick up after them. Even I - a long term Japan resident - have done this abroad as a reflex, not due to some virtuous principle (which many Japanese are now disengenuously doing regarding the soccer matches).

Let's have litter bins. Walking through a certain large Tokyo park early on Monday mornings is disgusting, except for the flocks of scavanging crows.

As for the terrorism reason, they why do the local suburban parks also lack proper trash collection?

Travel throughout the USA.... most of it is very clean, the most litter strewn places are usually the inner city ghettos. But people watch the Hollywood movies where many take place in bad areas and think the USA is full of litter... not the case at all. Back on the Japanese Janitors of the World. What about the janitors that were hired to clean up after people at the World Cup.... what about them. I wonder, when the Japanese walked into the stadium... was it clean and if so who do they think cleaned it? Like the Russian's didn't hire people to properly do the job. Are the Japanese going to start picking up after people in movie theaters too.... come on quit trying to put on a show.

obladiJune 24 07:08 pm JSTOn average I’d say the Japanese are pretty damned clean and polite compared with any country I’ve seen

You ought to visit Canada. Their cities are almost completely litter-clean. Even cigarette butts on city corners are rare. Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Kinston, Niagara Falls - very clean. And the Great Lakes areas and the St. Lawrence River are cleaner than what you'll see in the US. On top of that, at city entrances they often have shrubbery,  topiary, rock gardens and even some billboards are made of shrubbery and/or flowers. They take pride in their cities.

If the Japanese keep this up.... wherever they go they'll be expected to clean up after people.... they'll become the World's janitors!!! Ha!

Japanese fans have been doing this for donkey's years.

During our own London Olympics they were the ONLY fans to clean the stadia.

Where were the Senegalese, or worse still the Brits then?

In relation to the Senegalese the Peeping doesn't have a clue; as for the Brits, 99% in the pubs getting plastered of course.

Ganbare Japan: "The rest of the world cannot believe this"

Glad you can speak for the rest of the world and know everything, but the thing is, you don't. Know one knows about it except those the Japanese insist on telling about it. If you didn't notice, the article is about a Japanese telling other Japanese they make them proud when cleaning up and hoping the world is watching.

zichi: "Great for fans to show that but unfortunately there are many Japanese who dump trash rather than taking it home. Even dog muck not picked up. Everyday outside my house I have to bring up other people's trash from the small drain."

Exactly, because there is no big show they can pat themselves on the back in front of for doing what others do anyway -- and others DO clean. I just caught an old man tonight putting his garbage out, as he often does, the night before collection, which ALWAYS ends up being ripped apart by cats and is why we are bound by contract to wait until the morning of. He doesn't clean up the mess. I and the landlady do the next morning. Others dump it in the river across the street, no one picks that up, and man did downtown Osaka absolutely REEK this afternoon thanks to garbage in the Yodo River and its branches!

So, no, Ganbare Japan, no one knows about this because Japanese cameras pick it up and play it on Japanese news, for Japanese people to feel proud of themselves about things they often don't do when no one's watching.

Yeah you are right. Because, they are from China, Korean or the West.

I get it, when it's clean, it's because Japanese people clean up their trash. But when it's dirty, it's someone else. Must be nice to always have someone to blame.

Having lived around Mt. Fuji for two decades I can assure you the place was a mess long before 'China, Korean or the West' turned up in such numbers. Unless Chinese people are bringing their old fridges & air-con units with them of course.

"Senegal fans did the same after game 1 (which they won), hence the saying 'winners are cleaners'."

That's the one really for show, not the Japanese as some want to portray above.

Senegalese and some other fans started doing it to copy the Japanese fans, everyone seems to know that, except a few on JT apparently.

Senegal is pretty dirty, especially large areas in Dakar. I know because I've been there myself 4 times!

And cleaning after any public event is not part of Senegalese culture.

Go Japan!

Seriously, who cares? I would rather the Japan team concentrated on winning games than whether or not their fans are tidy.

Good luck to Japan in their upcoming game against Senegal. Perhaps Japan will meet England in the Round of 16.

Japan is a clean country overall. Having said that Mt. Fuji had a problem with trash even when 97% or more of the climbers were Japanese.

Look.... what they're doing is great but I call B.S. on it, because it is mainly for show. How often do you see Japanese picking up after other Japanese after baseball or soccer games here in Japan. Stuff is left behind here too and no one goes out of their way. But put the Japanese on a nice International stage where they can show the world how clean and good they are.... and they'll ham it up. Mount Fuji is filthy from tourist trash.... do they pick it up on their way back down... no they leave it. This is Japanese B.S. propaganda. Sure Japan is clean... absolutely right.... but very few people are going out of their way here like those at the Stadium in Russia. Thumb me down...... but I think its for show.

Fans cleaning up after a match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ9SLNlpNng

On average I’d say the Japanese are pretty damned clean and polite compared with any country I’ve seen. But there are exceptions. The other day some kids threw their garbage into the dotonburi river right in front of me and my family. It took all my strength to resist the urge to cuss them out, but I knew that my family was petrified I would do just that.

Anyway, ganbare nippon! I’ll be watching you tonight!!

The bins were removed after the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attacks in March 1995.

I have visited japan since 1981 many times and lived here since 1992 and don't know what you are talking about. As a long-term resident I think I know what I'm talking about

@ Hawkeye - most bins were removed around train stations here after the terrorist attacks of the mid 90s.

Always wondered why japan has almost no public trash cans in their cities. We (the late and my lovely jwife) and i had to always carry home our trashables and put in our regular home trash after a day about instead of putting it in to a corner side trash bin. Well i guess in Rome do as the Romans do and don't complain when you ar living in paradise!

Senegal fans did the same after game 1 (which they won), hence the saying 'winners are cleaners'.

Amazing! Well done Japan! The rest of the world cannot believe this, that Japanese are so tidy.But this is common at sports events and festivals here.

Really impressive and they set a good example to the rest of the world and other Japanese.

Perhaps it will inspire people to clean up after themselves when they leave the beach.

And your wins make us proud, so get on it Japan!