Japanese fans remember their manners in Brazil; clean up before going home

Well said cracaphat. What they did was the coolest thing I've seen since I saw Batistuta crying after scoring his first goal against Fiorentina when he played for Roma. The area I live in in Japan regularly have local clean ups. Probably a habit they picked up at school .

awesome :)

Well done. Everyone respects people who clean up after themselves.

BTW Swabians do the same. I went on vacation with a bunch Swabians. We rented a cottage for a week, and left it cleaner than we found it.

So many negative BS about such a good thing. Brazilian TV channels are showing this video, and praising Japanese fans for such good manners. The answers are all positive, Brazilians say that's one of the good things of this World Cup: to learn from other cultures. Japanese fans certainly are the most respected and respectful.

Awesome, good job Japan!

These Japanese fans left a very good impression behind. Bravo!

I hope their example will catch on everywhere, including Japan.

The world won't stink if we do as JAPANESE does. I love Japan ......

I just thought it was a rule that the loser cleans up.

This is what cleaning staff are paid to do. What is so great about fans picking garbage up off the floor that is about to cleaned by cleaners?

Actually, the cleaning staff is paid to clean up the mess made by inconsiderate oafs who never learned to leave a place as they found it. These Japanese fans obviously do not fall into that category.

Never been to a soccer match in Japan. Does this happen on national matches too?

100% agree... the Japanese are great when it comes to cleaning. Wish there were more of them. Instead of spending more on military weapons maybe Japan should Develop Weapons of Mass Cleaning... they'd really "mop up".

This is one reason I love Japanese people... well done.

I live in Recife, where this all took place, let me tell you that the admiration the Japanese fans got here is huge, spilling over all social networks. Not all Brazilians are pigs who leave their trash carelessly. I, for one, never leave the dirt behind me, and others like me do exist and do regret the uneducated fellows. Kudos for the Japanese fans, they set a nice example for us and the world.

Cleaning up after oneself is fine, just don't be a show off.

Well, why weren't the Brazilian's already cleaning up? Perhaps no movement towards that, so the J's did what they had to do...

All readers - no more Japan-bashing on this thread please.

Howard Stern...Don' t talk if your not even cleaning and by the way come to Japan and see if garbages getting dump......cleaning garbages in Japan is like virus when People see it they do the same....that' s how Japanese are they are influenced to do something good in the community....

@Debio

"Does a Japanese guest clean up after eating at someones house in Japan? No, absolutely not." I think you got that one all wrong. I don't know how many Japanese friends you have that come to your house for BBQs and/or dinners but I have a lot. Anywhere from 10-15 people come over to my house every month or so. And do you know what they do when it's time to go home? No matter how shitfaced they are, they separate the trash into separate bags. Wipe off the tables, take the dishes to the kitchen and each familiy takes a trash bag home. They even tried to wash dishes in the past but I told them not to so they stopped trying.

I definitely agree that Japanese have much better manners when it comes to cleaning up after themselves in a public area. Whenever I go to the mall, it's really evident. Most people pick up their trash and throw it away. I only see the occasional piece of garbage on a train or bus. Compared to back home it's very different. I have a hard time believing that there are some people (on this forum) who actually view this as a negative trait.

Yes the Japanese are very good at cleaning. Thats nice, but it looks to me like it is a more 'in your face' to other countries. Does a Japanese guest clean up after eating at someones house in Japan? No, absolutely not. The host does it. But in Brazil, they have a wonderful platform to remind the world how grungy they are. This is less a display of Japanese manners and more of an 'in your face' passive agressive Japanese style.

@highball

All Japanese football teams bow to their supporters after the game. They're thanking them for their supports

Winning or losing are irrelevant.

Well manner is fine. But being so ostentatious about it is just superficial. Don't just clean up the trash, bring the 409 and scrubs to scrub all the gums, dirt, and soda stains away while you're at it. Be thorough if you really want to clean up after yourself.

This is not the fans' job. Let the cleaners who actually need the wages to keep that job to do their job. If the place is squeeky clean, then there is no point to hire the workers to clean the stadium. Their family and livelihood might depend on that job.

This is the main problem with Japanese culture. This salaryman, top down directive had make you people superficial with everything instead of being good at your crafts and duty. This happens a lot in the work place as well. You often do things that are out of your responsibility and duty which actually impede the duties and responsibilities and tasks of others. Whether knowingly or not. Its called out of bound. Its not well mannered or being enthusiastic or looking good while trying to impress someone. Its actually a negative thing.

If you are a fan, be a fan. Don't be a janitor at the same time.

And for the players who bowed to the Japanese fans in that section after they lost, its unnecessary. Those players played a fine game. Headers are unpredictable, there is no shame in losing when the other team is better than you. The prediction is Japan won't make it out of the group and by Honda actually scoring a beautiful goal should be good enough. They played up to expectation. No shame in losing and no need to bow.

I'm proud of Japanese fans as a Japanese.

All our local parks and bbq-areas are always spotless including hanami season.

But then we got some strict rules like a 10:00pm curfew, etc which are enforced.

I wonder if this author has ever been to a popular hanami spot at 5am the next morning? Usually resembles a pigstye in our city!

Forget about seasonal stuff! Try going to Shinsaibashi (popular night spot in Osaka) on a Sunday morning. Looks like a bomb hit it.

@Burakumin

You beat me to it!

@cracaphat - Very well said, indeed !

I wonder though - if most of the fans were supporters of Japan or Japanese immigrants... than why was there a need to pick up after them... if it's supposed to be a collective national trait...just wondering.

Good on them, but please tell that to the people who hang out in the park outside my apartment at night, and the kids outside where I work. True, though, that on the whole there's a better culture for cleaning up -- just look at movie theaters as an example.

Meh.

I just dont think this cleaning up the stadium thing is so spectacular and so deserving of such accolades. It is unnecessary in this particular circumstance as they have paid workers whose job it is to clean the stadium. Is it far fetched to suggest that these fans are taking work away form the cleaning staff? This has less to do with manners and more to do with creating an image.

Kudos to these Japanese fans, they now deserve some good karma in the form of goals against Greece!

I would say it's normal manners to clean up after yourself, certainly I would. The Japanese tend to be better than most though. Unfortunately the opposite is true for many people regardless of nationality.

Good for them, a fine example.

HowardStern

Didn't your parents ever teach you to clean up after yourself?

I can't imagine fans from any other country in the world doing this. A wonderful example.

Wouldn’t it be great it every fan – regardless of whether their team wins or loses – took the time to clean up after themselves when the game is over?

This is what cleaning staff are paid to do. What is so great about fans picking garbage up off the floor that is about to cleaned by cleaners?