Page 50 - CIJ April 2025- Digital Edition

SANITATION

Cities enforced different Tourists do not display the same
regulations to keep streets clean. level of self-discipline in following
For example, authorities in waste management regulations as
Fukushima inspect garbage bags to the Japanese do, forcing authorities
check for violations in segregation to issue new directives to tackle
Trash cans or the weight of the bags. emerging problems. For instance,
are making a Homeowners found flouting rules in a deer park in Nara district, litter
are publicly identified. In other
reappearance in areas, inspectors affix coloured pickers were deployed to follow
tourists and collect plastic waste
Japan’s cities — at stickers to garbage bags left outside discarded by visitors. Although
homes, warning residents about
train stations, deer improper sorting or storage. The tourists were permitted to feed
parks, and popular stickers serve as a visual cue for the deer only the designated rice
crackers, carcasses of animals were
tourist spots. Smart residents to take the garbage bags later found to contain plastic waste
back inside and re-sort the trash
bins have been before the next scheduled pickup. in their intestines. The deer are
considered divine envoys of the
pressed into service Tourism Demands Shinto shrine, but their health is
for homeowners. The movement of tourists has led now endangered by litter discarded
to waste and recycling bins being by visitors.
placed on station platforms and Japan has moved on from the
in sightseeing areas. Cities have strict measures introduced post-
The cult leader and several adopted smart trash bins to manage 1995 and is now implementing
followers had planned the attacks waste more efficiently. Technology- waste management solutions
to disrupt a police investigation enabled bins called SmaGO prompted by the rise in global
into their organisation’s activities. have been introduced in Osaka’s tourism. It would be unrealistic to
He was later arrested after a long tourist-heavy Dotonbori area. expect foreign visitors — travelling
search and handed the death These solar-powered bins include long hours and sightseeing in
sentence. Train passengers inhaled automatic sensors to detect when
the gas, resulting in horrifying they are full, compress waste by up groups — to follow the same
symptoms such as blurred vision to 20 per cent, and use smartphone protocols as Japanese citizens, who
and nausea. Many collapsed as applications to analyse volume data once carried workplace and public
panic spread. With people dropping and alert workers before overflow. space trash home for sorting. With
unconscious in carriages and Rail operator JR East placed trash time, admirable self-discipline
no clear explanation apart from bins for passenger use on the Narita has given way to practical reality,
a strange smell in the air, the Express airport line as early as 2006. fuelled by a tourism boom.
city entered a state of fear and
confusion.

No Garbage Cans
The terror attack on public
transport was a jolt to Japan’s
psyche and took years to overcome.
Subways were a source of national
pride. A terror act using plastic
bags near passengers could not be
allowed to happen again. Radical
action followed — train stations
and public spaces were kept free of
trash bins to avoid any recurrence.
Communities spread the waste
management message further.
Personal towels became the norm.
Smokers carried small ashtrays for
personal use to prevent littering.

50 APRIL 2025•Clean India Journal•www.cleanindiajournal.com