For decades, Japanese streets told a silent story — one without trash bins. But as tourists now pour into shrines, stations, and deer parks, the Land of the Rising Sun is rethinking its clean-city code. What began as a response to terror has turned into a cultural test of hospitality versus habit. A report.
The increasing footfall of visitors is leading to a rethink of policies aimed at providing tourists with the facilities they expect from any host — even one obsessed with trash sorting and litter management at home.
This rethink stems from a horrific domestic incident on March 20, 1995, in Tokyo’s subway system, and the subsequent decisions to ensure that such terror activity never happens again. Japanese society interpreted and adapted to the crime situation in a unique manner. Public places and public utilities were made garbage-can free after 1995, to avoid the possibility of anti-social elements targeting people.
For decades after that, Japanese cities witnessed the absence of bins in public places, even as the volume of passengers and citizens using these spaces increased. The Japanese developed unique waste disposal habits. People carried the trash or waste they generated back home for segregation and disposal.
The anticipated increase in littering during transit — due to the absence of garbage cans in handy locations — did not happen. Hygiene as a way of public and private life was taught in schools. Students were made to participate in a daily 15-minute cleaning of classrooms before studies began, to instil discipline from a young age.
In other areas, civic authorities brought in voluntary measures to enforce a less-waste lifestyle. Apart from the absence of garbage bins at high-traffic transport venues, restrooms for travellers and other public utilities also lacked paper towels and ashtrays. Users carried their own towels and mini ashtrays to avoid cigarette butts littering public spaces. Garbage segregation rules were in force for different types of trash, sorted and kept for collection by house owners without exception. Violators were warned, and repeat offenders were shamed by publishing their names in public forums.
Trash cans are making a reappearance in Japan’s cities — at train stations, deer parks, and popular tourist spots. Smart bins have been pressed into service for homeowners.
Sarin Gas Terror
In 1995, sarin gas attacks by a group called Aum Shinrikyo (meaning Supreme Truth) became the trigger for change. This doomsday cult planned and executed coordinated chemical weapon attacks on different lines in the Tokyo subways during rush hour. There were 14 casualties and over 5,000 commuters were injured following exposure to the poison, inhaled in gas form. Members of the group placed sarin gas in pierced bags and left them in subway carriages. The incident threw the Tokyo subway system into a state of chaos and panic. The victims remain traumatised to this day. Japan had never before faced this form of domestic terrorism.
The cult leader and several followers had planned the attacks to disrupt a police investigation into their organisation’s activities. He was later arrested after a long search and handed the death sentence. Train passengers inhaled the gas, resulting in horrifying symptoms such as blurred vision and nausea. Many collapsed as panic spread. With people dropping unconscious in carriages and no clear explanation apart from a strange smell in the air, the 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.
Cities enforced different regulations to keep streets clean. For example, authorities in Fukushima inspect garbage bags to check for violations in segregation or the weight of the bags. Homeowners found flouting rules are publicly identified. In other areas, inspectors affix coloured stickers to garbage bags left outside homes, warning residents about improper sorting or storage. The stickers serve as a visual cue for residents to take the garbage bags back inside and re-sort the trash before the next scheduled pickup.
Tourism Demands
The movement of tourists has led to waste and recycling bins being placed on station platforms and in sightseeing areas. Cities have adopted smart trash bins to manage waste more efficiently. Technology-enabled bins called SmaGO have been introduced in Osaka’s tourist-heavy Dotonbori area. These solar-powered bins include automatic sensors to detect when they are full, compress waste by up to 20 per cent, and use smartphone applications to analyse volume data and alert workers before overflow. Rail operator JR East placed trash bins for passenger use on the Narita Express airport line as early as 2006.
Tourists do not display the same level of self-discipline in following waste management regulations as the Japanese do, forcing authorities to issue new directives to tackle emerging problems. For instance, in a deer park in Nara district, litter pickers were deployed to follow tourists and collect plastic waste discarded by visitors. Although tourists were permitted to feed the deer only the designated rice crackers, carcasses of animals were later found to contain plastic waste in their intestines. The deer are considered divine envoys of the Shinto shrine, but their health is now endangered by litter discarded by visitors.
Japan has moved on from the strict measures introduced post-1995 and is now implementing waste management solutions prompted by the rise in global tourism. It would be unrealistic to expect foreign visitors — travelling long hours and sightseeing in groups — to follow the same protocols as Japanese citizens, who once carried workplace and public space trash home for sorting. With time, admirable self-discipline has given way to practical reality, fuelled by a tourism boom.
