To be so impressed about how clean Tokyo (Japan)

[Travelfun]

First time in Tokyo and I am so impressed at how clean and organised it is. It is a pleasure to go out, I thought I was going to find a busy, chaotic city.

I live in London and can’t wait to head home when I go into town. I wish we could keep London and other British cities this clean.I think we got lots to learn from the Japanese.

Why can we achieve this cleanliness in London?

I couldn't get over how safe it feels. I'd never go to London in my own and always feel on edge using the tube walking around but I was happy to explore Tokyo on my own, even late at night.

Thanks OP for clarifying what country Tokyo is in.

(Japan)

I'm a brummie and I absolutely love London I feel much safer than in Birmingham!

Japan might be clean but it also has a very sexist racist culture - I don't think it's the future we all hope for. Looks aren't everything.

People are taught to clean up after themselves from a very early age. As a pp said, kids are responsible for cleaning their own schools - no school cleaners.

If you want to see rubbish, go to a beach at the end of the day in summer where PET bottles and 7-11 bags are left to be carried out by the sea.

Re safety, again it comes down to the sense of social responsibility that is cultivated - who wants to live in a dangerous place? Furthermore, you do not want to get in trouble with the police. Apart from prisons being extremely unpleasant, a criminal record will follow you around forever, severely limiting future opportunities.

Sexist and racist by your standards, not theirs.

I love Japan.
One of the reasons that there is less litter is because nobody eats in the street.
As a poster said above though, it's a very sexist culture. Also a high suicide rate. So not everything in the garden is rosy.

Yes as I was about to say it's frowned upon to 'eat on the move' so that helps the litter situation.

I just came back from Japan - loved how clean it was - you could go into a public toilet in a mainline station and it was spotless. We couldn't imagine that in the UK.

I was on a beach, suddenly some music came on and everyone (and I mean everyone!) on the beach stood up and started picking up the (non-existent) rubbish from the beach. They did it until the music stopped a few minutes later and then all sat down again! So lovely. I can't imagine that happening on Brighton beach.

Also so safe too - you could put your phone down or leave your bag on the back of a chair and they wouldn't be taken.

By most people’s standards I’d hope - it has one of the highest DV rates of any developed country, and there is a definite exclusionary vibe around non-native residents. So yeah, absolutely not without its problems - but with women being battered and killed here on a daily basis and cases of institutional racism, it’s not like we’re exactly flying the flag for equality. On balance I’d say they’re getting a lot more right than we are.

I studied in Japan and it is 100% cultural. Japanese people are taking time to teach their children responsibilities from a young age. Even little ones have chores and can be outside by themselves safely and responsibly. We used to run an art class for kindergarten children and every single one of them knew how to clean their stations, use the bathroom by themselves, cross the road safely. It was quite a strange experience even for me who grew up in continental Europe in the 80s with children there being relatively independent compared to the UK.
Japan feels really safe too. I forgot my phone and my purse in various places across the uni on multiple occasions. Every single time it was returned by someone to my desk drawer. There are “honesty boxes” on every unmanned veg stall.
But the culture has its dark side too - awful misogyny, huge pressure to achieve, crazy work ethics…

Is there an acceptable level of sexism or racism?

The thing that does give me the ick factor about Japan is the way that young women dress up like little girls - short frilly skirts, high white socks etc. There's something really weird going on there.

The councils can’t even clean the monthly rubbish collection without leaving rubbish all over the floor.

There fact that councils have outsourced the service to the private sector has not helped as there no accountability

There’s also a misogynistic racist culture in Japan and that bears out in everyday sexism experiences and sexual harassment so I don’t think it’s idyllic for everyone who lives or visits.

@Kellykukoo

some of us are comfortable with that shite, others not. I personally think people can keep their germs and bodily fluids to themselves

I agree with all your observations OP & those of pp about the culture of respect. Children are often impeccably behaved. Train travel is a dream. On the flip side they have a very high suicide rate & because of the culture people internalise their feelings more. It’s not always healthy to be so deferential & put yourself last the whole time. Also they have very little immigration so less issues in terms of intergration & society as a whole easier to control.

A bit like Finland - looks like some Utopia to a visitor, but when you scratch beneath the surface there's a lot more going on that's not so pleasant.

But it's a useful stick for self-hating Brits to beat ourselves with and run down our country. So there's that.

I’ve never been to Tokyo but been to Kyoto and Osaka and honestly never wanted to leave Kyoto! It’s so cute, and picturesque and friendly with roads safe enough to cycle, and this was about a decade ago before it became as overrun with tourists as I hear it is now.

Agree with others who say Japan has its own issues but as far as cleanliness, everyday politeness and calm and order etc goes it gets top marks from me.

@CranfordScones

it is dirty and antisocial in the uk though , so people are allowed to say how it is 🤷‍♀️

Also noticed the extremely clean streets in Tokyo when we went some years ago. A contributing factor, we were told, was the extremely low unemployment rate there (at the time anyway - not sure about now). Everybody had a job. Almost 100% employed at the time (definitely in the high 90's). And as part of that there are lots of people employed to clean / sweep the streets.

Gosh, get a grip. Seriously.

Their culture is very different to ours .They are much happier to conform, respect is valued and they clean up after themselves. That culture and attitude probably saved peoples lives when that plane caught on fire at the airport not long ago. If that had been Brits on the plane they would have all been grabbing their luggage and no doubt died. As they were seen to be doing when that happened in Las Vegas with a BA flight and you could see people wheeling suitcases away from the plane.

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67870119.amp