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?

Marseille has always been a shit hole.

Nice around the station can be litter strewn.

Years ago I volunteered for coppicing for a few days at Westonbirt Arboretum
We were warned about dog shit thrown in the undergrowth

We saw a woman who left her dog’s shit on the pathway without even attempting to bag it.

When I pointed it out, the wretched woman said
“That’s what I pay my entry fee for- to have you pick up “

She was with her friends, and I said how we were volunteers, not her slaves, and that she was one of the reasons that Westonbirt were considering a no dogs rule all over the Arboretum.

I was shocked at her lazy entitlement.

She did pick up , as her friend had a bag.

Last year at a local beauty spot I took a photograph of a car with 3 young girls (obviously from 'good' families) chucking litter out onto the ground. I posted it to Facebook and it was shared so many times I actually got a message from the girl apologising, advising she had been back and tidied up and asking if I would delete the post (which I did). I assuming her parents got to hear of it, so for everyone here saying it's all about respect don't just assume you think it's someone else's kid littering, you might be surprised!

I recall seeing an episode of the series Joanna Lumley did in Japan. She went to a concert of a popular girl band and was the only female in the audience. Every fan in there was a middle-aged man.

Shintoism and Buddhism play a role as well.

With Shinto there is the belief that Kami (spiritual beings/deities/gods) are in everything. Literally everything has a spirit or essence, even mundane everyday things like a toilet are worthy of respect,
therefore, you keep the toilet clean, not only as a matter of hygiene.

Buddhistic beliefs play a role in that there is the belief that all things are interconnected and have intrinsic value. Everything is interdependent on everything else.

Japanese cultural value of harmony also plays a role. Harmony in relationships, with nature, and in society is highly valued so you end up with people being more respectful towards others (not talking on the phone on the train, keeping the toilet clean for the next person, wearing slippers in other people’s homes so as not to bring dirt inside - and obviously your own as well…but wearing your shoes inside someone’s home is a huge, huge disrespect).

As for suicide rates, people often bring this up when talking about Japan, yet America has a higher suicide rate but no one brings that up when talking about America?

And as for misogyny and racism, yes Japan has these issues, just like every other country in the world.

People have very weird ideas about Japan because all you hear about are these same talking points, and what people get from sensationalist travel shows and anime culture. The entire country is not a maid bar, nor a penis festival, nor geisha and samurai. The country is just a country full of people trying to live their lives like any other human being. There are good aspects, and there are bad aspects, again, just like every other country in the world.

They tend to believe foreigners are “filthy”
Maybe because our Countries and habits are dirty in their eyes?

Mum said how she loved Japanese lavatories -
Ones that actually wash and dry your derrière, much more hygienic than using paper alone.

It's a cultural thing. Somewhere along the way the UK has lost pride in itself.

This probably seems OTT to a lot of people in the UK but I agree with pretty much all of these ideas. In some areas it’s just not pleasant walking around and it’s a shame.

Fines for those who litter too.

Rome is really bad for this. I came away from the city feeling really grubby and didn't feel safe at all there.

Agree

It wasn’t always like that, though. In the Manchester Airport disaster, bit only did the passengers and crew behave with fortitude and restraint, but the local inhabitants were organising rescue chains to help with evacuation before the emergency services arrived, and were used by them to help . There were enquiries abroad whether the British had some sort of civil defence training which fostered this response.

we have substituted the primacy of a civil society for that of the individual, that’s all. Everything comes at a cost, it’s just that the Japanese have chosen a different set of priorities.

Same. Is there anything some people won’t blame on immigration?

I’ve lived in multi cultural south London but I’ve also lived in very white areas of cities like Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow and surrounding towns where vast majority of people are white British so there’s no way anyone can blame it on immigration.

All the areas I’ve mentioned were grubby btw whether it was the more culturally diverse areas or the more white neighbourhoods.

It’s a problem in this country irrespective of cultural backgrounds.

I would be happy with this.

I loved Japanese style toilets so much that when we redid the bathroom i bought one and had it installed. It's fantastic, has an 'anal shower' (and a more coyly named 'lady shower') an automatic seat warmer, drying function and odour removing function.

One at Haneda airport also had calming lights and played music when in use.

Oh wow! I’m jealous!
Bidets somehow never caught on in U.K.

Japanese loos sound wonderful!

Public toilets so often are unspeakably filthy in many places.

Human excrement in U.K. parks and fields from people living in vans tents and vehicles is a much more common issue nowadays.

But we can admire how clean it is, unless it is somehow related to its sexist and racist culture

Service jobs are highly respected in Japan, not looked down on, so the street cleaners are happy in their roles and take great pride in it.

As some people have suggested, the two may well be related, yes.

I think there are a number of things. Children cleaning their school sets good habits.

Lack of space in the homes, lots of people live in small flats that are basically a studio so to socialise you have to be outside the home, so outside becomes part of your home.

Disapproval of anti social behaviour by everyone.

How do you think it would go down if schools started implementing behavioural patterns into daily schooling? Getting the kids to take charge of the cleaning of their home room (to be done in registration time) to include wiping down the desks and chairs, vacuuming the room and a general tidy round. Make it ingrained as expected behaviour.

Lack of respect then

https://www.youtube.com/@LifeWhereImFrom/videos

Mostly life in Japan from the point of view of a Canadian that married a Japanese 😄

By world standards…improving slightly so only coming in at 118th this year.

It wasn’t a clarification; meant to indicate that it wasn’t only Tokyo but perhaps the whole of Japan; however have only been in Tokyo

Good to hear as it was truly awful. They did use Marseille for the sailing in the Olympics, so they probably had a spruce up! Long may it last!

We had one of them come down our road a few months ago. I have lived on our small housing estate for 11 years and never once have I seen one before!

Mind you, I doubt it'll be back in a hurry (I actually hope it won't) - thanks to some local community pride, we actually all look after the place and the water they used looked filthy and left the road looking worse than when they started!