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?

Gosh, for me the level of underthinking in some posters is what ‘blights’ Mn. But we’re all different.

Agree, not related at all. I think some people feel better by pointing the negatives.

OP
”I love Tokyo’s clean streets”

MN whataboutery:
“but what about Autism/ porn/racism/ sexism/ sen ?”

My husband went to Japan and his hotel room overlooked the street. Each morning school children (teenagers) would wait under his window for the school bus. They were not supervised in any way. They waited quietly- no shouting, mucking about, swearing etc. When the bus arrived they got into line and got on. Perfect
As others have said they have respect for each other which is needed when people are living close together- but doesn't happen in UK where many people are rude, aggressive and entitled

I don't think your use of underthinking is correct here, unless you mean to imply that a lot of Mumsnet users are the opposite of overthinkers.

Double quotation marks if you are quoting someone. If you don't like my choice of the word blight then you could choose another word that better matches your position, but putting single quote marks around it is quite meaningless.

The English are world known for being dirty though and for bad dental hygiene. I don't see this changing. I think it gives the country a certain Dickens/Ripper street charm.

If you live in the more affluent parts though it's very clean.

The poorer areas beset with grooming of vulnerable girls definitely isn’t a good look.

Anyway, how's the temperature/humidity? Weren't you the one asking for tips.

It is hot and humid, but manageable most of the time; trains, restaurants and shops are air conditioned, we take rest when needed; evenings are more pleasant. A couple of mornings/early afternoon were very hot, yesterday after it rained and a couple of days ago; we took a rest, fluids and kept going.

Habit seen much littering so far and we have caught lots of trains but Tokyo is massive so we probably just saw a bit.

People litter in the UK even with rubbish bins

Agree. Shoes inside and I always shudder when I see shoes put in a suitcase without a bag to cover them 🤮

It's my experience of actually living in Japan. I live in Japan. It is my home and will continue to be so until my death, whenever that may be.

The word "sexy" has been poorly adapted away from its original English meaning, and has more of "mature" or "grown up" connotations when used in Japanese, but it still leaves me uncomfortable.

I do love Japan overall though. The ability to constantly operate in a foreign language. The high quality and accessible healthcare, food (although I do miss some non Japanese cuisines), the weather, the fashion. It's an incredible place to live, despite its flaws.

I’m of Japanese and British nationality, spend a lot of time in Japan with family etc, have never heard a child referred to as sexy. I can definitely understand the loan words being far removed from the English meaning though, so much of that.

Glad you are enjoying life in Japan!

I don’t know any English house where shoes are worn indoors.
Even dogs get their feet washed after their walks or coming in from garden.

French has similarly adopted "sexy" to mean something exciting or with good vibes. I would use it at work for instance > ce n'est pas très sexy = it's a bit boring

In the UK a lot of people don’t bother to take off their shoes to go in their house, will let their dog sit on the sofa or their bed or whatever.

GRIM!!

Respect.

In the UK, more and more people have no respect for other people or for their surroundings. They then bring up their children to have the same values. Or lack of. And the cycle continues. It's now endemic. The litter problem is horrific in this country but no one seems to care anymore.

What have wages to do with people acting like pigs and littering everywhere?

Because it’s part of the declining social contract in the UK. If work is poorly paid and you can’t access decent housing or healthcare, and most other aspects of public service are declining (roads/justice system/education) you tend to feel like you owe less to society.

My dog heads straight for foot wash zone after every walk!
Friends are the same with their dogs- who also get their teeth brushed daily.

Maybe like sticks with like people.

Im in a Garden now ( public) can’t see any litter and there are dogs and children around.

Plenty of bins, too.

I haven’t been to Tokyo but I thought the same about Vancouver. Absolutely spotless.

I don't believe it is lack of education at an early age @Travelfun
Schools and teachers can only do so much.
It comes from the home - respect for others and the environment.

I've never worn shoes in the house, even for many years before I went to Japan. I was brought up in the 70s that you don't wear outdoor shoes in the house. We had a porch and all outdoor shoes were kept there.

What I feel has an impact in Japan (and other clean places I've visited)

1. When the environment is clean, people are more inclined to keep it up. When people are surrounded by dirt and grime they don't see that they are "ruining" anything so they don't care.
2. When there is a visible presence of people cleaning things, people are more respectful and don't want to be the "asshole" who messes it up.

So take the tube for example. When do you ever see anyone cleaning the trains or stations? They're filthy for the most part. So there, TFL needs to invest in improving things and then people would be more mindful/respectful. But that's not going to happen. You could adapt that example to many scenarios.

In Japan, train companies, councils (or their equivalent) schools, etc etc. They all invest in providing safe and clean environments so people want to maintain that. So it's not all on individuals. It should be a partnership but organisations etc in this country don't do their part so then individuals think well why should we. And that's why we're where we're at.

Trash talk

My husband is Japanese and we lived there for 5 years. I think the comments about the social contract are spot on. One other point that hasn't been made is that they are a much more equal society economically - they have a much lower Gini coefficient than the UK. This is manifested in respect for "blue collar" jobs, including cleaning. People doing what might be regarded in the UK as low skilled jobs, take real pride in their work professionalism. And the concentration of how you do something, as much as why being a manifestation of your contribution to society.

I always remember one of my colleagues inviting me to come and see his exhibtion from his tea ceremony class. I asked him what it would involve and essentially he was going to spend a whole day making a cone of ash look perfect. There were many steps to creating this cone, burning the incense to make the ash, sweeping up the ash, building the cone, smoothing the sides. The whole point was to be meditative and humble. The same principle extends to cleaning.