Yep - this is a blog entry about trash.
If I had a 100 yen coin for every time I thought to myself, "Henry, you should blog about trash in Japan", I would probably have enough to hire my own personal Trash Consultant. But that is, unfortunately, not the case. A quick primer on trash - in kanji it's 護美(ゴミ) - "go-mi" which according to my coworker means "protect beauty". And actually she also said it's an old word - it's always meant "protect beauty", it's not just part of some recent government green campaign, it's a deep feature of the language itself. Pretty amazing, huh?
I really respect the Japanese attitude toward trash. Unfortunately, I find myself consistently rebelling against it. Click on the picture below and zoom in (all sizes button in Flickr just above the picture) to see what I mean.
That's the trash spot right in front of the entrance to my apartment. The green mesh is to keep out birds/bears, I'm guessing. Up at the top centerish of the picture, zoomed in, you'll see a sign that outlines which day each type of trash item is picked up - but I've got an English spreadsheet at home which translates it as well. Yes - spreadsheet. Officially, each item is supposed to be not only separated, but placed in a different colored bag (which must be purchased at participating supermarkets located in the area). The yellow one right there is my "combustibles" trash - meaning paper, food, etc. which can be burned. If the trash is not accurately and thusly labeled, the trashmen will leave a sticker on the bag which is covered in very difficult Japanese and they'll check off a few options, which probably translate as:
Bag was:
(yes) improperly labeled.
(yes) improperly sealed.
(yes) a bit scuffed up on the bottom, which is completely unacceptable.
(yes) emitting odors above acceptable trash processing levels.
Tenant is:
(yes) a terrible person who hates our Mother Earth.
(yes) clearly a foreign buffoon.
The pickup days and organization scheme require a great deal of effort and perhaps 4 or 5 more trash cans than I currently own in my apartment (I own one). Such things as plastic convenience store trays, every kind of bottle material, different metals - and it's all on a very complicated pickup scheme. I think non-burnable, non-convenience store plastics (type 2) are picked up every second Tuesday. Most of the people in my apartment complex, I've heard, simply put everything in the yellow burnable bags and call it a day.
While you're out and about in Tokyo, the situation is even worse. The only trash cans you can consistently count on are the ones for recycleable plastic bottles, which are found next to vending machines (which are EVERYwhere). Apart from that, you won't find any trash cans on street corners, in parks, in bathrooms (also: no paper towels), and in most stores. Sometimes you'll see them in convenience stores, sometimes not. I wandered around Shibuya for 45 minutes dragging a trash bag with me, I only lost it because I asked an information booth lady if she had one, and she took it (I think she was just being polite).
At my school there are trash cans in the bathroom, but no hand towels, and you're not allowed to throw anything in the trash can which is not already contained in a plastic bag.
So you can imagine how this is all very alien and very limiting, especially when you find yourself with something messy on your hands. But hey - protecting the beauty of the Earth is worth something too.
