Japan World Cup Team

 Hello fellow anthropologists!

Unfortunately, Japan lost against Croatia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup; however, the Japanese team and Japanese fans did not disappoint when it came to cleaning up after themselves and others. By setting a great example, the Japanese World Cup team left the locker rooms spotless and the Japanese fans left the stadium clear of litter. 

At the tournament, the Japanese soccer team cleaned their locker room spotless. The floors were swept, the towels were folded, and there were origami cranes and thank you cards left behind for the staff. The even more surprising event was that the Japanese fans stayed behind after the soccer match to clean up the stands and pick up after themselves. 

As someone who is half Japanese and has personally experienced the attention to cleanliness of both the indoors and outdoors in Japan, I am not at all surprised by their actions. I am most intrigued by the underlying factors that motivate Japanese citizens to take care of the messes they create. Is it because of their upbringing? Is it because it is considered the norm in Japan? Is it because they view their impact in a completely different way? 

There are a myriad number of factors that may contribute to their actions. My mother has shared with me an endless amount of stories about her experience of going to school in Japan, some of which stood out to me. She told me that when she was young there were no janitors in her school, and for that reason every student had to participate in cleaning the bathrooms and keeping the school facilities tidy. This may sound appalling to other people; however, this is the normal in Japan and it actually motivates Japanese students to keep their environments cleaner as they are the ones who have to take care of them. Not to mention, students in Japan also serve one another lunch as a part of their daily tasks. All of the various chores that the students partake in, teach them the lifelong lessons that motivate them to clean up after themselves. For that reason, I believe an important factor that motivates these fans and players to clean up after themselves is the fact that they are educated from a young age to act this way. 

Another major factor that likely influences these country wide behaviors is that keeping public facilities and homes clean are the normal. When a foreigner travels to Japan, he or she may find it very difficult to locate a trash can to dispose of their plastic bottle or waste, but at the same time they will see little to no trash on the streets or in public. This is because most Japanese people take their trash home, and recycle or dispose of it on their own. From my experience, this is very different from other countries since most trash cans are easy to locate and if a person can't find a trash can within reach he or she will likely litter. 

The last major factor I know of that may influence such behaviors is the normal waste disposal practices expected in Japan. From what I have heard from my mother and have seen my grandfather do, in Japan people must label their names on their trash and place their trash in a specific way on trash days, so the garbage company can properly take their waste. In Japan, there is usually a small area where a few homes will place their trash, and the garbage truck can drive to that one location. Because everyone can see their neighbor's name on his or her trash, it is important to keep one's trash tidy. Additionally, everyday is a different day for a specific type of trash (for example, Monday may be aluminum cans and Tuesday is newspapers, and so on), so managing waste in Japan is something that is of  daily importance to a normal Japanese citizen. 

Link to a video showing Japanese fans cleaning the stands:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZ-9gjO_h8

Sources: 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-upset-win-over-germany-japanese-players-leave-dressing-room-spotless/

https://www.yahoo.com/video/japanese-fans-continue-clean-stadium-232812854.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHjXJtg11SRh3SVsafUnKvNyU4nfn3r3NDc-8CB3Tn2To1nfZf-pgMQp2QM3vLWxs5vpq2w2QWYlcSQVVzn010jqFzBM68i4UuujC746MfnyaoqvWPtFJBHVuCXj9Gd4uaA1DUpDrP95PHid9WlgmL5pshuBKCd3xCs7bVBP4VeP 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZ-9gjO_h8