It's not just because of cultural reason but also waste management policy. I studied Japanese urban planning as a hobby for 2 years, what most foreigners and tourists don't know is that the phenomenon that Japanese cities are clean are actually a pretty recent phenomenon. Before 1970s, Tokyo was as dirty as any other metropolises around the world. But during 1970 or 71, there was a period of Tokyo's history called "Garbage War". In the 70s, Tokyo had this problem of overflowing garbage problem. All the garbages of Tokyo went into Koto City, into Yumenoshima specifically because that's where the landfill was. People of Koto got sick of having to accept garbages of the entire Tokyo and they stopped all garbage trucks coming into their districts. Long story short, this history propelled Japan's transition from using landfill to exclusively using incinerators. And not just that, instead of putting the waste management outside the city ring, they put the waste managements within the city. If you look up the location of incineration plants in Tokyo (or other japanese major cities), you can see they put the incinerators within the city. I believe this massively reduce the garbage accumulation because garbage trucks don't have to travel far to dispose trash.
My first trip to Japan was in January and February. Shinjuku, and Shibuya were filthy and I've noticed the younger crowd littering, busting glass bottles, and being heavily intoxicated in public. Funny enough they were pretty ashamed when I grabbed a bottle from a japanese who was gonna break it on the ground. I said it was dangerous and they apologies and started picking up garbage(This was teenagers, could have even been under-aged drinkers)
It's heartening to hear teenagers are still courteous to you because usually in some other countries they will tell you to screw off and mind your own business
Of Course there's gonna be people who litter in every country, but I also noticed a stark contrast between Japan and Germany. On my recent trip to Japan I saw men in Osaka putting their cigarette butts in portable ashtrays. Then I returned to Germany and saw the ground at my local bus station littered with cigarette butts and food wrappers. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It's gotten worse here.
I like Japan, love the language ever since I was five enough to wanted to learn it for fun. And for the most part I admire Japan for the sake of Japan being Japan not for other peoples idealized views of Japan. If I had the money right now to move to Japan and just start my own restaurant I love that, not because I want to get rich but just to do so and make enough money to enjoy living in a place I love.
Man,I totally get why this grinds your gears, for a supposedly intelligent social commentary -ist ,he hadn't really thought his arguments out, and was totally out of his lane ( Shapiro) more like spouting a lot of urban myths about Japan, he even said he had never been there, you'd think he might have paused for thought then, lol, This was good, apolitical, and a good tear down of their arguments 😊
The procedures to become a citizen are really lengthy and overwhelming. Giving up my own citizenship (Canadian) I would not care that much. But it's the paperwork that stops me. Giving up my own citizenship also is another large paperwork step.
Yeah, I remember the first few times being in Japan just completely being in awe at how clean everything was. I was in Tenjin in Fukuoka earlier this year and saw the same scene every day. Elderly people picking up trash in the park, then the young people coming out, getting drunk, and trashing the place. There was trash everywhere with a police box right next to the park, AND trashcans in the park itself with ポイ捨てしないでください written everywhere lol. Definitely just depends on where you go. Tenjin was convenient but kinda trashy, tbh. 晴れる空's ramen was tops though. I'm out in the outskirts of Kitakyushu City now and it's much cleaner, but way more rural. Give and take, I guess.
Yes, depends on the area and I suppose what is considered the "norm" in a place. If everyone litters there...everyone litters. Its like a tipping point between meiwaku and shoganai.
Back in 1995 I might have been ignorant enough to have believed either one of those two but after ten years of Japan's long dress every so often getting blown around and seeing the occasional dirty socks, I know it to not be the case. Japan has its issues like most countries do but just has different priorities in which items and where they're taken care of mainly because of unique Japanese culture.
Hey Paul- great video! No one litters in Japan😂- we live in the countryside of Kyushu and if no one litters then all the roadside trash must appear magically. We were recently sitting in the parking lot at our new 7-11. Two guys ( adults) came out of the store with ice cream. They unwrapped the ice cream and just threw the wrappers on the ground! Like it was a normal thing. The police koban is right across the street! Kids here are notorious for throwing all their snack wrappers on the ground but they do it while no one is looking! Adults don’t care who’s looking. We see these things all the time. Nothing new. And me too- I don’t WANT to give up my US citizenship to become Japanese. Your video was truthful- 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you for the comment. I did a video a long time ago about Japan's weird relationship with trash. I may need to remake that one since that was from the days when I had 50 viewers.
Good video. My wife is Japanese and I’ve been visiting Japan since the mid 90s. It's often frustrating watching mainstream media coverage of Japan, that includes tavel shows. They only seem to be interested in the extremes, we never get to see “normal” Japan. Anyway, I’m going to check out the resy of your channel 👍
@@missplainjane3905 In my opinion, normal would be not those things that are on the fringe of society. For instance, I like travel shows which focus on the kind of things that the average person would be interested to see when visiting a foreign country. Temples, countryside, restaurants, festivals, architecture, culture, et cetera, that’s what I would consider normal.
As usual great video mate. Thanks! Always love seeing your non-sneaker content on my feed😊 As for the naturalisation of japan, i know that you have to give up your original passport. But if i am not wrong its not enforced that strictly right? Because i did read that some have kept their original passport while having the jap passport. Or am i wrong over here and japan does checks it out very minutely that you have given up your passport of your origin country? A bit confused here
If you have 2 passports because you were born with dual citizenship its fairly easy to keep the second one on the downlow, but if you are doing all the paperwork to become Japanese I am reasonably certain thats one of the documents you need to submit. Always wondered what would happen to a Cosra Rican trying to naturalize, as CR doesnt allow you to renounce citizenship.
Good content. This would be better if you reacted to the over-genki TH-camr praising Japan for everything... BTW, after 65 (I believe) you can ride your bicycle on the sidewalks. My local cycling shop told me this fun fact.
I have never heard of that! Interesting rule. And yes... I would love to...comment... on some if the annoying content out there, but I think that would have to be a different channel!
RE Jimmy, he's absolutely just joking. Japan, in comparison to the US and DEFINITELY where Jimmy films, is so clean it's insane (I haven't lived there, but have traveled enough there that in most places, on the whole, it is much cleaner). So Jimmy is using exaggeration in service of comedy, while BS (perfect initials) is using his smarminess to hide that yet again, he is talking about something he has at best surface-level knowledge. The big difference? Jimmy KNOWS he's a comedian.
@@Exjapter yep! Also, you can see the subtext of malice in Bs’s comments, not present in Jimmy. “ The reason you get cleanliness is because of brutal, no-nuance punishment and racial purity!” It’s patently ridiculous and pathetic, yet his legions of pseudo intellectuals lap it up like he’s a master*de*bater. In any case, you have achieved the life I had hoped for :). I’m getting a late start because of “life,” but now my family and I are working towards moving to Japan, after 20 years of traveling and study. Thank you for expanding that knowledge! Congratulations on making a great life in Japan.
I've noticed meiwaku applies basically to everything the cops do and deal with. You can do almost anything in Japan as long as you don't make a scene, cause someone trouble, or fall asleep in a very public area. If you start a fight, steal, or cause chaos, expect to be dealt with swiftly by the police. honestly their goal is to "keep a lid" on chaos, not really law enforcement.
Interesting video! Your commentary about 迷惑 brought to mind a poster above the sink in my break area at work: Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. I'm not implying that Japanese do not have integrity. What I'm wondering, though, is whether they think about the impact to others of doing something, even if no one sees them doing it? Using your example of trash dumping - if someone has posted a sign to not dump trash at a location, and you do it anyway, isn't that inconveniencing those that would have to clean it up eventually? Likewise, wouldn't littering on the beach or in a forest inconvenience those that come along later hoping to enjoy unspoiled scenery? Thank you for this video, as it provides clarification and dispels some myths about Japanese society. Isn't it all too easy and common for individuals, regardless of political stripe, to wander outside their 'swim lane' in the effort to make a point?
Japan's relationship with garbage is really an interesting phenomena, and might be extrapolated to other issues in society. I may need to look into possible research in this area.
Having done trash cleanup along rivers in Japan, finding empty beer cans, empty bento boxes, and all sorts of trash, I concur. If there’s any chance someone might be watching, people take their trash home. If no one is around, into the river it goes. Also, people do litter in cities like Tokyo, but shop owners will clean it up quickly because they want their storefront to be pristine.
Good video and spot on on the critic only comment isn't Kemmel more of a comedian so I understand his misconceptions. Shapiro got the bubble wrong. The bubble was the 70-80s. The 90s（when I got here) was the start of the decline.
@@Exjapter according to china vloggers (expats) it seems very clean I saw one vlogger who recently revisited china and told how much things have changed in the last five years Not only pollution wise but also how people carry themselves in public (both for the better) Unfortunately I can't find this video so easily because its a couple days ago or longer (and therefor hard to find)
No need to feel like debunking for the sake of debunking. Trash on Japanese beaches is in big part washed ashore from other countries. Metropolises such as Tokyo and Osaka do have areas that tend to be more littered than others, mainly due to nightlife leading to trashcan overcapacity, and tourism. Also, the original videos are about public spaces and do not touch on the cleanliness of private homes, and trying to conflate the two here is disingenuous. It is a very real sociological distinction. For instance Italy has an attitude that's completely opposite, where public spaces are dirty and badly kept by the general population, while private homes are squeaky clean, tidy, and tastefully arranged, as opposed to the cluttered and at times spotty houses in Japan. The claim that Japan is super clean, if compared to things that actually exist, namely other countries, IS true. The fact that you seem not to take the scale of comparison into consideration by citing anecdotes about a used tissue, cigarette butts or yes, even a remote dumping site, frankly denotes a sheltered point of view. "Dirty", on a nationwide scale, is something else. The "nuisance" part you got right, but missing the point: it's not limited to the temporal fragment acts are committed in, otherwise perfectly unnoticeable things would accumulate in no time giving rise to streets full of trash everywhere, which is not the case in Japan and actually is in other areas of the world. Also you point at a supposed logical fallacy in Ben Shapiro's reasoning (which by the way, is indeed laughable garbage, just like Jimmy Kimmel's naive and simplistic take is) while failing to notice that you're making it a point of yours to establish a causal link between population growth and GDP per capita (only for you to casually retract it a moment later without cutting it out), and completely ignoring the biggest blindspot, that being the (quintessentially American) lack of understanding that bigness, or numerical superiority in this case in GDP or wages, does not equate to better overall quality of life. The act of balancing the "Japan is a perfect utopia" delusion by countering it with "It's like anywhere else" is utterly misleading, as the latter exposes the same amount of ignorance. Japan displays a set of pros and cons, and cultural mores they're informed by, that are very much idiosyncratic to it, in its distribution in quality and quantity. It does by orders of magnitude do better in and at various quantifiable and less quantifiable international parameters. Compared to other countries, it *absolutely* is clean, on top of being very neatly organised, both in gigantic metropolises, smaller cities, towns, rural and other natural areas. That combination at that scale with that consistency is just unheard of in any other country, and does warrant the admiration for it that it overwhelmingly gets from visitors and expats alike from all over the world.
A very thoughtful and well articulated reply. There are some parts I agree with, and some that I feel need some clarification or push back. First off, as someone who used to live in a beach town, the trash often found there was clearly left by holiday goers and wasn't random flotsam and jetsam. I wasn't referring to the secluded coves where you find the trapped plastics of Korea and China and elsewhere, which certainly exist. The beach in Japan seems to be an "anything goes" place, where I have seen fishermen casually toss their empty can of coffee into the waves, and come back a day later to find an entire bbq set (one of those cheap "Captain Stag" jobs) abandoned where a group of college kids had been the day before. As an American, I feel I moved from a place where the cities were dirty, but the forests were pretty well kept due to a "pack it in, pack it out" ethic. I think the difference in where people toss their garbage is a real argument to be made, and to claim it isnt the same because of scale is a bit disingenuous. Also, I dont believe I made any overarching argument that Japan is "like anywhere else". If I made the claim (I don't remember my exact words in the video off the top of my head) that the Japanese have the same bad habits as the rest of the world, I stand by that - but if I was careless in making it sound like my argument was some blanket idea that Japan is the same as everywhere - I don't believe that at all. If I lived here 20 years and thought Japan was the same as the rest of the world...I would have to have been living in Disneyland or something. Your final paragraph is spot on, and I dont think I said anything to suggest otherwise. I simply didn't bring that up because it wasn't the point of the video. You are also correct that analogy of the private home isn't perfectly aligned - I only brought it up to agree with Shapiro on the point that Japanese are conscientious about cleanliness, but while putting a point on the context and place being important.
What you said about beaches happens everywhere. There isn't a special current targeting only Japan. That's not what the OP was talking about. Japan is the only world metropolis where the elderly have to clean behind people to make people like you believe that the Japanese are cleaner and more organised on those things. There is no city in Tokyo anywhere near receiving the massive influx of tourists (one of the main causes of trash in cities) like many other cities around the world. The population density is also small in Tokyo. See? There are many factors which will make that a place will be cleaner or not that some myths about a culture.
Are you actually claiming that Japanese litter as much as anyone else and that they dont take their garbage home with them? Because from everything I have seen, the phenomena of cleaning up after ones self (in the city) is absolutely true. Japanese have had this attitude instilled in them from toddlerhood onwards. You pivot then to tourists and population density and I admit I am not sure what you are trying to say there.
there is no criminal law against littering. not in japan, thats singapore . you cant dump industrial waste, but simple littering is not a crime. 廃棄物の処理及び清掃に関する法律」の第 16 条には、「何人も、みだりに 廃棄物を捨ててはならない」と記されています。 ・不法投棄をすると、5 年以下の懲役または 1,000 万円以下の罰金（法人の場 合は 3 億円以下の罰金）が科せられます。 i guess this is Shapiro is talking about. but depends on significance, it could be a misdemeanor. 軽犯罪法第1条27号は「公共の利益に反してみだりにごみ、鳥獣の死体その他汚物または廃物を棄てた者」 and dont report a crime to japanese police, unless its violent crime. i think they dont want to deal with small crimes. because of amount of paperwork they have to do. once, I reported car accident to police, they make me feel , I was doing something wrong. i had to give out my phone number and home address to police, everything. not worth it.
Yes, I once reported something I didnt consider to be very minor, but the police seemed miffed that I was making them do work. 😂 They arent going to love anyone who complains to them that they saw someone throw a plastic bento box into an alley.
Which point(s) are you referring to? I think you are referring to Kimmel? He is a comedian so exaggeration is expected which is fair. My only point is the "Japan is so clean" is so overplayed, when it isnt particularly true.
I think Japanese people are more considerate overall, and it becomes apparent in communal spaces. Kimmel is obviously exaggerating but it's fair when comparing L.A. to Tokyo/Kyoto. Shapiro is just doing what he does and putting forward a calculated debate to stir up views.
@@Exjapter This is nothing against you. I understand you need your content too, but I can see why Americans get defensive when an American degrades their country and calls another superior. The reality though is Japan OVERALL is cleaner than the United States. Japan was also cleaner until the Chinese Koreans Indians etc. began coming over, and started influencing the mentality of the Japanese and the cultural etiquette. When one throws out trash, why should another respect that rule. But Ben Shapiro and the others are using economics and other variables that have NOTHING to do with how a country is filthy and disgusting because the issue is garbage, nothing else. The chanting of the USA was just a joke for T.V. content and should not be taken word for word
@@missplainjane3905 international school in Japan, living in the states now. I got a good taste of both worlds, and that’s why I can back up my statements
I'm pretty sure Tucker Carlson was not simply impressed by shopping carts and travolators, but pointed out that according to the Western media there can be no shopping carts in Russia because there are no shops, and no food, and Russians are eating oak bark and hedgehogs, and they don't go shopping anyway because everybody in Russia was executed and then sent to gulag. He also pointed out the absence of shit and hobos in the subway, which was a contrast from American subway.
@@Exjapter many parts of it are. Outside of Moscow, much of it is severely underdeveloped. Tucker will obviously have been given a show tour for his pro-authoritarian propaganda hour.
I hate when people romanticize Japanese and Japanese culture. I’ve lived in japan for over 10 years now (since 2013) and i think its one of the worst cultures on the country. Yes, it is safe, yes you can leave your wallet somewhere and expect for it to be returned to a nearest police station. Japan is GREAT country- but this only is applicable if you are Japanese. Yes, foreigners can visit here under guise of being a resident, but you will never seen as Japanese. You will constantly be asked “why are you here?”, “where are you from?”, “why do you speak Japanese so well?” “Do you live in Japan?” “Is your card valid “ etc. every time you speak Japanese, wear yukata, or even use chopsticks, the Japanese will gasp in surprise at your knowledge of Japanese culture. So you will always be reminded that you are foreigner. Its not like the USA where as long as one has an American passport and speak native level English that is all the reason one will need to say they are American. Also, in Japan if you are a foreigner and if you break Japanese customs like talking on the phone in “quiet” zone, you will be unequivocally rebuked for breaking Japanese customs. However, if Japanese breaks the same laws, their is a general consensus that they have good reason too. While i love Japan for the society that they have built - japan is still very much a closed country and i don’t see them truly opening themselves up like other western countries anytime soon. I think this will be the downfall of japan. In the end, Japan will hold on to dear life to preserve their homogeneity and archaic culture. This is fine and they have every right to worship and idolize their race and history. But i think everyone else will just pull out and isolate them for being so stubborn and incompatible with modern ideals. Japan needs to really think about its future. Does it want to evolve and change and accept people who from anywhere as long as they have similar values or will continue to mistake race and culture for destiny? If that is the heel they want to die on- all power to them. But as long as this situation continues, i think it is in everyones best interest to look at japan as a place to visit for short term and not a place to work in or even live in tbh. This is my two cents
Well… i was deceived into thinking japan was a country that would accept me. But i was surprised when i realized that if you are a friend you will forever be a gaijin and will ALWAYS be treated like a tourist who just got here yesterday. I would not recommend living here at all if being seen as a member of japan and japanese society is ones goal. Even if you become a citizen- you will never be able to run for office and win, be able to vote politicians and policies that have your best interest in mind . Its a bleak dream and a dead end imo
@@watarikeitoThat’s just the reality you have to cope with. That goes for any country you live in or move to, there will be different hurdles and loads of discrepancies you make and face. Japan isn’t a stranger to that, and thankfully more people have come to realize that over the the passing years. Also, I feel like the WHERE in Japan you decide to settle down in ( if that’s your goal ) plays a huge role in “ if you want to fit in and feel Japanese “. Wether it be rural or urban. Because it’s a case by case situation, I’ve seen many people who really feel like they’ve naturalized, both technically and metaphorically. Wether they came from another Asian country or Western a one. Again, it just depends on who you surround yourself with.
I believe Ben’s point is that small countries with homogeneous population and strict immigration policies tend to be clean. You are just mixing dual citizenship logic to prove Ben wrong. For USA, 900k is just naturalization. On top of it add illegals, undocumented and visa overstay folks. I don’t think Japan has any southern border migration problem.
I dont think that's true though. I think Ben is right in that Japanese culture is the reason there is a particular emphasis on cleanliness and that appearances are important to the Japanese. But I think we could probably agree there are a number of small countries with homogeneous populations that are not very clean.
@@Exjapter ofcourse there are small countries which are in Africa/South America are not clean. Ben’s point is that most leftists/liberals in America try to compare with countries such as japan and Scandinavia. All those countries till recently had homogeneous populations with one of the strictest immigration. In 2010 I went to Sweden education seminar in India and they told to my face that citizenship is next to impossible.
Finally an immigrant in Japan who doesn't live in a Disneyland bubble, looked around him and bothered looking beyond the surface and that's not something easy to do in Japan. Moreover people don't pick up after themselves but elderly people who need to keep doing menial jobs to survive pick up the trash behind people all day.
I think the main reason you get such rose colored glasses in Japan TH-camrs is most of them have lived here for only a year or two. And yes - the silent and underappreciated army of elderly who clean Japan probably deserve their own video. Might turn that into a reality - they deserve some recognition, if not a dignified retirement.
@@Exjapter There are also TH-camrs who have been living in Japan for a long time but they live in a bubble, a bit like the expats and only a few try to go beyond the surface. They also don't live the life of the regular citizen.
@@missplainjane3905 TH-camrs who work as entertainers, models, business owners etc, never go outside the towns like Shibuya and live a life of weaboos showing things for weaboos on their TH-cam channels. 99% of the time White men, but the same people are those explaining what the life as a Japanese woman or a woman is like in Japan. Thanks to their TH-cam channel they earn a lot of money and can live the life that 99% of the Japanese don't live.
@@missplainjane3905 I don't follow him but what I understood is he was already a multimillionaire before moving to Japan, doesn't speak Japanese, and is living a very privileged life like a wealthy expat. Meaning, he lives in a bubble. If I go on his channel I wouldn't be surprised to find the usual videos for tourists talking about the usual Japanese "attractions".
@@missplainjane3905 I said they live in a bubble. It's very common that even tourists know Japan better than those people. It depends some integrate in the Japanese society, some are never part of that society. I met an American expat once who had been living in Tokyo for 30 years, married to Japanese wife with kids, didn't speak Japanese at all, lived in Harajuku and didn't know what Nakano was or where it was located. The type of people whose life revolves around Minatoku and Shibuyaku. Then when they leave those wards that's to go outside of Tokyo on a holiday or business trip.
It's not just because of cultural reason but also waste management policy. I studied Japanese urban planning as a hobby for 2 years, what most foreigners and tourists don't know is that the phenomenon that Japanese cities are clean are actually a pretty recent phenomenon. Before 1970s, Tokyo was as dirty as any other metropolises around the world.
But during 1970 or 71, there was a period of Tokyo's history called "Garbage War". In the 70s, Tokyo had this problem of overflowing garbage problem. All the garbages of Tokyo went into Koto City, into Yumenoshima specifically because that's where the landfill was. People of Koto got sick of having to accept garbages of the entire Tokyo and they stopped all garbage trucks coming into their districts. Long story short, this history propelled Japan's transition from using landfill to exclusively using incinerators.
And not just that, instead of putting the waste management outside the city ring, they put the waste managements within the city. If you look up the location of incineration plants in Tokyo (or other japanese major cities), you can see they put the incinerators within the city. I believe this massively reduce the garbage accumulation because garbage trucks don't have to travel far to dispose trash.
This is really interesting, thank you for your detailed comment! I didn't know any of this!
Jimmy is telling jokes whereas Ben is not.
Ben thinks* he knew what he was talking about in this case... but he did not.
kimmel is a comedian and he makes jokes. sometimes jokes are funnier when ur not exactly telling the truth.
Yup. I am sure he didn't actually compare Japan's streets to operating rooms, lol.
@@missplainjane3905 thats just comedian exaggeration.
My first trip to Japan was in January and February. Shinjuku, and Shibuya were filthy and I've noticed the younger crowd littering, busting glass bottles, and being heavily intoxicated in public. Funny enough they were pretty ashamed when I grabbed a bottle from a japanese who was gonna break it on the ground. I said it was dangerous and they apologies and started picking up garbage(This was teenagers, could have even been under-aged drinkers)
It's heartening to hear teenagers are still courteous to you because usually in some other countries they will tell you to screw off and mind your own business
Yup invisible prison with no bars
You mean the whole area
Great job and thank you for correcting those inaccuracies!
Of Course there's gonna be people who litter in every country, but I also noticed a stark contrast between Japan and Germany. On my recent trip to Japan I saw men in Osaka putting their cigarette butts in portable ashtrays. Then I returned to Germany and saw the ground at my local bus station littered with cigarette butts and food wrappers. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It's gotten worse here.
When you visited
I like Japan, love the language ever since I was five enough to wanted to learn it for fun. And for the most part I admire Japan for the sake of Japan being Japan not for other peoples idealized views of Japan. If I had the money right now to move to Japan and just start my own restaurant I love that, not because I want to get rich but just to do so and make enough money to enjoy living in a place I love.
I hope you can achieve your dream. I say go for it!
@@Exjapter yeah
Man,I totally get why this grinds your gears, for a supposedly intelligent social commentary -ist ,he hadn't really thought his arguments out, and was totally out of his lane ( Shapiro) more like spouting a lot of urban myths about Japan, he even said he had never been there, you'd think he might have paused for thought then, lol,
This was good, apolitical, and a good tear down of their arguments 😊
Keeping it apolitical was a must - I don't have any desire to wade into that swamp....
@@Exjapter just reading through some of the other comments, holy , this really opened up a can of worms, still, it's all very interesting :)
The procedures to become a citizen are really lengthy and overwhelming. Giving up my own citizenship (Canadian) I would not care that much. But it's the paperwork that stops me. Giving up my own citizenship also is another large paperwork step.
For me its the opposite - the step of renouncing US citizenship feels overwhelming.
so pleased to hear you say, in relation to meiwaku..... "...if there's no-one around to see..." egzakkly!!!!!! （⌒▽⌒）
Greatly informative and unbiased review of the facts. I’m looking forward to checking Japan off my travel bucket list next year.
Hope you have a great trip!
Yeah, I remember the first few times being in Japan just completely being in awe at how clean everything was. I was in Tenjin in Fukuoka earlier this year and saw the same scene every day. Elderly people picking up trash in the park, then the young people coming out, getting drunk, and trashing the place. There was trash everywhere with a police box right next to the park, AND trashcans in the park itself with ポイ捨てしないでください written everywhere lol. Definitely just depends on where you go. Tenjin was convenient but kinda trashy, tbh. 晴れる空's ramen was tops though.
I'm out in the outskirts of Kitakyushu City now and it's much cleaner, but way more rural. Give and take, I guess.
Yes, depends on the area and I suppose what is considered the "norm" in a place. If everyone litters there...everyone litters. Its like a tipping point between meiwaku and shoganai.
Back in 1995 I might have been ignorant enough to have believed either one of those two but after ten years of Japan's long dress every so often getting blown around and seeing the occasional dirty socks, I know it to not be the case. Japan has its issues like most countries do but just has different priorities in which items and where they're taken care of mainly because of unique Japanese culture.
Consider my feathers ruffled! lol kidding, it was a great video thanks
Hey Paul- great video! No one litters in Japan😂- we live in the countryside of Kyushu and if no one litters then all the roadside trash must appear magically. We were recently sitting in the parking lot at our new 7-11. Two guys ( adults) came out of the store with ice cream. They unwrapped the ice cream and just threw the wrappers on the ground! Like it was a normal thing. The police koban is right across the street! Kids here are notorious for throwing all their snack wrappers on the ground but they do it while no one is looking! Adults don’t care who’s looking. We see these things all the time. Nothing new. And me too- I don’t WANT to give up my US citizenship to become Japanese. Your video was truthful- 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you for the comment. I did a video a long time ago about Japan's weird relationship with trash. I may need to remake that one since that was from the days when I had 50 viewers.
I also vaccum everyday.
Good video. My wife is Japanese and I’ve been visiting Japan since the mid 90s. It's often frustrating watching mainstream media coverage of Japan, that includes tavel shows. They only seem to be interested in the extremes, we never get to see “normal” Japan.
Anyway, I’m going to check out the resy of your channel 👍
Thank you for checking out my other videos. Its a rather eclectic mix, so I hope you find at least some of it interesting.
@@missplainjane3905I haven’t watched one in a long time so it’s hard to give you specific examples, but things like kawaii culture, Maid cafés etc.
@@missplainjane3905is this an interrogation?
@@missplainjane3905
In my opinion, normal would be not those things that are on the fringe of society. For instance, I like travel shows which focus on the kind of things that the average person would be interested to see when visiting a foreign country. Temples, countryside, restaurants, festivals, architecture, culture, et cetera, that’s what I would consider normal.
@@missplainjane3905 no, this is simply something which doesn’t interest me.
But I wouldn’t call maid cafes popular culture, it’s fringe otaku culture.
Such a great balanced perspective on this from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.
Thank you for watching. I am glad you think so. Cheers.
As usual great video mate. Thanks! Always love seeing your non-sneaker content on my feed😊
As for the naturalisation of japan, i know that you have to give up your original passport. But if i am not wrong its not enforced that strictly right? Because i did read that some have kept their original passport while having the jap passport. Or am i wrong over here and japan does checks it out very minutely that you have given up your passport of your origin country?
A bit confused here
If you have 2 passports because you were born with dual citizenship its fairly easy to keep the second one on the downlow, but if you are doing all the paperwork to become Japanese I am reasonably certain thats one of the documents you need to submit. Always wondered what would happen to a Cosra Rican trying to naturalize, as CR doesnt allow you to renounce citizenship.
And sorry about the sneaker vids, lol.
@@Exjapter oh wow!! I didn't know that. Thanks.
I didn't know about that in Costa Rica. Curious to see if there is someone like that.
@@Exjapter haha no worries about the sneaker. Its something you love 😂
Just not my cup of tea
@@missplainjane3905 thats what I said in the video.
12:42 laughed my ass out in this part we all know where ben is going with this.
Good content. This would be better if you reacted to the over-genki TH-camr praising Japan for everything...
BTW, after 65 (I believe) you can ride your bicycle on the sidewalks. My local cycling shop told me this fun fact.
I have never heard of that! Interesting rule. And yes... I would love to...comment... on some if the annoying content out there, but I think that would have to be a different channel!
RE Jimmy, he's absolutely just joking. Japan, in comparison to the US and DEFINITELY where Jimmy films, is so clean it's insane (I haven't lived there, but have traveled enough there that in most places, on the whole, it is much cleaner). So Jimmy is using exaggeration in service of comedy, while BS (perfect initials) is using his smarminess to hide that yet again, he is talking about something he has at best surface-level knowledge. The big difference? Jimmy KNOWS he's a comedian.
Yeah, one is a comedian who plays for effect, the other is a pundit who has to play the "America is the best at everything" card.
@@Exjapter yep! Also, you can see the subtext of malice in Bs’s comments, not present in Jimmy. “ The reason you get cleanliness is because of brutal, no-nuance punishment and racial purity!”
It’s patently ridiculous and pathetic, yet his legions of pseudo intellectuals lap it up like he’s a master*de*bater.
In any case, you have achieved the life I had hoped for :). I’m getting a late start because of “life,” but now my family and I are working towards moving to Japan, after 20 years of traveling and study. Thank you for expanding that knowledge!
Congratulations on making a great life in Japan.
I've noticed meiwaku applies basically to everything the cops do and deal with. You can do almost anything in Japan as long as you don't make a scene, cause someone trouble, or fall asleep in a very public area. If you start a fight, steal, or cause chaos, expect to be dealt with swiftly by the police. honestly their goal is to "keep a lid" on chaos, not really law enforcement.
But there are laws ?
Japan’s incarceration rate is pretty low. Like 1/3 of the US.
Americans looking to Japan as a model ignores too many important differences.
lets say its a japan thru a jewish lens thats also not japan through some other lense :D (view from a extra law abiding citizen perspective i mean)
That's an interesting way to think of it, lol.
Interesting video! Your commentary about 迷惑 brought to mind a poster above the sink in my break area at work: Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. I'm not implying that Japanese do not have integrity. What I'm wondering, though, is whether they think about the impact to others of doing something, even if no one sees them doing it? Using your example of trash dumping - if someone has posted a sign to not dump trash at a location, and you do it anyway, isn't that inconveniencing those that would have to clean it up eventually? Likewise, wouldn't littering on the beach or in a forest inconvenience those that come along later hoping to enjoy unspoiled scenery?
Thank you for this video, as it provides clarification and dispels some myths about Japanese society. Isn't it all too easy and common for individuals, regardless of political stripe, to wander outside their 'swim lane' in the effort to make a point?
Japan's relationship with garbage is really an interesting phenomena, and might be extrapolated to other issues in society. I may need to look into possible research in this area.
Having done trash cleanup along rivers in Japan, finding empty beer cans, empty bento boxes, and all sorts of trash, I concur. If there’s any chance someone might be watching, people take their trash home. If no one is around, into the river it goes.
Also, people do litter in cities like Tokyo, but shop owners will clean it up quickly because they want their storefront to be pristine.
That's a good point about shop keepers being quick to clean things up.
Good video and spot on on the critic
only comment isn't Kemmel more of a comedian so I understand his misconceptions.
Shapiro got the bubble wrong.
The bubble was the 70-80s.
The 90s（when I got here) was the start of the decline.
Well done Paul!
What do you think about the chinese cities cleanlines in the last five years (I suppose you visited China in the last five years?)?
Actually, I haven't been to China in quite some time. How clean are the streets these days?
@@Exjapter according to china vloggers (expats) it seems very clean
I saw one vlogger who recently revisited china and told how much things have changed in the last five years
Not only pollution wise but also how people carry themselves in public (both for the better)
Unfortunately I can't find this video so easily because its a couple days ago or longer (and therefor hard to find)
@@fongponto
Which area
厄介者. Ive gotten headache in Japan.
STOP SAYING "WE WILL GET TO IT IN A MOMENT"
GET TO IT NOW, OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE
No need to feel like debunking for the sake of debunking.
Trash on Japanese beaches is in big part washed ashore from other countries. Metropolises such as Tokyo and Osaka do have areas that tend to be more littered than others, mainly due to nightlife leading to trashcan overcapacity, and tourism. Also, the original videos are about public spaces and do not touch on the cleanliness of private homes, and trying to conflate the two here is disingenuous. It is a very real sociological distinction. For instance Italy has an attitude that's completely opposite, where public spaces are dirty and badly kept by the general population, while private homes are squeaky clean, tidy, and tastefully arranged, as opposed to the cluttered and at times spotty houses in Japan.
The claim that Japan is super clean, if compared to things that actually exist, namely other countries, IS true. The fact that you seem not to take the scale of comparison into consideration by citing anecdotes about a used tissue, cigarette butts or yes, even a remote dumping site, frankly denotes a sheltered point of view. "Dirty", on a nationwide scale, is something else.
The "nuisance" part you got right, but missing the point: it's not limited to the temporal fragment acts are committed in, otherwise perfectly unnoticeable things would accumulate in no time giving rise to streets full of trash everywhere, which is not the case in Japan and actually is in other areas of the world.
Also you point at a supposed logical fallacy in Ben Shapiro's reasoning (which by the way, is indeed laughable garbage, just like Jimmy Kimmel's naive and simplistic take is) while failing to notice that you're making it a point of yours to establish a causal link between population growth and GDP per capita (only for you to casually retract it a moment later without cutting it out), and completely ignoring the biggest blindspot, that being the (quintessentially American) lack of understanding that bigness, or numerical superiority in this case in GDP or wages, does not equate to better overall quality of life.
The act of balancing the "Japan is a perfect utopia" delusion by countering it with "It's like anywhere else" is utterly misleading, as the latter exposes the same amount of ignorance. Japan displays a set of pros and cons, and cultural mores they're informed by, that are very much idiosyncratic to it, in its distribution in quality and quantity. It does by orders of magnitude do better in and at various quantifiable and less quantifiable international parameters.
Compared to other countries, it *absolutely* is clean, on top of being very neatly organised, both in gigantic metropolises, smaller cities, towns, rural and other natural areas. That combination at that scale with that consistency is just unheard of in any other country, and does warrant the admiration for it that it overwhelmingly gets from visitors and expats alike from all over the world.
A very thoughtful and well articulated reply. There are some parts I agree with, and some that I feel need some clarification or push back. First off, as someone who used to live in a beach town, the trash often found there was clearly left by holiday goers and wasn't random flotsam and jetsam. I wasn't referring to the secluded coves where you find the trapped plastics of Korea and China and elsewhere, which certainly exist. The beach in Japan seems to be an "anything goes" place, where I have seen fishermen casually toss their empty can of coffee into the waves, and come back a day later to find an entire bbq set (one of those cheap "Captain Stag" jobs) abandoned where a group of college kids had been the day before. As an American, I feel I moved from a place where the cities were dirty, but the forests were pretty well kept due to a "pack it in, pack it out" ethic. I think the difference in where people toss their garbage is a real argument to be made, and to claim it isnt the same because of scale is a bit disingenuous. Also, I dont believe I made any overarching argument that Japan is "like anywhere else". If I made the claim (I don't remember my exact words in the video off the top of my head) that the Japanese have the same bad habits as the rest of the world, I stand by that - but if I was careless in making it sound like my argument was some blanket idea that Japan is the same as everywhere - I don't believe that at all. If I lived here 20 years and thought Japan was the same as the rest of the world...I would have to have been living in Disneyland or something.
Your final paragraph is spot on, and I dont think I said anything to suggest otherwise. I simply didn't bring that up because it wasn't the point of the video. You are also correct that analogy of the private home isn't perfectly aligned - I only brought it up to agree with Shapiro on the point that Japanese are conscientious about cleanliness, but while putting a point on the context and place being important.
And thank you for the comment, and watching the video.
@@Exjapter Okay, good response, fair.
What you said about beaches happens everywhere. There isn't a special current targeting only Japan. That's not what the OP was talking about.
Japan is the only world metropolis where the elderly have to clean behind people to make people like you believe that the Japanese are cleaner and more organised on those things.
There is no city in Tokyo anywhere near receiving the massive influx of tourists (one of the main causes of trash in cities) like many other cities around the world. The population density is also small in Tokyo. See? There are many factors which will make that a place will be cleaner or not that some myths about a culture.
Are you actually claiming that Japanese litter as much as anyone else and that they dont take their garbage home with them? Because from everything I have seen, the phenomena of cleaning up after ones self (in the city) is absolutely true. Japanese have had this attitude instilled in them from toddlerhood onwards.
You pivot then to tourists and population density and I admit I am not sure what you are trying to say there.
there is no criminal law against littering. not in japan, thats singapore .
you cant dump industrial waste, but simple littering is not a crime.
廃棄物の処理及び清掃に関する法律」の第 16 条には、「何人も、みだりに 廃棄物を捨ててはならない」と記されています。 ・不法投棄をすると、5 年以下の懲役または 1,000 万円以下の罰金（法人の場 合は 3 億円以下の罰金）が科せられます。
i guess this is Shapiro is talking about.
but depends on significance, it could be a misdemeanor.
軽犯罪法第1条27号は「公共の利益に反してみだりにごみ、鳥獣の死体その他汚物または廃物を棄てた者」
and dont report a crime to japanese police, unless its violent crime.
i think they dont want to deal with small crimes. because of amount of paperwork they have to do.
once, I reported car accident to police, they make me feel , I was doing something wrong. i had to give out my phone number and home address to police, everything.
not worth it.
Could you elaborate
Yes, I once reported something I didnt consider to be very minor, but the police seemed miffed that I was making them do work. 😂 They arent going to love anyone who complains to them that they saw someone throw a plastic bento box into an alley.
I'm gonna make a reaction video to your reaction video
Cool
you take everything literaly. He might have exaggerated little bit for dramatic reason.
Which point(s) are you referring to? I think you are referring to Kimmel? He is a comedian so exaggeration is expected which is fair. My only point is the "Japan is so clean" is so overplayed, when it isnt particularly true.
I think Japanese people are more considerate overall, and it becomes apparent in communal spaces. Kimmel is obviously exaggerating but it's fair when comparing L.A. to Tokyo/Kyoto. Shapiro is just doing what he does and putting forward a calculated debate to stir up views.
@@Exjapter This is nothing against you. I understand you need your content too, but I can see why Americans get defensive when an American degrades their country and calls another superior. The reality though is Japan OVERALL is cleaner than the United States. Japan was also cleaner until the Chinese Koreans Indians etc. began coming over, and started influencing the mentality of the Japanese and the cultural etiquette. When one throws out trash, why should another respect that rule. But Ben Shapiro and the others are using economics and other variables that have NOTHING to do with how a country is filthy and disgusting because the issue is garbage, nothing else. The chanting of the USA was just a joke for T.V. content and should not be taken word for word
@@missplainjane3905 born and raised
@@missplainjane3905 international school in Japan, living in the states now. I got a good taste of both worlds, and that’s why I can back up my statements
This comment I'm making Destroys all the others 😈
I'm pretty sure Tucker Carlson was not simply impressed by shopping carts and travolators, but pointed out that according to the Western media there can be no shopping carts in Russia because there are no shops, and no food, and Russians are eating oak bark and hedgehogs, and they don't go shopping anyway because everybody in Russia was executed and then sent to gulag.
He also pointed out the absence of shit and hobos in the subway, which was a contrast from American subway.
I can understand that. Americans can often have a view of Russia as still being in stuck the 1950s Soviet Union or something like that.
@@Exjapter many parts of it are. Outside of Moscow, much of it is severely underdeveloped. Tucker will obviously have been given a show tour for his pro-authoritarian propaganda hour.
I hate when people romanticize Japanese and Japanese culture. I’ve lived in japan for over 10 years now (since 2013) and i think its one of the worst cultures on the country. Yes, it is safe, yes you can leave your wallet somewhere and expect for it to be returned to a nearest police station. Japan is GREAT country- but this only is applicable if you are Japanese. Yes, foreigners can visit here under guise of being a resident, but you will never seen as Japanese. You will constantly be asked “why are you here?”, “where are you from?”, “why do you speak Japanese so well?” “Do you live in Japan?” “Is your card valid “ etc. every time you speak Japanese, wear yukata, or even use chopsticks, the Japanese will gasp in surprise at your knowledge of Japanese culture. So you will always be reminded that you are foreigner. Its not like the USA where as long as one has an American passport and speak native level English that is all the reason one will need to say they are American. Also, in Japan if you are a foreigner and if you break Japanese customs like talking on the phone in “quiet” zone, you will be unequivocally rebuked for breaking Japanese customs. However, if Japanese breaks the same laws, their is a general consensus that they have good reason too.
While i love Japan for the society that they have built - japan is still very much a closed country and i don’t see them truly opening themselves up like other western countries anytime soon. I think this will be the downfall of japan. In the end, Japan will hold on to dear life to preserve their homogeneity and archaic culture. This is fine and they have every right to worship and idolize their race and history. But i think everyone else will just pull out and isolate them for being so stubborn and incompatible with modern ideals.
Japan needs to really think about its future. Does it want to evolve and change and accept people who from anywhere as long as they have similar values or will continue to mistake race and culture for destiny? If that is the heel they want to die on- all power to them. But as long as this situation continues, i think it is in everyones best interest to look at japan as a place to visit for short term and not a place to work in or even live in tbh. This is my two cents
Maybe you shouldn’t moved to Japan then? Why did you?
Why not return in the USA or any other western countries?
Well… i was deceived into thinking japan was a country that would accept me. But i was surprised when i realized that if you are a friend you will forever be a gaijin and will ALWAYS be treated like a tourist who just got here yesterday. I would not recommend living here at all if being seen as a member of japan and japanese society is ones goal. Even if you become a citizen- you will never be able to run for office and win, be able to vote politicians and policies that have your best interest in mind . Its a bleak dream and a dead end imo
@@watarikeitoThat’s just the reality you have to cope with. That goes for any country you live in or move to, there will be different hurdles and loads of discrepancies you make and face.
Japan isn’t a stranger to that, and thankfully more people have come to realize that over the the passing years.
Also, I feel like the WHERE in Japan you decide to settle down in ( if that’s your goal ) plays a huge role in “ if you want to fit in and feel Japanese “. Wether it be rural or urban.
Because it’s a case by case situation, I’ve seen many people who really feel like they’ve naturalized, both technically and metaphorically. Wether they came from another Asian country or Western a one.
Again, it just depends on who you surround yourself with.
I believe Ben’s point is that small countries with homogeneous population and strict immigration policies tend to be clean. You are just mixing dual citizenship logic to prove Ben wrong. For USA, 900k is just naturalization. On top of it add illegals, undocumented and visa overstay folks. I don’t think Japan has any southern border migration problem.
I dont think that's true though. I think Ben is right in that Japanese culture is the reason there is a particular emphasis on cleanliness and that appearances are important to the Japanese. But I think we could probably agree there are a number of small countries with homogeneous populations that are not very clean.
@@Exjapter ofcourse there are small countries which are in Africa/South America are not clean. Ben’s point is that most leftists/liberals in America try to compare with countries such as japan and Scandinavia. All those countries till recently had homogeneous populations with one of the strictest immigration. In 2010 I went to Sweden education seminar in India and they told to my face that citizenship is next to impossible.
Fair enough, I see the point he's making.
@@Nookalu
Because
downvote for the title
Sorry. What should I call it?
Finally an immigrant in Japan who doesn't live in a Disneyland bubble, looked around him and bothered looking beyond the surface and that's not something easy to do in Japan.
Moreover people don't pick up after themselves but elderly people who need to keep doing menial jobs to survive pick up the trash behind people all day.
I think the main reason you get such rose colored glasses in Japan TH-camrs is most of them have lived here for only a year or two. And yes - the silent and underappreciated army of elderly who clean Japan probably deserve their own video. Might turn that into a reality - they deserve some recognition, if not a dignified retirement.
@@Exjapter There are also TH-camrs who have been living in Japan for a long time but they live in a bubble, a bit like the expats and only a few try to go beyond the surface. They also don't live the life of the regular citizen.
@@missplainjane3905 TH-camrs who work as entertainers, models, business owners etc, never go outside the towns like Shibuya and live a life of weaboos showing things for weaboos on their TH-cam channels. 99% of the time White men, but the same people are those explaining what the life as a Japanese woman or a woman is like in Japan. Thanks to their TH-cam channel they earn a lot of money and can live the life that 99% of the Japanese don't live.
@@missplainjane3905 I don't follow him but what I understood is he was already a multimillionaire before moving to Japan, doesn't speak Japanese, and is living a very privileged life like a wealthy expat. Meaning, he lives in a bubble. If I go on his channel I wouldn't be surprised to find the usual videos for tourists talking about the usual Japanese "attractions".
@@missplainjane3905 I said they live in a bubble. It's very common that even tourists know Japan better than those people. It depends some integrate in the Japanese society, some are never part of that society.
I met an American expat once who had been living in Tokyo for 30 years, married to Japanese wife with kids, didn't speak Japanese at all, lived in Harajuku and didn't know what Nakano was or where it was located. The type of people whose life revolves around Minatoku and Shibuyaku. Then when they leave those wards that's to go outside of Tokyo on a holiday or business trip.
Kensington, Philadelphia.