Samurai trash collectors clean Tokyo streets after Halloween revels

Keisuke Naka and Ikki Goto, members of Gomihiroi Samurai (trash-picking samurai) clad in denim yukata, pose for a photograph as they pick up trash on the street of Ikebukuro in the morning after Halloween in Tokyo, Japan Nov 1, 2023. - Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters): Trash collectors in samurai costumes took to Tokyo's streets on Wednesday (Nov 1), theatrically wielding garbage tongs and flicking litter left from an evening of Halloween revelry into wicker baskets on their backs.

Dressed in hats and boldly patterned black-and-white tunics, the group, known as Gomihiroi Samurai, or trash-picking samurai, has attracted a large fan base since it formed in 2006, with nearly 800,000 followers on video-sharing platform TikTok.