The most elusive ‘item’ in public spaces in Japan is the rubbish bin. — Pixabay
Visitors to Japan have cited the lack of rubbish bins in public areas, including at train stations, as the biggest inconvenience during their trip, Kyodo news agency reported. This is based on a recent government survey.
According to the Japan Tourism Agency, the issue was cited by 21.9% of over 4,000 foreign visitors surveyed at five major airports in the country as their top concern.
The survey was conducted on respondents before leaving New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Fukuoka airports between December and January.
While the figure improved by about eight percentage points from the previous year, many of the respondents said that after failing to dispose of trash, they had to take it back to their accommodation.
Japan used to have more rubbish bins in public spaces. However, many were removed in recent years, partly due to safety concerns after terror attacks in the country, such as the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, and abroad, like the 2004 Madrid train bombings, according to experts.
Unfortunately, with the disappearance of most rubbish bins in public areas, littering in tourist spots has become a major public concern.
Yohei Takemura, chief executive officer of Forcetec, which installs solar-powered rubbish bins that can compress trash in public spaces, said popular tourist destinations like New York in the United States and Paris in France each have about 30,000 public rubbish bins.
While rubbish cans installed and maintained by the public sector have vanished in Tokyo, there are rubbish bins set up and maintained by the private sector, Takemura said.
On other inconveniences, 15.2% reported communication issues, such as the inability of staff at restaurants and other facilities to speak English, while 13.1% pointed to overcrowding, especially in tourist spots.
Respondents also raised the issue of immigration procedures, complaining over the long waiting time at airports. – Bernama
