Why Are There Almost No Trash Cans on Japan's Streets?

The short answer

Bins did not vanish from Japan's streets and stations because of a single incident. Tighter security after rail terrorism abroad, complaints about household rubbish being dumped and bins overflowing, and the cost of installing and emptying them all built up over several decades.

In their place, Japan has a firmly rooted habit of taking your own rubbish home with you. If you carry one small rubbish bag, you will hardly ever have a problem as a traveller.

Is "it was the sarin attack" really true?

The reason most often given is the Tokyo subway sarin attack of 20 March 1995. The religious group Aum Shinrikyo released the deadly nerve agent sarin inside Tokyo subway trains, killing 13 people and injuring more than 6,000. After the attack, station bins were removed for a time, and it later became routine to seal them whenever foreign dignitaries visited or major events took place.

However, the sarin was released inside the trains, not in bins. The case in which a bin was actually used was a separate incident that same year, when a device to produce cyanide gas was planted in a bin in a toilet at Shinjuku Station. What is more, the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (now Tokyo Metro), where the attack happened, brought bins back in April 1997, cutting their number by more than half and placing them where station staff could see them. The writer dragoner points out that the timing of the attack does not match the timing of bins disappearing from the streets, and that putting it all down to "the sarin attack" has little basis.

Terrorism abroad and household rubbish thinned out station bins

The real turning point for stations was rail terrorism overseas. After the Madrid train bombings in Spain in March 2004 and the London bombings in July 2005, Japan also stepped up railway security. In August 2005 the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism set up a railway counter-terrorism liaison council with rail companies and others, and defined three "crisis management levels" according to the degree of threat. Gathering bins into fewer places or removing them is one of the measures taken when the level is raised; it is not a requirement to do without bins in normal times.

This was also when the bins that remained in stations changed their look. In 2004, after the Madrid attack, JR East reduced the number of bins and switched from metal ones to transparent ones you can see into. That is why the bins you see in stations around Tokyo today are transparent boxes divided into "PET bottles and cans", "paper waste", "newspapers and magazines" and so on. Given that the change was made as a counter-terrorism measure, the aim was presumably to make it harder to hide a suspicious object inside.

Even so, in the Tokyo area three companies, Tokyu, Keikyu and Keio, stopped providing bins after the 2004 Madrid attack. Then, after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Seibu Railway (2021) and Tokyo Metro, Tobu Railway and Odakyu Electric Railway (2022) removed theirs too. The reasons given were, besides preparing for terrorism and crime, household rubbish being brought in, infection prevention, and the danger to cleaning staff from things like discarded syringes. JR East, on the other hand, has kept its station bins. Even companies that removed bins generally still keep the recycling boxes for PET bottles and cans beside their vending machines. Back when drinks came only in cans, people usually finished them in front of the machine and dropped the can in the bin right next to it. Once PET bottles (plastic drink bottles) became common and people started carrying drinks around, more containers ended up being thrown away together at some other station, and PET bottles are now the main type of rubbish.

Street bins vanished because "the more you put out, the dirtier it gets"

Outside stations, in parks and on street corners, bins were reduced less for counter-terrorism than because of manners and upkeep. In Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, commuters brought household rubbish to the bins in front of the stations and restaurants dumped food waste in them at night, and a weekly magazine of the time reported that about 400 kilograms of rubbish a day piled up at just two stations. With crows swarming over the overflowing rubbish every morning, the city removed every bin in front of those two stations in October 2003.

Osaka City also examined what was in its street bins and found large amounts of rubbish that should have been sorted and put out at home or at work, such as household food waste, dog and cat droppings and cardboard from businesses, so from December 2009 it gradually removed them. A bin is not a one-off purchase; collecting, cleaning and disposal go on costing money. According to people in the industry, an outdoor bin costs around 200,000 yen each, and in some places collection is expensive.

What surprises visitors, and cities starting to change

What often surprises visitors from abroad is that the streets are clean even though there are almost no bins. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) explains that when you cannot find a bin, the custom in Japan is to take your rubbish home, and recommends carrying a small rubbish bag. The sorting rules are strict too: even the few bins that exist are divided by type, such as "PET bottles", "cans", "bottles" (glass) and "paper".

But with more tourists and the spread of tabearuki (eating while walking around), littering caused by the lack of bins has become more noticeable. There have been reports of unrelated rubbish being stuffed into vending machine recycling boxes or thrown into toilets. So in places such as Omotesando in Tokyo, "smart bins" have started to appear: they run on solar power, automatically compress the rubbish inside and alert the collectors when they are full. According to reporting by The Nippon Foundation, the Omotesando shopping street association has gone from collecting 3 to 4 times a day to once a day (twice for PET bottles in summer).

Getting by in a country without bins

Rather than wandering around looking for a bin, the Japanese way is simply to accept that rubbish is something you carry. Put wrappers and empty containers in a bag and throw them away when you get back to your hotel. If you finish your drink near the vending machine, you can put the empty container in the recycling box beside it. The box is only for drink containers, though, so putting any other rubbish in it is bad manners.

On a long journey, the shinkansen (bullet train) has rubbish bins on board, and at the final station cleaning staff often stand by the doors holding rubbish bags. JNTO also asks passengers to take their rubbish with them when getting off trains and highway buses. If you are eating as you walk, one option is to finish your food in front of the shop where you bought it and ask whether they will take the rubbish.

If you live in Japan, you also need to learn how to put out household rubbish. Sorting is compulsory, and the rules differ by prefecture and by city, town or ward, but broadly you separate "burnable rubbish", "non-burnable rubbish" and "recyclables" and put them out on set days of the week. When you move, first check the local rubbish rules with the town hall or your building management company. It may also be worth remembering the history: bringing household rubbish to station and park bins is one of the things that got those bins removed.

Tips

Keep a small rubbish bag (such as a zip-lock bag) in your bag.
The recycling boxes beside vending machines are only for PET bottles, cans and glass bottles. Do not put other rubbish in them.
When you do throw something away, check the labels such as "burnable rubbish" or "PET bottles" and sort it.
If the bins at a station have been covered up, security may be heightened for a major event or similar, so just take your rubbish with you.
On the shinkansen and highway buses, use the bins on board or the collection when you get off, and do not leave rubbish on your seat.