Why are there few trash cans in Japan?

BarcelonaWalking through the streets of Japan, one can notice that there are generally few trash cans. This fact is surprising to tourists given the cleanliness of most streets. He replied, "It doesn't just bother tourists, it bothers the Japanese themselves." The question we should ask, then, is another: why are there so few trash cans in Japan? Japanese means "supreme truth." Five members of the sect spread across three different lines of the Tokyo subway during rush hour in the morning. They inhaled the gas, as it is toxic. The criminals punctured the bags so the gas would spread into the atmosphere. Some of the plastic bags were strategically placed in trash cans. The Japanese government's security policies. And one of the measures they decreed was the elimination of trash cans, urging the population to try to throw away all the garbage in their private homes or other buildings, even if that meant taking it along the street

This, the government took some measures on special occasions such as in the spring of 2019, during a visit by US President Donald Trump to the nation's capital. Shinzo Abe ordered the closure and sealing of all waste paper mills in Japan, a drastic measure given the huge impact the terrorist incident had on the country's psyche.

It was in 1997 when the first wastebaskets appeared in public spaces after the terrorist attack. They maintained the opaque nature of the old wastebaskets, meaning their contents could not be seen. In March 2004, the terrorist attacks in Madrid at Atocha station took place, and the government gave instructions to eliminate these receptacles again. At that time, during May 2004, the JR East Line, the Keisei Electric Railway Company, and the Tokyo Metro already began to reintroduce transparent wastebaskets on their respective lines. Later, the government ordered the installation of wastebaskets again in 2006.

One of the other factors that have contributed to their return is the tourist boom that Japan is experiencing, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the JNTO, nearly 37 million tourists visited Japan in 2024, a figure that exceeds pre-pandemic figures.

The attack that turned Japan upside down

The cult responsible for the attack became known worldwide. Led and founded by Shoko Asahara, although his real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, the group was made up of elite university students tired of the demands of high academic standards and family pressure to have successful careers in the future. The cult, which was founded in 1984, combined Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and also introduced elements of apocalyptic Christian prophecies. They were convinced, for example, that there would be a Third World War and that they would be the only survivors.

The leader and founder, Shoko Asahara, was considered the "mastermind" of the operation in Tokyo and, along with the perpetrators of the attack, was sentenced to death. In 2018, capital sentences were carried outIn 1995, the year of the attack, the estimated number of members of the sect was 9,000 in Japan and 40,000 followers abroad.