Japanese people cleaning up trash after attending events like the Olympics, soccer games, and the WBC at stadiums has been praised worldwide. We often see news stories about this.
basic manners for Japanese
It’s not just because these are global events that Japanese spectators clean up; it’s a common practice for them to take their trash with them and clean up after themselves in stadiums. It’s considered basic manners to dispose of or take home the trash you produce, even if you know cleaning staff will take care of it. That’s the mindset of Japanese people.
This demonstrates the high level of awareness Japanese people have regarding manners and cleanliness in public spaces.
Such strict adherence to manners is not limited to visible scenes.
・At hotel checkouts, guests not only straighten the sheets but also sort the trash, do some simple cleaning, and leave the room in the same condition as when they checked in.
・In public restrooms, they fold the provided tissue paper into a triangle for the next person’s ease of use. (In Japan, even public restrooms are equipped with free tissue paper.)
・Since removing shoes is part of Japanese culture, if shoes are in disarray, they will neatly line up others’ shoes in addition to their own for easy wearing.
In both seen and unseen situations, Japanese people thoroughly practice cleanliness and tidiness.
Of course, individual differences do exist.
overthink consideration for others
An interesting recent comment on Japanese TV was made by a male comedian who said, “When leaving a hotel room, I worry that if I clean it too well, the cleaning staff will have nothing to do, and I will take away their sense of accomplishment and disappoint them. So, I intentionally crumple the sheets and leave an empty plastic bottle on the table.”
Another comedian quickly responded, “You’re overthinking it!”
However, this comment is not just a joke but a serious matter.
Japanese people are known for their good manners, but they also tend to be overly considerate of others.
Therefore, the simple idea of leaving a room clean to reduce the burden on hotel cleaning staff goes beyond that; they even consider the feelings of the cleaning staff, wondering if their thorough cleaning might take away their sense of accomplishment.
How do you feel about this aspect of Japanese people’s nature? Although there might be some excessive aspects, don’t you think there are parts worth learning from in today’s world where ecology is emphasized?
By the way, in Japan, people who are good at being considerate tend to be popular among the opposite sex.
However, like the comedian mentioned earlier, people who are overly considerate won’t be popular lol.
