[presentation]

Since moving here I have not actually found the lack of garbage cans to be much of a problem in day to day life, but when I was a tourist it did feel inconvenient since I wasn’t used to it (and as a tourist, you don’t have the structure in your life wherein you would naturally have access to trash cans throughout the day, like at a workplace).

From the perspective of taking care of public spaces, I absolutely agree that it is a great cultural attitude. People are ingrained from youth to understand that other people are cleaning the spaces you exist in, they are not lesser for doing those jobs, and it’s a core cultural belief that you shouldn’t inconvenience others even if you don’t know them; this attitude makes public spaces feel very pleasant and contributes to the cleanliness and safety that most who visit Japan come to admire.

That said I don’t think that Japan is exempt from foisting their garbage onto third world countries as was posited in the article. Once it’s in the trash system you’re just as equally not taking responsibility for the waste you generate. While the public spaces are clean, Japan is also renowned for using a lot of unnecessary single use plastics, and people don’t really take responsibility for that.

[tomwheeler]

As a tourist, I didn't realize what a commitment I was making when I bought a snack from a vending machine one morning. I had to carry around the empty wrapper until I got back to my hotel room that night.

[wenc]

Trick: there is almost always a garbage can next to a vending machine, and there are many vending machines in Japan.

Caveat: some of those garbage cans are for can recycling only. But there is often another one for garbage like food wrappers.

[mitthrowaway2]

In my recent experience it's very rare to find anything other than recycling bins next to vending machines in Japan.

Buying a snack really is a big commitment, which is unfortunate because of how tasty they are.

[presentation]

That said the inverse problem in the USA is that there are practically no public toilets and if you find one it’s probably disgusting. I find that a much bigger inconvenience than needing to carry some garbage around!

[mitthrowaway2]

I fully agree.

Interestingly they have similar dynamics: due to the scarcity of that public resource, the cost of providing it becomes very high, which causes it to become more scarce. In the US, a business providing a public washroom has to deal with very heavy usage, because of how rare they are, which makes maintenance expensive. They become the bathroom for the whole neighborhood. In Japan, businesses can offer clean high quality washrooms at little cost because there are many others sharing the load. But a convenience store offering a garbage bin in a popular area will quickly find it overloaded.

This creates a feedback loop where scarcity drives further scarcity.

[ghfhghg]

Absolutely. I'd much prefer to carry around my trash rather than have toilet anxiety in a heartbeat.

The end result is in North America I tend to just urinate in a back alley because I'm fed up trying to find an appropriate place.

[dcrazy]

The author of the linked article thinks you are simply wrong for considering this a burden.

[decimalenough]

No, the author (who's also the one who posted this to HN) thinks it is a burden, but it's one you voluntarily agreed to by purchasing and consuming the item whose remains are now garbage.