[dcrazy]

The irony is that products in Japan come with so much garbage. Small items come packed in thick, crinkly plastic that doesn’t hold any form once it has been emptied of its product. Bento boxes are several times thicker than the packaging for ready-to-eat meals in other countries, and they don’t compress at all. When I’m touristing, I rely on the ability to shed load and make space for other things so I don’t have to go back to the hotel.

[insane_dreamer]

The fact that Japan still has so much single use plastic is really puzzling especially since it has a relatively small landmass so no much room for landfills.

[looping__lui]

They burn it :-)

[s0fa37]

On this note, the exterior of an incinerator in Osaka was 'refurbished' by the Austrian artist Huntertwasser, who was certainly an interesting person.

https://hundertwasser.com/en/architecture/arch122_mop_maishi...

If you're ever in Vienna, there is a museum of his design that is worth visiting - it's quite unlike anything I've visited before/since

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertwasserhaus

[dcrazy]

Exactly this. They just burn pretty much everything. I have no idea what the carbon capture situation is like in Japan. But at least they use the waste heat to power municipal baths.

[f_devd]

That's surprising to me since they have one of the best average air quality scores of any country (that's avaiable with gmaps).

[insane_dreamer]

Interesting. And how do they handle the toxic fumes?

[johnea]

They breath then, that's how...

[dcrazy]

That is an active area of research.

[araes]

Weird, interacting with Japan mostly only through video games (and only a limited amount with food) I actually find them almost the opposite most of the time.

Import games arrive in tiny boxes with almost no packaging and manuals that have been design like origami inserts to take up only the tiny remaining space available.

[dcrazy]

I wouldn’t consider eating Japanese food or playing Japanese video games to constitute “interacting with Japan” at all. At best, you are interacting with its cultural exports.

[ghfhghg]

Games are not a daily driver compared to a Bento box or most things you buy in Japan. It's actually a tad shocking to see the amount of waste you get from every day life in Japan.

When you do your garbage there's a box called "moeru" (burnable) and there is a crapload of plastic in there.

That said, Japanese packaging is also an art. Both can be true at the same time.