[jmadsen]

That's not true. They generally consider it people's own responsibility to take care of the trash themselves by taking it home & disposing of it there.

Most people don't stop to think: it costs money to dispose of trash. Here they just don't believe the city should have to foot the bill for your garbage. Different way of thinking about it, is all.

[michaelbuddy]

No, it's a lack of consideration. That's the paradox of Japan. They consider a lot, say spending zillions on the care of vegetation by the municipality. But then you find that there's not enough waste cans to dispose of the trash from the street food you just bought. They could tax the vendors a bit more, have them pay for the waste removal they are ultimately generating, then everyone's happy.

Then there's the lack of soap dispensers in restrooms. you know where you might have just had an accident, you get to clean up your hands with just water. Then jet dry all the particles into the air on that overbuilt $1900 unnecessary hand dryer. You know for the sake of cleanliness. I guess dry hands are clean hands right?

It's a different way of thinking about it. So the guy who had shit on his hands, cleaned it up, but it's still on the faucet. Now I've touched the faucet (with my had because no towel dispenser of course) and I've got his shit on my hands. Real cool. But they good thing the hedges outside the restroom look so nice.

[narism]

To the untrained eyes, it may appear that there is no where to throw trash away in Tokyo. This is because the Japanese have cleverly disguised the trash cans as vending machines (PET bottles/aluminum cans) and convenience stores (other garbage).

[Jack000]

I'm not sure.. there are trash cans in certain public places like parks and subways, but they're rare enough that you have to spend time looking.

And sometimes it's not practical to carry your waste the whole day - I have seen trash piled up beside the street on occasion.

I have trash anxiety from spending time in tokyo.. whenever I buy something I have to consider the wrapping and whether there's a trash can nearby.