The ‘nightmare’ habit that shows Japanese locals you’re a tourist

There’s one seemingly innocent habit that instantly reveals you’re a tourist in Japan (Picture: Getty Images) As I stood on a busy Tokyo street, clutching an empty coffee cup and a handful of snack wrappers, there was just one thought occupying my mind: where were all the bins? This shouldn’t have come as a surprise. I did my research before my trip to Japan, and knew bins would be few and far between. Online forums advise carrying a plastic bag around, so you can keep rubbish with you and dispose of it back at the hotel. I hadn’t quite appreciated how non-existent they’d be though, and found myself shoving rubbish into my pockets, while locals side-eyed me on the Shinkansen. Meanwhile, residents know the plastic bag trick — or where to find real life bins, tucked away behind the counters at 7/11, Lawson or FamilyMart. Failing to carry your own plastic bag with you – or wandering the streets with the coffee cup you finished at breakfast – is a telltale sign to many Japanese locals that you are, in fact, a clueless tourist. Writing over on the r/TokyoTravel Subreddit, @DragonKhan2000 said: ‘For many tourists, taking along their own trash apparently is completely inconceivable and they would rather complain about “lack of trash cans” than look at themselves as the issue. The entitlement is raging.’ If you’re lucky, you’ll get a bin for plastic bottles next to a vending machine (Picture: Getty Images) Where have all the bins gone? The reason for the lack of public bins dates back to 1995, and the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which conducted multiple sarin gas attacks across subway stations in Tokyo. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. Plastic bags containing the sarin liquid were dropped and then pierced to release the toxic fumes into the carriages, which were then inhaled by innocent passengers. Tragically, fourteen people died, and more than 5,000 were injured. In the aftermath, government officials removed many existing public bins from both subway and train stations. Even now, the ones that remain use a see-through plastic bag, so the contents are clearly visible. A ‘nightmare’ situation Despite the devastating circumstances in which bins were removed from Japan’s streets, it doesn’t stop tourists moaning about it. On the r/TokyoTravel subreddit, @Away-Distance-163 described Japan as ‘so forward yet so backwards,’ noting the lack of dustbins was ‘ridiculous.’ After visiting one of the most popular tourist attractions in Kyoto, the Fushimi Inari Shrine, the poster was forced to carry around two plastic water bottles and a takeaway coffee cup. And it was becoming somewhat of a burden. ‘There were multiple rest stops, bathrooms, small vendors selling water and souvenirs, but would not provide a public place that was swarming with visitors with a dustbin,’ they wrote. On the r/Tokyo Subreddit, @Myrtillee recalled their experiences of moving to Japan seven months ago. Ever since, they’ve found the ‘trash situation’ to be a ‘nightmare.’ They wrote: ‘I’m struggling. I love the konbini snacks but carrying a greasy, smelly wrapper in my bag for hours because there are no bins is driving me crazy.’ Tourists are no stranger to Japan’s lack of bins (Picture: Getty Images) In the comments section, Japanese locals shared their tips for navigating a lack of facilities, with @RidingJapan recommending using one at convenience stores (also known as konbini). ‘Just…don’t eat and walk? It’s simple,’ @mFachrizalr suggested. ‘Or just eat your stuff in front of [the] konbini and then dispose [of] it in the trash bin inside. ‘Most locals and residents usually bring plastic bags to keep their trash temporarily, which they later dispose of when they get home.’ That said, more rubbish receptacles could soon be on the horizon, as earlier this month, Shinjuku Station, right in the heart of bustling Tokyo (and, in my experience, one of the most stress-inducing to navigate), trialled some googly-eyed robot bins. ‘We wanted to test how well something like this can operate automatically and safely in an environment like Shinjuku Station,’ Shinya Kawamichi, a research official at Japanese rail company JR East, told The Japan Times. ‘We want to see how much of a difference mobile trash bins that collect garbage make, and whether people are actually willing to throw their trash into them.’ Most locals and residents bring plastic bags with them (Picture: Getty Images) Other rookie Japanese tourism errors Elsewhere in the world of tourist habits, in the past, we’ve reported on various missteps people make when they visit Japan for the first time. In a recent study looking at public transport habits that grind the gears of locals across Japan, being too loud topped the list of annoyances. A whopping 69% of the 5,202 surveyed by the Japan Private Railway Association, a body made up of 72 rail companies nationwide, said loud behaviour hugely bothers them. In second place was large luggage, with 42% of respondents saying they have low tolerance for tourists carrying oversized suitcases and bags, especially when they’re plonked in inconvenient spots. …so they don’t need to helplessly search around for a bin (Picture: Getty Images) Similarly, while eating on public transport is regularly done in the UK, it’s a complete no-no in Japan. In fact, it’s considered rude. When I visited, we never once saw a local dip into their handbag to grab a snack while they were on the metro, which affirmed to us that it wasn’t the correct thing to do. As they say, you should always ‘do as the locals do.’ Outside of Tokyo, it’s also a thing. When we took the public bus to Hakone from Odawara, there were constant announcements reminding people to avoid taking out their 7/11 Onigiri. Our Top Shopping Picks Save over £700 on Simba's top-rated mattresses in this limited-time sale Topman’s new-season collection has arrived and prices start at just £10 An Instagram mattress left me with back pain – this one completely changed my mind From £700 MacBooks to discounted iPhones, the best Apple tech for studentsb Save 25% on red light therapy masks, sauna blankets and sleep gadgets in Bon Charge sale I saw one fellow tourist take out a bag of crisps from his bag, and it’s safe to say it didn’t go down well. Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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