A Possible Solution to the Trash Problem

I often hear/read about tourists who complain about having to carry around their trash when they are visiting Japan and about Japanese residents who complain about tourists leaving trash around because they can’t find a trash can. East Japan Railway (JR East) has come up with a solution that solves the problem and is fun to use.

These mobile trash can robots will be rolling around Shinjuku Station on a trial basis for now. They are designed to look like little train cars, with labels to show what trash goes where. I think they are cute.

Shinjuku Station is known for being the busiest station in the world, so if the trial goes well here, it should work at other stations.

Disposing of Family Homes - Jikka-Jimai

Internet photo, not actual Jikka-jimai photo

Jikka-jimai is the process of disposing of the family home. This is a topic I read and hear about more and more often. Japan has an aging population, with elderly home owners moving to care homes or dying. Middle aged children of elderly parents are anxious about what to do about their parents’ home when the time comes.

In recent times, it is more common for children to move away and establish homes in other places. There are fewer young people in Japan, and most of those looking for a place to establish themselves, want new, energy efficient homes.

Managing an empty house from afar is difficult, but neglecting an empty home causes problems with neighbors and can become a fire hazard. Demolition is expensive. If there are several children or relatives, it can be difficult for all to agree on what to do and how to cover costs.  

Experts agree that planning ahead is the ideal situation. It would be best for the elderly parents to be involved in the decision, but many do not want to talk about death. This is a difficult problem.

All’s Well That Ends Well

 

Last week, a 1.2 meter long pet monitor lizard was reported missing in Yokohama City. The owner, a man in his 60’s, returned home and the reptile was not in its cage. 

The owner searched on his own for five days before he called the police, which prompted a police search with ten officers for days. After the pet lizard had been missing for a week, the owner called the police at 1:15 am, notifying the authorities that he had discovered the large lizard hiding in the bottom of a closet in his own apartment.  This ended the long search and public alert. 

I have heard of missing snakes or lizards several times since I’ve been in Japan. I don’t know if there are any rules about these pets. I live in a small apartment and I’d hate to think one of my neighbors’ pets escaped and could be hiding in mine.

Instant Houses

A month ago, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Kumamoto Prefecture. Unfortunately, many people are still sleeping in cars and staying in evacuation centers. 

“Instant Houses” are an idea led by Keisuke Kitagawa, School of Social Engineering professor at the Nagoya Institute of Technology. By early next month, he plans to have 120 of the houses installed for disaster victims so they can begin to rebuild their lives. 

The structures take an hour or two to complete. Urethane foam, which is a heat-insulating material, is sprayed onto the inside of an inflated fire-resistant sheet, which hardens into shape. The houses are secured to the ground and can withstand winds up to 130 meters per second. They are about 4.3 meters high, and have floor space of approximately 20 square meters.

The houses are available free of charge to disaster victims, due to donated funds collected. Air conditioners are also being installed at no cost. They are built near people’s homes, so residents can maintain connections to their communities.

Japan is prone to earthquakes and other disasters. This can help people survive and rebuild for many years to come.

Record Cash Turned in to Police in 2025

If you lose something in Japan, chances are you will get it back. Studies have shown that Japan ranks among the highest in the world for civic honesty. 

A record 4.5 billion yen cash was turned in to Tokyo Police as lost property in 2025. This was up 0.5% from 2024, according to police statistics. More than 70% of the money came from public facilities, such as supermarkets with self check out registers. According to the Metropolitan Police Department’s lost and found, the largest single amount turned into police was 27 million yen. About 3.23 billion yen was returned to the owners, while approximately 590 million yen was given to the honest finders who turned in the money. Roughly 680 million yen became metropolitan government revenue. 

The number of other items given to police was up 3 percent from 2024, for a record high of about 4.5 million items. The most common items were drivers licenses and other identification, while the number of small electronics handed in continues to increase.

June in Shizuoka Prefecture

June is usually rainy - it is the rainy season, after all. Some years are more rainy than others. There are earthquakes somewhere in Japan every day, often just small ones, but sometimes bigger ones. Where I live, typhoons usually happen from June through October, with the worst later in the season. 

This year we are off to a big start. At the beginning of June, Typhoon 6 passed through, cancelling a planned three day trip to Tokyo, unfortunately. A few days later, a big earthquake in the Philippines set off tsunami warnings along the coast of Japan. I live fairly close to the coast, but not so close that it is usually scary. I read afterwards that the water came up one meter here.

Here are some earthquakes we felt this month where I live. Mid-month, with epicenter in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Last week, another earthquake that we felt, epicenter off the coast farther north.

The last few days we’ve been watching two typhoons - 7 and 8, travel toward us. They came from different directions, then their projected paths overlapped some hours apart. Where I live, Typhoon 8 arrived first, overnight Friday to Saturday and T7 Saturday. (Screenshot below from Friday evening).

About 10:30 pm Friday, while watching the storm, there was an earthquake that lasted longer than the usual little quakes.

I keep an emergency backpack near my door in case I have to leave quickly. Luckily, I’ve never had to do that. Sometimes I add things or take things out, or just check what’s in there because I forget. Being prepared is taken seriously in Japan. 

What will July bring?

(Screenshots from the Japan Meteorological Agency website.)

A Surprising Grocery Store Encounter

I usually do my grocery shopping at the large grocery store inside the local Aeon shopping center. On a recent shopping trip, I had finished shopping, had packed up my food, and was putting away my cart, when a man walked up to me and started talking in a language I didn’t recognize. In Japanese, I said, I’m sorry, I don’t understand. He switched to English, and said, I thought you were from Finland. That surprised me! He talked to me about five minutes, telling me where he had visited in the United States. I was really so surprised, I don’t know if I said much of anything. Then, he went on with his shopping, and I walked home with my food, wondering why he thought I was from Finland.

Same Surname Marriage Campaign

Japan might be the only country that requires married couples (both partners Japanese) to have the same family name. (Note, this law applies to Japanese couples, not foreign residents). Only about 5% of Japanese husbands take the surname of their wife. When a wife’s family has no male heir to carry on the family name is one instance when a husband may take a wife’s family name. 

One nongovernmental organization, Asuniwa, has turned to an unconventional idea - encouraging people to marry someone with the same family name. Although the organization advocates for optional separate surnames for couples, it has launched the Same Surname Marriage Campaign. The campaign has started by hosting matchmaking events (with IBJ, a matchmaking party company), limited to people with the same name. This really only works for people with names such as Sato, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka, or other common names.  

An Asuwina survey conducted in 2025 estimates that about 587,000 people in common law marriage situations would legally marry if separate surnames were an option.  I’m sure there are many people who have no issue with changing their surnames, but it is a burden for the person who has to do the changing. The Same Surname Marriage Campaign sounds like an option for those with common surnames who don’t want to change names after marriage.

Kodan, With English Subtitles

I attended a traditional oral Japanese storytelling event called Kodan, in Fuji City. This event was special because it was performed with English subtitles on the side. I was happy to attend this rare performance and be able to understand the story by reading the translation as it was spoken in Japanese. Although it was once very popular, Kodan is now rather rare, with only four schools and very few performers. 

There are three traditional classifications of Kodan - Gundan, Gokirokumono, and Sewamono, meaning war stories, true stories, and contemporary stories. Kodan is performed sitting behind a lectern, called a shakudai, using a folding fan to mark the rhythm of the recitation. 

If I have the chance to attend another Kodan event, I will definitely attend!

New Rules on Kirakira names

Japan has imposed new rules on the pronunciation of children’s names. Kanji characters can be pronounced different ways, and flashy or unusual pronunciation, known as kirakira names, seem to be causing problems. Enforcement of the revised law requiring all names in the family registry to include phonetic readings, will ban interpretations which are considered too disconnected from the characters used. Only widely accepted readings are allowed under this law. This prevents parents from giving name readings unrelated to the meanings or standard pronunciation, which can cause confusion in schools, medical institutions, and various public services. Authorities are sending postcards to households with unacceptable names and residents can request corrections within a year. Parents of newborns may need to explain readings, and be referred to legal affairs bureaus if the name/pronunciation is unclear. 

Is this too much government control? I can understand that a flashy pronunciation that doesn’t look like the characters could be difficult in situations such as schools or hospitals. I feel like this law is different from parents giving the baby a name that is easy to read and pronounce, but considered strange, like Nutella. Maybe the child with the kirakira name would feel bullied when their name is difficult to pronounce or feel it is too cutsie as the child gets older. I don’t know how difficult it is for an adult to change his or her name. What do you think about kirakira names?

Trash and Recycling Where I Live

Japan has specific rules about what to do with trash and things you no longer want. You can’t just put everything in a big black trash bag and throw it out. Each town/area has its own specific rules, but they are generally similar.

For combustible/burnable trash, I buy these clear 20 liter bags at the grocery store. There are bigger bags available for families or people who have more burnable trash. The bags are not stretchable and feel more like paper than plastic. They are clear, so if you try to throw away cans or glass or other non-burnables, the trash collectors put a big yellow sticker on it with the reason checked for not picking up the trash bag.

 

In my neighborhood, trash is picked up on Mondays and Thursdays. I like to put my trash out every Monday so I can start the week with no trash, but there is no limit, as far as I know, as to how many bags a week you can put out. I think we are early on the pick up route, so trash has to be put out by 8:30 am. There are designated places in each neighborhood and sometimes crows peck the bags and make a mess.

There are recycling corners around town. This is the one closest to where I live, about a 10 minute walk.

The box above is for cardboard and I think it gets picked up every day or two, maybe due to Amazon delivery boxes.

This one is for non-newspaper, paper items including books and magazines. 

This one is for newspaper.

Aluminum cans go in this one.

View of one side of the recycle corner.

The box above is for old clothes.

Most grocery stores have a set up like this for all kinds of food packaging, like clear plastic boxes that prepared foods come in, styrofoam trays that fish and meat come on, milk cartons, aluminum cans, pet bottles, etc.

Vending machines for drinks in plastic bottles or cans are everywhere in Japan, and usually there is a place next to the machine for empty drink containers.

Once a month, there is a collection and pickup in each neighborhood for all kinds of glass (sorted by color), for aluminum and steel cans, for aerosol spray cans, for PET bottles, batteries and maybe other stuff. The collection place for me is at the entrance to the park behind my apartment, so I can look out my balcony door and see when to take my recycle out. It starts late afternoon and goes through mid morning the next day. I see all my neighbors there because everyone has stuff to take out.

If you have something big like a bicycle or a piece of furniture or some kind of appliance or electric gadget, you can call the city and they will pick it up. I’ve never done it, but I sometimes see stuff waiting to be picked up. The end of March/beginning of April is moving season in Japan, so there is usually a lot of stuff sitting out waiting for pickup then.

Japan is very clean and organized. The trash and recycle system is one reason.

Polite and Considerate

 

I was surprised to find this package of face masks with a letter in my mail slot. I really shouldn’t have been surprised, this is Japan, after all. It seems a house in my neighborhood will be taken down and a new one built. In addition to making the nearby residents aware of this, we were given masks in case of dust floating around. Also, they will give you a car cover to protect your vehicle, if you ask for one. I love living in Japan.

Home Grown Watermelon

Where I live, burnable trash gets picked up in our neighborhood two mornings a week. It has to be in the designated place in special bags by 8:30 am. As I was taking my trash out, I saw my elderly neighbor (kitty corner across the street) with hers. I picked up her bag, and took it with mine to the designated place. She motioned for me to come to her garden and gave me this watermelon. How nice of her!

Fentanyl Cases in Japan

I frequently see news stories from the US about the drug Fentanyl being smuggled across the borders and trafficked. It seems to be a very big dangerous problem. 

I don’t often see drug stories in Japan. Being an island country, it is more difficult to smuggle in, and I think the penalties for illegal drugs are quite high. I was interested when I saw the story below on Nippon.com:

Japan Police Take Action Against 17 Fentanyl Cases So Far

Tokyo, July 25 (Jiji Press)--Japanese police have so far taken action against 17 cases of violations involving fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, in the country, the National Police Agency said Friday.

Fentanyl smuggling and trafficking have not been confirmed in Japan, the agency said.

Of the 17 cases reported between 2000 and 2024, 15 involved doctors and pharmacists stealing or abusing fentanyl for medical use. In the other two cases, patients and their family members abused it.

One case of death was reported. A patient killed a male partner through drug poisoning by putting fentanyl patches on him.

“Though fentanyl has not spread in Japan, we will continue to police any case strictly,” an NPA official said.

17 cases between 2000 and 2024! I love living in Japan.

Unclaimed Bodies

I like to read news items in Japan, and often they are things I had never thought about.  I have to share them because you may not have known about them either.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in fiscal year 2023 in Japan, there were 4200 unclaimed bodies that had to be cremated by local governments.  This is about 2.7% of deaths in 2023. 

The Ministry claims the increase in elderly people living alone and the weakening of family ties have led to an increase in solitary deaths. The number of elderly people with no relatives is expected to continue to increase, making it an issue for local governments to streamline cremation and burial procedures. 

While out walking, I have discovered the crematory on the edge of my town. It always seems to be very busy, with cars driving in and out of the lot. I think almost everyone is cremated here in Japan. 

This story has me wondering what percent of deaths are unclaimed in other countries. I turned to the internet to try to find an answer for the US.  There is no federal agency that tracks this information in the US (and if there had been, DOGE would have gotten rid of it), but it is estimated to be between 2 and 4%. Areas with higher numbers of unhoused people have higher numbers of unclaimed bodies. 

No one wants to think about dying, but I think it’s important to plan ahead. Cremation can cost between 1.2 million yen for a basic cremation to up to 3 million yen for a Buddhist service and cremation. Start saving your yennies so you won’t be a burden on your local government.

End of Club Activities

In Japan, the new work year and new school year begin the first of April. There are entrance ceremonies at work places and schools. It’s a busy time for moving companies and apartment rentals, and the time for a new start. In addition to academics, junior high and high school students choose a club or extra curricular activity to be involved in. Many schools make these club or sports activities mandatory.

Not everyone agrees that these club activities are good. The city of Kobe has announced it will be completely eliminating all junior high school teams and clubs beginning this school year. The city’s board of education gives two reasons for their decision. With the falling birthrate in Japan, the board states it is more and more difficult to maintain clubs and athletic programs with such small enrollments.  There aren’t enough student members to fill the roster and it is not practical to make use of facilities for small groups. The second reason is the time demands for school teachers who are the club coaches and advisors. Teachers work long hours, and the board of education is concerned about teachers being overworked. 

The city plans to establish a system called Kobe Katsu (Kobe extra curricular activities), where students can participate in non-school sports and cultural activities as replacements for the previous school sponsored activities. This sounds like a greater opportunity to match students with their interests and to meet people outside their own schools. 

Kobe Board of Education head Yaunori Fukamoto is optimistic about the plan, the first of its kind in Japan, saying, “We hope this will allow students, according to their individual circumstances, to make their own choices about how to use their time.”

No More Skirts

 

Beginning in April, female police officers in Japan will no longer have to wear skirts as their uniform. (Yes, this is 2025.) The only option for all officers will be trousers. According to the Police Agency, this change is due to more female officers taking on frontline roles such as attending incidents and activities. In addition, the revised uniform policy also introduces polo shirts for both men and women as part of the summer uniform.

The most recent statistics I found were from April 1, 2023, saying the percentage of regional police officers who were women was 11.4%. This seems like a low percentage. I wonder if the uniform changes will do anything for recruitment.

Honest People in Japan

I am always happy to read about how lost money and items are turned in to be reunited with the owners in Japan.  Tokyo Police reported a record 4.49 BILLION yen in cash was turned in as lost property in 2024. This was up 1.8% from 2023. The largest single amount of cash turned in to the police department’s lost and found in 2024 was 11.6 million yen. 

Of the money turned in, about 3.2 billion yen was returned to various owners, while about 570 million yen was given to those who turned in the money. Around 660 million yen that was unclaimed became Tokyo Metropolitan government revenue. 

In addition to money, about 4.4 million items were turned in. This is up 7.8 % from 2023 and a record high. Drivers licenses and identification documents made up the majority of items turned in, at about 830,000. The police department reported that there was a large increase in electronic items, such as wireless earphones and e-cigarettes. 

Have you ever lost something and had it returned to you? I left a hat on the bus in Hokkaido and was able to get it back the same day. My students told me various stories about losing wallets or phones or keys when drinking and getting the items back.

Small Faces

I have been told that small faces are considered attractive in Japan.  Apparently that’s true.

According to this product announcement, you can get a smaller face in just ten minutes a day. I wonder who is using it.

The ATTENDSbeauty Small Face Lift Belt is designed to help users achieve a smaller, more lifted face, the belt can be worn for just 10 minutes to tighten the facial line and lift the skin for a more sculpted appearance. The chin section, made from silicone material, fits snugly around the jawline, enhancing the contours of the face. The belt is easy to use and can be adjusted to fit different sizes. This product offers a non-invasive, convenient way to achieve a “smaller” face without the need for costly treatments or procedures.
Price: 2,200 yen

Death Penalty Support in Japan

The Japanese government reports that over 80% of Japanese support the death penalty. The government survey, which is taken every five years, showed support for the death penalty at 83.1%, up 2.3% from the previous survey in 2019. This is the fifth consecutive time support has exceeded 80%. The survey included 3,000 people, age 18 and over. 

In the survey, many people said the death penalty is “unavoidable”. A common reason for support was concern for the feelings of the victims of capital crimes and their families. Others in support of the death penalty said they were concerned the abolition of capital punishment would lead to a rise in terrible crimes. 

Of those who are against the death penalty, the most common reason given was that mistaken convictions become irreversible. Last fall, an 88 year old man, Iwao Hakamata, who spent more than 40 years on death row after being convicted in a 1966 quadruple murder case, was acquitted in a retrial. This is the main reason why I am against the death penalty. You can’t bring the person back after the sentence was carried out by mistake. 

According to Wikkipedia:

The 193 United Nations member states and two observer states fall into four categories based on their use of capital punishment. As of 2024:^[9]

• 53 (27%) maintain the death penalty in law and practice.
• 23 (12%) permit its use but have abolished it de facto: per Amnesty International standards, they have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or practice of not carrying out executions.^[10]
• 9 (5%) have abolished it for all crimes except those committed under exceptional circumstances (such as during war).
• 110 (56%) have completely abolished it, most recently Zimbabwe (2024).

I’m surprised such a high percentage of Japanese people are in favor of capital punishment here. I’ve  not talked with any of my friends here about the topic, so I don’t have any reason to say that. I read the news and learn new things.