Ken Uchikura Newsletter Vol. 48
Oct
31
Why are streets so clean in Japan?
I am in Japan right now and where I am staying there are many people from overseas who are here to watch the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Tokyo. There are many people from New Zealand wearing all black where I am staying.
I heard them saying (in their NZ accent) that they are very impressed with Tokyo and how clean the city is everywhere. I visit Tokyo many times but I never think about how clean it is. I did not think about it because it is always clean. Even compared to Seattle, it is much cleaner.
Yesterday I was walking toward the station, and I saw a man cleaning the gutters of a public street. He was cleaning it like it was his own home. It is not the government’s job to make a city clean, it is the people who clean the city.
To make something happen, you cannot simply hire somebody and tell them what to do. It is the way people think, you need to start with education. If you do not learn to be clean, you will never be clean.