For everybody who has been to Japan , the first inconvenience encountered is how to dispose of rubbish. Although some big cities in China have started sorting their rubbish, they have not yet attained the degree of thoroughness and precision of the Japanese model.

As soon as you arrive in Japan , after registration and other procedures, you will receive a great deal of handouts on daily life from a smiling office lady. Besides of all kinds of information on emergency situations, there will be a thick booklet on how to dispose of rubbish.

Each region of Japan has a separate time for collecting different kinds of rubbish. For example, certain weekdays for flammable, non-flammable, recyclable, or large items of rubbish. There is a lot more than that as household rubbish may include plastic, metal, foam, and paper. There is a list including nearly every kind of refuse. When you cannot judge to which category it belongs check and compare with the list, then you will get the right answer.

In Japan you must dispose of rubbish every morning. If the rubbish is left until evening it may be rifled through by cats and dogs, even by the crows which hover in Tokyo 's sky. Because of this uptown rubbish is disposed of at set areas every morning.

In the uptown areas, there will be people to check the rubbish being thrown away. If you fail to abide by the rules, such as leaving old clothes or newspapers in untied plastic bags, they will be taken back to you with a handbook to let you know the importance of the regulations.

Rubbish is disposed of according to its type in Japan . So that it is not strange to have several different bins in every home. In Japan , people pay a lot of attention to recycling rubbish, so it is considered important to recycle as many daily items as possible. Even children in kindergarten, know empty milk boxes can be recycled into all kinds of interesting toys

Recently, a new law regarding the recycling of electrical equipment was passed in Japan . Anyone who wishes to buy a new electrical item to replace an older one must pay a charge for recycling the “e-waste”. This not only reduces public spending on recycling, but also reduces consumption. It is possible that a law on recycling old motor vehicles will also be passed soon.

Source: People Daily 24 th Nov 2005

Translated by Zhang Kai, Yvonne, Tina

Edited by David