There are many things that have surprised me since I started traveling abroad, but the way garbage is disposed of was also a culture shock.
In Japan, we separate each type of garbage into burnable, non-burnable, plastic bottles, etc.
We Japanese have to go out of our way to buy bags for each type of garbage and put our garbage in them.
Depending on the municipality, in most areas of Japan, each type of garbage can only be put out on certain days of the week.
I thought this was the normal way to dispose of garbage, but I was very surprised when I lived abroad for the first time.
I have lived in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand for short periods of time, and in all four countries you don’t have to separate your garbage; you just put it all in the same bag you have at home.
I was also able to put out my garbage 24 hours a day.
What inconvenient things Japan has to deal with.
Furthermore, there are hardly any trash cans in cities in Japan.
In contrast, overseas, there are trash cans everywhere, which was very convenient.
After returning to Japan, I looked into garbage and found out that incinerators don’t separate garbage like they do overseas, and just burn all of it together.
If you’re a foreigner planning to live in Japan, you’ll get yelled at by your neighbors and garbage collectors if you don’t separate your garbage properly.
