Trash cans removed from Tokyo subway stations in preparation for G-7 summit

Thank you for the public service announcement.

There are trash cans in the subway? I don't recall seeing any. I'm always forced to stick my garbage in my pockets.

Jefflee You have some large deep pockets.

Because Tokyo is SO CLOSE to Mie...

This summit business is a pain for everybody. They should pick a place and hold it there every year instead of trying to make arrangements in different places every year. It's a waste of money and time.

Educator60 on May 27, 2016 - 8:17AM JST

Please don't do such an immature thing. The police have better things to do than waste time investigating suspicious items that turn out to be your trash. Your trash that you could carry to your home, place of work, hotel or other appropriate place to be disposed of.

Um... I dislike littering as much as the next guy, but I'm pretty sure that was a joke. At least, I read it as one.

Yeah right. Because trash cans are the only place where terrorists could hide bombs and other harmful objects. I bet that they'll sit back and relax after, seeing as they removed all the officially designated terrorist bomb hiding places.

This isn't gonna stop a person with a plan, you're just making it inconvenient for everybody else.

But then again, even in my coastal town where only students and old people ride the bus there are terror warnings in every bus. While I agree that people gotta have a healthy amount of preparation for a possible attack, I guess paranoia plays a major role here...

And the bins will never be seen again.

Something I've noticed over the last 25 years is the decline in public trash cans. As if the local governments want to shirk the responsibility of garbage collection.

The responsibility seems to have been transferred to the local conbi which has become so chronic in my area that people drive up to the conbi for the sole purpose of discarding themselves of their rubbish.

I don't know how long your local 7-11 or Lawsons will accept the responsibility, it must be hurting their financial pockets in local taxes, but once they stop, it'll be Netherlands Mk 2 in the large Japanese cities.

The throwing away of rubbish anywhere in Japan, especially the countryside, is something that infuriates me. Most Japanese would happily place their garbage in the correct place, if there were any correct places to discard it.

All three of them!

This summit business is a pain for everybody. They should pick a place and hold it there every year instead of trying to make arrangements in different places every year. It's a waste of money and time.

Agreed. And I have the PERFECT place...the Ogasawara Islands. They are MILES away from ANYWHERE in Japan, while at the same time are still considered Tokyo. Holding summits there would revitalize the local economy while hopefully causing us less hassle with the added security.

So surprised to see minus points for Educator60. What has this world come to? So sad indeed!

And I have the PERFECT place...the Ogasawara Islands.

I laughed at first, but that's actually a great idea! The only security you would need would be a few submarines and a ship or two. We already fund the submarines and ships so no real increase in expenses.

Will the J-government also take the trash cans out from Narita, Haneda, or any other major airports? No trash cans in the restroom at the train station? Who's going to pick up the trash left on the floor?

Apparently the Tokyo subway gassing by Aum Shinrikyo involved putting the gas in garbage cans, which is why they have disappeared over the years, and why they are doing this now.

i remember them doing this after 9/11, and it took almost a decade for them to bring back a few garbage cans. but nowadays most jr stations, not sure about subways, have the garbage cans back. and for those of you who criticize this, i'd rather be safe and inconvenienced then careless and dead.

Trash is an inevitable part of daily life, and I for one would never think of disposing mine in a public place. I find it so inconvenient in Japan to not be able to find a trash can in a public park, a cinema or a train station. I find Tokyo Metro's latest plan totally without warrant, as it's hardly likely to deter a serious terrorist.

@Strangerland they were actually released on the trains.

The authorities are really in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. By taking precautions they are criticized for being over cautious. But if they didn't do this, and there was an incident, everyone would be screaming bloody murder about not allowing for this to happen when it already happened with Aum Shinrikyo 20 years ago.

This is the problem with the internet. It allows too many people a forum to whine about absolutely every decision not matter what it is. You can people some of the people some of the time, but you can't please netizens any of the time.

Are any of the G7 members actually going to ride on the subway?

Glasshouse is correct. Aum Shinrikyo used plastic bags wrapped in newspapers, and carried onto trains - no trash cans.

I stand corrected.

But it was after the Aum attacks that they got rid of the garbage cans, so as to prevent a similar attack happening using them.

for gods sake, youre not gonna die because you dont have trash cans in your path to work for a few days, use common sense and carry a few small plastic bags at the bottom of your backpack/suitcase, it wont weigh a ton on your back. many westerners come to Japan with the worst of the western mentality (always hoping for "someone else" to clean up your mess)

@strangerland yeah your right that is why they got rid of them.I was here for that one and living on the Hibiya line my x was lucky enough to sleep in that morning and miss that train which she normally catches.Not having a garbage can never bothers me just throw in the my bag get rid of it later too easy really.

The IRA used to have a thing about blowing up rubbish bins, if my memory serves me correctly.

Please don't do such an immature thing. The police have better things to do than waste time investigating suspicious items that turn out to be your trash G7 meeting or not Japan is one of the worst places I've seen in not supply enough trash cans around public places, no they prefer you'd take it home recycle it like good little slaves so the companies that should be doing this can save a few yen, NO screw that if they want that done then lower my city taxes! otherwise, it going on the floor or in the bushes. Ill be damned if im going to take my family out for lunch in the park only to have to carry my rubbish with me the rest of the afternoon.

Because Tokyo is SO CLOSE to Mie... Tokyo is about 450 Km from Tokyo.

The London underground "7/7" bombings coincided with the G8 summit held near Perth over 700 Km away.

This is useless and just part of the show to demonstrate Japan is taking "security" issues seriously should a terror attacked happened but, everybody know a determined terrorist would simply leave a suitcase, a bag somewhere or simply carry the bomb himself. Patrol with dogs trained to detect explosive could be more efficient but this require to allocate police officers from the orange cone's placement duty first.

@Dan Lewis

This summit business is a pain for everybody They should pick a place and hold it there every year instead of trying to make arrangements in different places every year.

Totally agree, just like the elites used to like jekyll island.

So useless when a terrorist will explode nearby you... Moreover, we, Frenchmen, have found the solution a long time ago: have open trash cans, ie. transparent plastic bag hanging in the air. Case closed. Utter rubbish to limit possibility to throw your dirty tissue you have just blown your nose in. Japan is hell for that and it limits your "tourist attractiveness" by the way.

Cleo,

The IRA used to have a thing about blowing up rubbish bins, if my memory serves me correctly.

Quite true, lots of bombs were left in litter bins, including the infamous Warrington Bombings.

The UK still has its bins though.

I remember as a student walking through Euston Station during the troubles, shortly after the PO tower had had a hole blown in it. There were no rubbish bins at all, and signs saying that the Left Luggage lockers would be locked and out of use for the foreseeable future.

'Twas a long time ago, all that is past now. The bins will be back in the Tokyo Metro as soon as the VIPs have gone. And they'll probably disappear again in 2020.

Wow people.Step ①Buy a bento+drink→　eat it→　put it in the plastic bag you carry around in your backpack→　dispose it at any convenience store or wait until you get home. How much does an empty pet bottle weight? Does it hurt?

I don't like the many pointless rules this country has, but there's no other custom I admire the most in this place than leaving somewhere EXACTLY as it was before you came - compared to my home country where some people would deliberately leave some trash or disarrayed chairs just for the sake of kind of leaving their "footprint" on where they were. Curious animal behavior to say the least.

I'm as surprised as everybody else. The aren't any bins in the Tokyo subway. There are few vending machines that have bottle bins, but that's about all. The suspension of coin lockers will be a big hassle for many people though.

How about ashtrays?

I agree with some posters that some extra security should be in place, but why so much for a meeting that isn't even going to be held in Tokyo? I guess some terrorists may think that attacking a country where leaders are gathered (without attacking them necessarily) would cast doubts on security and travel of said country.

However, if this is their response now, what are they going to do during the Olympics?

I thought most trash cans were removed since the Sarin gas attacks .... and that has been some time. I guess I do not know about trash cans in the Mie area.

Gary Raynor:

I don't know how long your local 7-11 or Lawsons will accept the responsibility, it must be hurting their financial pockets in local taxes, but once they stop, it'll be Netherlands Mk 2 in the large Japanese cities.

I'm from the Netherlands, and I don't have a clue what you mean by this. I would say in international comparison the Netherlands is above average in cleanliness, not some poster child for out-of-control trash. Am I missing something here?

One reason why most Combini no longer got rubbish bins is because too many people throw garbage away from home, RC.

They get charged by volume and need to pay extra if the gomi is not sorted, etc as per type it us picked up by different recycle companies.

They get charged by volume and need to pay extra if the gomi is not sorted, etc as per type it us picked up by different recycle companies. and here lies the problem, many families have all working members, sorting rubbish takes time and money which is why the gov and sorting companies want the J citizen to do it for them if people cant have convenient affordable rubbish removal/ bins theyll just throw it in the nearest drain/ bushes adding to the already huge rubbish problem you see in J cities

e Tokyo subway gassing by Aum Shinrikyo involved putting the gas in garbage cans, which is why they have disappeared over the years, and why they are doing this now.

Yes, this is true. 9-11 was also carried out with planes, but people still use them. The London attacks were carried out on buses and subway trains, but it's business as usual. The point is people shouldn't have to suffer for the actions of a few. 20 years ago to boot. If they are so paranoid about bins, put them in front of all the police boxes. Let the police take responsibility for them.

There are trash cans in the subway? I don't recall seeing any. I'm always forced to stick my garbage in my pockets.

I spent a week in Tokyo a couple of years ago and the one thing I still am amazed about was that there were no public trash cans ANYWHERE. A tour guide on the Mt. Fuji bus tour I went on commented that he thinks this has been so ever since the sarin attacks. Those attacks used trash BAGS to hold the poison, but why that would require the removal of all trash CANS remains a mystery to me.

All this feverish summit-talk brings back fond memories of PM Cold-Pizza Obuchi and the months of endless front page agonizing over where to hold a G-nantoka summit, back in the day (?); and the winner is... Okinawa! Yay!

That was his major achievement, literally: deciding to hold it there.

Along with the introduction of the 2000 yen note.

Does anyone remember either of those? Or him? (Apart from sabishii-yatsu me)

Their are trash cans in Japan?

A tour guide on the Mt. Fuji bus tour I went on commented that he thinks this has been so ever since the sarin attacks.

Not true. There were no trashcans in Tokyo even before the sarin.

All bins for plastic bottled in Osaka Umeda as well. Annoying.

Where are the bombs going to be hide now ? In vending machines or do we stop people with suitcases, backpacks, Fat people who could be wearing a bomb. Yes the terrorist are very canning they will try and let a bomb of in Tokyo and all the security will rush away form Mie leaving all the G-7 members unguarded and that when the real attack will happen.