Preparation Note for My English Conversation Lesson
Summary of the Essay:
A foreign woman visiting Tokyo broke both handles of her suitcase during her trip. When she learned it would cost ¥2,000 for the hotel to dispose of it, she decided to take the damaged suitcase back to her home country instead. She was surprised that there was a fee just to throw something away.
Based on this article, we discussed garbage disposal in Japan.
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My Opinion:
If I were in her shoes, I think I would just pay the ¥2,000. To me, it seems like a reasonable fee. I don’t see it as just a disposal fee. It’s more accurate to think of it as a service charge for the hotel handling the disposal process on my behalf.
In Japan, people know that getting rid of bulky or non-burnable items can be a hassle, so it makes sense that the hotel would charge for taking care of it.
Are Japan’s Garbage Rules Too Strict or Necessary?
From my perspective as a Japanese person, I think the rules are necessary.
Japan is often considered one of the cleanest countries in the world, and I believe these strict garbage rules are one of the reasons why.
I also think the rules help reduce waste.
They discourage people from buying things that might be difficult to dispose of later.
For example, I try to choose food or daily items that come in burnable packaging, like cardboard, rather than plastic containers. Burnable materials are often easier to dispose of in many cities, and they feel more environmentally friendly.
Small choices like that can make a difference, especially when the rules make people more aware of how much waste they’re producing.
If I say a bit more, I think this mindset also comes from a cultural characteristic of Japanese people. Many of us believe that having rules is important—not just in society, but also in school, at work, and in everyday life.
It’s almost second nature for us to follow rules, if they’re clearly defined.
Even if the rules are well-designed, they don’t really work unless people actually follow them. So I think Japan’s garbage system works well partly because people are used to respecting rules as a way to maintain social order.
Garbage Separation in Japan
Probably the biggest difference when it comes to throwing things away is garbage separation.
Japan has very strict rules about sorting garbage, but the rules are different depending on which city you live in—not by the prefecture, but by each individual city.
From my perspective, the rules in my city are actually pretty easy. For example, in our city, plastic is considered burnable. But in some places, plastics have to be sorted as non-burnable. It must be too much trouble.
You have to separate burnable garbage and plastic waste before throwing them away.
Whether plastic is treated as burnable or not depends on the capability of an incineration facility that each city has. And my city’s one can burn plastic at high temperatures.
These days, so many things—like boxes and bags—include some plastic.
So the rule that allows you to throw plastic out as burnable makes sorting trash a lot easier.
I think that’s why I feel our city’s system is less stressful compared to other places.
And garbage separation rules are so complicated in Japan that even Japanese people sometimes get confused when they move to a new city!
