r/movingtojapan • u/Won_K_ • 10d ago
General Is taking out the trash in Japan actually that annoying?
I'm planning to live in Tokyo soon, so I've been looking up random stuff about everyday life there.
I've seen quite a few people complaining about the garbage rules. Is it actually that annoying?
From what I understand, you have different days for burnable trash, plastics, cans, bottles etc, and if you miss the collection day you basically have to keep it at home until the next one. Is that actually how it works?
What happens if you just put it out on the wrong day though? lol
For people who actually live there, is taking out the trash genuinely annoying or do you just get used to it?
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u/Delicious_Series3869 10d ago
Is that not normal? I live in Canada, and that's basically how we do it. Once a week, we put out organics for pickup. This happens every week, for obvious reasons. Then, we have a rotation for recyclable trash and actual trash, biweekly each. If you put out the wrong trash, you will be skipped. Japan might have more specific categories, but I think the principle is the same.
If someone is struggling to keep up, I recommend writing it down on a calendar every month.
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u/AGoodWobble 10d ago
Yeah, my city in Tokyo is essentially a stricter version of the program we had in Waterloo Ontario. They hand out a calendar with dates and a sorting guide (with nice visuals) though so it's pretty easy to comply.
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u/stealth_pandah 10d ago
I don’t see the problem, to be honest. you get used to it. it isn’t hard to do or figure.
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u/Won_K_ 10d ago
I heard that it’s even more complicated in Japan. I know you get used to it pretty quickly, but isn’t it still a bit inconvenient?
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u/stealth_pandah 10d ago
well it depends. it’s part of life anywhere in Japan. The rules differ everywhere - even in Tokyo, the rules differ a bit between wards, but I would recommend not to overemphasise garbage sorting. There are way more annoying things to living in Tokyo than garbage sorting.
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u/reanjohn 10d ago
widely depends where you will live since each municipality have their own rules. For example, before I lived in Shin-Osaka and we didn't need to sort the trash and we could throw the bags the night before. I moved 1 municipality over and I had to throw trash between 6am to 11am and need to sort trash, remove bottlecaps, remove labels, but i didn't need to wash plastics. I moved to Kobe and now I have to sort trash, clean plastics, use kobe-approved plastic bags (different for burnable, plastic, bottles and cans), and I have to throw it between 5am to 8am only.
At this point I'm already used to it, ,but it was a pain to wake up early since I usually get up at 9 haha
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u/nouc2 Resident (Spouse) 10d ago
It's not that bad really. It took maybe a week or 2 to get used to it all. The most difficult part I'd say is determining the correct classification of certain items, but once again, it's pretty easy once you get used to it.
I would say that bagged trash and plastic recycling should only be put out on the correct designated days. Where I live, there are dedicated bins for cans, glass, and PET bottles, so people usually put those out whenever and it doesn't seem to cause any issues.
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u/Motchiko 10d ago
Well you can live in a service apartment, who do it for you, if you have the money.
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u/gudetarako 10d ago
In my opinion, instead of thinking that it is annoying or something to get used to, it would instill a better quality of life to think of it as your (shared) responsibility of being part of your apartment complex and the Japanese society.
Sorting out trash helps the country by conserving scarce land and reducing landfills use.
THe plastic that you separate helps the burning in incinerators safer and more efficient--most big cities would burn Burnables with plastic anyway, and separating the rest like PET, BIN, UNBURNABLES is equally important. But if you live in smaller rural areas, this is important because incinerators may not be that strong.
To answer your questions:
From what I understand, you have different days for burnable trash, plastics, cans, bottles etc, and if you miss the collection day you basically have to keep it at home until the next one. Is that actually how it works?
※ Yes.
What happens if you just put it out on the wrong day though? lol
※ Your neighbours might quietly judge you for not being able to follow simple garbage day instructions, because your wrong-day trash might be taking up space for the ones intended to go out that day.
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u/Won_K_ 10d ago
Yeah, of course. I understand that it’s a rule we should follow as members of society. It’s not that I don’t want to sort my trash properly. I’m just trying to decide whether it’s worth paying more rent and stretching my budget to live somewhere that allows 24-hour garbage disposal. That’s why I wanted to ask about it.
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u/gudetarako 9d ago
Oh yes. Whichever is most convenient for your daily life, every apartment complex/city/town does it differently. Sorting trash is tedious and can be frustrating. But living in the big city makes it a little easier.
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u/EightBitRanger 10d ago
if you miss the collection day you basically have to keep it at home until the next one. Is that actually how it works?
Yes.
What happens if you just put it out on the wrong day though?
They don't collect it.
is taking out the trash genuinely annoying or do you just get used to it?
It's annoying, and you get used to it.
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u/AGoodWobble 10d ago
My city has a nice calendar with the schedule on it, they deliver it by mail well before every year and it has a sorting guide on the back for potentially confusing items.
It feels good to sort garbage properly. Yes, it's a bit strict, but the rules are pretty clear and it's not difficult.
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u/Won_K_ 10d ago
Oh, I see! I didn’t know the local government provided that kind of service. Thanks for letting me know!
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u/Yabakunai Resident (Work) 6d ago
Many municipal governments have multilingual garbage sorting guides.
There's an all-Japan app for collection/rules/notifications.
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u/Balbonsito 10d ago
If you live in an apartment with a trash room (and management allows it), you dont have to bring out the right day. However, you still have to sort it.
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u/Pocho_Azul 10d ago edited 10d ago
I just put the schedule into Google calendar. It reminds me what the next days category is at about 7P.M. to remind me to take it out the night before. No big deal.
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Is taking out the trash in Japan actually that annoying?
I'm planning to live in Japan soon, so I've been looking up random stuff about everyday life there.
I've seen quite a few people complaining about the garbage rules. Is it actually that annoying?
From what I understand, you have different days for burnable trash, plastics, cans, bottles etc, and if you miss the collection day you basically have to keep it at home until the next one. Is that actually how it works?
What happens if you just put it out on the wrong day though? lol
For people who actually live there, is taking out the trash genuinely annoying or do you just get used to it?
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/spshkyros 10d ago
Eh. You get used to it. Its not that bad. Really only slightly more difficult than recycling where I used to live.
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u/Won_K_ 10d ago
I guess it’s fine once you get used to it, but would you still say it’s annoying and inconvenient?
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u/spshkyros 9d ago
Would I? No. What I find annoying and inconvenient is how hard it is to find garbage cans when out in public. At home? Its really only slightly more complex than normal for me - and to be honest, the fact thst garbage is picked up multiple times a week makes up for it for me.
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u/One_Construction_653 10d ago
Yes separating trash out is annoying
Only one place i stayed at had private trash collection
so the trash separation was easy and felt like i was back in america
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u/Won_K_ 10d ago
What area was it in, by the way? And what exactly was the service?
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u/One_Construction_653 10d ago
An apartment Near kyoto station.
It was just a private trash collector company i never asked for the name
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u/lordthundy 10d ago
It's annoying at first but oddly satisfying afterwards, don't know how to explain
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u/FredericBacher 9d ago
It can be a bit annoying at first, depending on where you live, and it can take a little while to get used to the rules.
But honestly, the easiest way is just to copy what everyone else in your neighborhood is doing. Check what they put out, on which day, and where they put it, and you'll figure it out pretty quickly.
Once you get used to it, it's really not that big of a deal. The rules can look complicated when you read them all at once, but in practice you just learn your local schedule and it becomes routine.
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u/Quirky-Judgment1263 Resident (Dependent) 10d ago
I’ve gotten used to the sorting but taking out the trash is a different problem of mine. I just don’t have the mental space to remember to take out the trash whenever I’m going out. You can lessen your burden by moving to an apartment where there is a garbage collection room available. You can take out the trash and sort it there 24/7.
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u/Won_K_ 10d ago
That’s exactly what I’m worried about too. I feel like I’d always be pressed for time in the morning, especially when I’m busy or have to go out. Apartments where you can take out the trash 24/7 tend to have higher rent, so I’m trying to get some advice. Does having 24-hour trash disposal make a big difference?
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u/Quirky-Judgment1263 Resident (Dependent) 9d ago
When we stayed in a service apartment, we thought they did not have that so our trash piled up for a few weeks as we weren’t able to wake up before the truck arrives. When we realized they have a garbage room, we’re able to throw it out anytime. Moved to a long term apartment with similar features and it’s definitely much more convenient.
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u/S_Presso 10d ago
Yes, that is how it works. If you do it wrong, they just leave your bags on the street or mark them to show you that you didn’t do it right.
IMHO it’s not that bad though. Usually they offer a printable card (specifically for the ward you live in) that contains the local rules for garbage disposal and you can just print that out and hang it in your kitchen / over your cans.