There is a reason for the lack of public trash cans in Japan. On March 20th, 1995 during the morning rush hour, the Tokyo subway system fell victim to a deadly terrorist attack using extremely lethal sarin gas. This attack was organized by cult members of Aum Shinrikyo and injured over 5,000 people. Because sarin gas has no scent and is also colorless, many affected by the attack did not realize until they began having symptoms later on.

Although the cult members were eventually arrested, many were scared of further attacks. To ease these fears, trash cans were taken out of many public areas (especially train stations) because they could potentially hold terrorist weapons.

Fast forwarding to now, over 30 years later, Tokyo still has very few trash cans and train stations are still always on alert for suspicious items or anything that could be possibly linked to further incidents.

Although you may have to search a bit, most train stations will have garbage bins that you can use in front of the ticket gates, and sometimes on the platforms. Some stations will have neither, and some will only have ones for throwing away pet bottles, bins and cans, so don’t count on always being able to throw away your trash at a station. Please don’t throw away unrelated trash in bins designated for bottles, and also refrain from throwing away anything other than sanitary products in train station bathrooms.

To the side of many vending machines you can find a designated garbage can for plastic bottles, glass bottles, and cans (basically for things you can buy in a vending machine).

Because many Japanese people enjoy having picnics or drinking in the park, you can often find garbage cans without many issues at most parks! You may have to walk a while to get to one, but you will usually be able to find a rather large garbage bin fairly easily.

Sometimes you can find garbage cans at your local convenience store, but there have been some issues regarding them. These garbage bins aren’t considered public, so if you’d like to use them it’s best to buy something from the store beforehand.

Most convenience stores originally had the garbage cans outside of the store but had to move them because too many people would throw things away there making it problematic. It’s best to keep in mind that these are for customer use to avoid any issues!

Japan is very strict about separating their garbage. Garbage is most commonly separated here by the following: combustibles, incombustibles, cans, glass bottles, and plastics.

Even if you’re not used to separating garbage this detailed, it is a fairly straightforward system, and you likely won’t have any issues understanding what goes where. If you’re not sure about the system, take some time to observe how people around you do it to make sure you get it right - sometimes they won’t collect your trash if it isn’t separated properly!

While it is likely that you will have to carry your garbage around at some point when you are here in Japan, knowing the information listed above can hopefully make your trip all the easier.

If you do worry about collecting unwanted garbage while out and about, here are a few smart tips to handle your trash like a pro:

Written by Lindsey Schultz