Tourists are seen at Asakusa district in Tokyo, Japan, March 25, 2020. Photo by Reuters
The top complaint among foreign tourists in Japan is the scarcity of trash cans in public places, with 21.9% citing this as the biggest inconvenience in a recent government survey.
The survey of over 4,000 foreign visitors at five major airports between December 2024 and January 2025, done by the Japan Tourism Agency, also found the language barrier (15%), overcrowding (13%) and immigration procedures (8.6%) were hassles.
Many tourists complained that they were forced to carry their trash back to their accommodation after being unable to dispose it off in public spaces.
Japan used to have more garbage cans in public areas, but many have been removed in recent years due to safety concerns following incidents such as the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack and the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Kyodo News Agency reported.
