Landing at LAX from Tokyo and then using the toilet…is the absolute worst.
Going from pristine bathrooms that warm your booty to toilets with crap all over the floor and walls…let me take the 10 hour flight back.
Moving back from Thailand, after 8 years, my Midwestern town made me realize that, in comparison, at least my region, it seems like a spotless paradise lol. I was FaceTiming with my wife and showing her where I'm from and one of the first things she asked me is "why is it so clean?"
I landed in Atlanta, how do people that big fit in the aircraft? How?! Like whole families that are two seats wife just waddling through the airport.
Largest people you see in Japan, either have some sort of mental health issue or are sumo wrestlers. Go near a US military base and the dependents are just as big as the sumo wrestlers.
It’s the hyper refined foods we have(mainly) in America . Ozempic is literally a hormone that re-teaches your body “This is how you’re supposed to respond to food”
Waiting in line for the elevator at the parking garage of LAX after my trip to Japan was depressing.
There were two elevators but one was broken and the whole area was gross and graffitied. Japan would never 😂
Or San Fran, my God. I mean San Francisco geographically is maybe one of the most beautiful cities in the US, it’s a hub of tech one of us biggest exports, it could be a shining hub of what the future has to offer and yet has been handed over to homeless population.
And then they only clean it when the president of China comes? To me that exposed everything, it shows they’re not looking out for people’s well being at all, they don’t care. It’s about control.
To be frank, it’s downright embarrassing. I had to host few colleagues from Shanghai, Tokyo, and Zurich in SF at my past job and they got to witness the current state of BART. Of course BART isn’t the same as LA Metro but I think the point still stands.
Is there a particular reason why the US is so dirty compared to Japan? Why do people seem not to care about dirt in western countries? Is it lack of education?
I think these are a few major factors:
1. Cultural differences. Japan has a collectivist culture while the US has an individualistic "cowboy" culture.
2. Japan has a large middle class, this is good for city taxes, municipalities, and the general attitude that individuals "own" their society (in the US people are so disenfranchised by a rigged system that alienates a lot of groups, "why should I give a shit about cleaning up a country that's done worse than nothing for me??"
3. The ultra wealthy in the US have created a mentality of extreme penny pinching to the point of cutting corners and "useless jobs." The US does not value human life as much as what a human can provide in an employment sense, so "useless" jobs like old people cleaning public areas are nonexistent. Japan is the opposite in that it seems to be more important to create jobs for people, even jobs where old people just "stand around" instead of treating them like disposable garbage.
Points 1 and 3 are very true of other Asian societies, such as Hong Kong, Singapore,Taiwan, Mainland China or Korea. Unfortunately the middle class is shrinking everywhere.
Being different is seen as a quality in the US. And if by "different", it means "an insufferable asshole", then so be it. To be honest, it's not just the US.
Japanese people are different from each other, like any other people from any other country, but not humiliating yourself is a core value here. Well, you can moderately humiliate yourself if you're drunk, that's fine.
I think most Americans love the idea of being the best country in the world, but in reality, they don't really care about their fellow countrymen or don't really want to contribute financially to its supposed greatness.
So, a dirty city ? Not my house, don't care. Even if my house is dirty, we're in a free country, you fucking communist. I guess that's the idea.
There's some things you said I would disagree a bit about, but this right here fucking nails the problem exactly:
> Being different is seen as a quality in the US. And if by "different", it means "an insufferable asshole", then so be it.
It's so true though. Ive lived in 3 countries and America really celebrates individualism while others celebrate collectivism (idk if that's the right word lol). It has it's pros and cons, but lately I've been leaning towards conformity being healthier for a society and people.
Regarding point 1;
Japanese are taught from Kindergarten on to clean up after themselves. They have cleaning duties from Kindergarten into office-cleanup.
Signs at parks don't read "littering fine $200" but "let's help keep _our_ park clean together!".
Littering in your _own_ city/park is like scratching your own car.
If you told an American that you can cut down crime without getting loaded semi automatic weapons into the hands of every man, woman, infant, and family pet, their heads would fucking explode.
That I could never get used to. Like you go outside where dogs piss and take crap and then step inside your house. And then some people put their feet wearing shoes on the sofa or even bed. Plain nasty.
#2 is a huge point and weighs the heaviest I think. You can't fix it if you don't own the rights to fix it.
#3 companies have to watch out for their stakeholders and often they aren't even from the same country. CEOs and generally the 1% have no sense of civic duty/providing a quality of life.
Many reasons but I think it comes down to less social cohesion than Japan.
It's much easier to rule a homogenous country where you have strong social contracts. Homogenous country means the constituents have similar values and strong social contracts means people tend to follow the law and display benevolent attitude towards social order and welfare. The way the Japanese people frequently say しつれいします or すみません is a pretty good indicator of this I think. I have visited Japan few times and I don't think I have ever seen Japanese throw trash out in the station compared to say the US where people will just do whatever they want. It's easier to maintain cleanliness when there's less stuff to clean. In the US - it's common to flaunt "muh rights" attitude and that results in the opposite. There's also complicated racial relationship and history in the US that gets in the way of investing in equitable public infrastructure and solving homelessness problem that also lead to dirtier environment. It's quite sad.
edit: u/Diablo_Police beat me to the punch but I think we're more or less in agreement.
American kids are taught that they are unique a snowflakes that should do things their way.
Japanese kids are taught they are part of a society and are responsible to one another.
Lots of little reasons, but the biggest one w.r.t. the social disorder here vs there is Japan has more than 10x the number of psychiatric care beds per capita as the US: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Psychiatric-care-beds-per-100-000-population-2014-2016-OECD-website-101787-0191328e-en_fig2_331186514
Coming back to chicago I just looked around and thought “damn the roads here are crumbling”, of course they don’t have to deal with constant rock salt and our crazy winters.
Also it made me furious that an entire culture can carry their rubbish home or until they find a trash can and here we have trash cans and people still litter incessantly.
Sapporo is a great example of crumbling roads that get fixed up quick. I live here - the snow just now has melted away, so now the crews are going around literally everywhere to patch up the roads. The freeze cycles over winter are fucking brutal for these roads
Out of all of the cities I've been to, Including other countries, Chicago doesn't really rank super high on dirtiness honestly. Boston for example, is incredibly dirty
Don't get my wrong though, compared to cities in Japan, it's filthy.
The small mountain town in Japan that I live in gets snow, the roads get salted every year, and constantly has logging trucks running up and down it. The roads are still in great condition.
Sapporo has worse winters than Chicago. The roads are potholed every spring from snowplows and freeze-thaw, but they're generally kept in decent repair, despite our almost 20 feet of cumulative snowfall a year.
Understandable, I was disgusted by LA. It's the only city I've visited and felt like I had to take a shower when I got back to my hotel.
Nice people, just trash everywhere.
When I tell people about my hometown, I tell them that I love the food, the people, the culture, the music, the mountains, the ocean, the desert, the rivers, the plans, the animals, the language. Los Angeles is the smell of sagebrush and pine in the hot sun, the ocean on the sand, the fog in the eucalyptus trees. I just fucking hate the city they built there.
Just got back from the UK. It was an absolute dump. It's always been grimy, but it has got way worse (possibly due to covid and other financial issues). Trash everywhere, disgusting streets, and dog shit all over the place. And this wasn't just big cities, but everywhere from small towns to villages. Have people just given up?
> Have people just given up?
Sometime in the early 2000s, the west went from a high trust to a mid to low trust society. Social ties are fraying and without a sense of mutual trust, things can't function in a positive way. We have become programmed to look out only for ourselves and have lost the optimism that characterized the post WW2 era. It peaked in the 90s, and then petered out.
Was it all just 9/11? Maybe. It's hard to blame it all on that, but I'm sure it had an effect.
Anyway, we are on a downward spiral. We will never regain the feeling of optimism that most of the world had in the 90s. The genie is out of the bottle; once you have western societies shrugging off mass violence, enabling fascist strongmen, and devolving in to a political discourse that i us vs them to the point of frothing hatred, it's all over. The grand experiment has failed.
Then again, that's probably what everyone said after ww1 and 2 so who knows.
For now, everything is shit, but at least we don't have school shootings here in Japan, so that's some consolidation.
This wasn't just lower socio-economic areas, but some well off areas and tourist resorts too. Dog shit and litter particularly, was everywhere. It was out of season for the tourist areas, so maybe they spruce up a bit later, but it was approaching Easter and everywhere was still a shithole.
Install more toilet bidets in the US please. [It does seem to be increasing in numbers](https://getpocket.com/explore/item/they-panic-bought-bidets-during-the-pandemic-it-changed-their-lives) but there should be more.
I've read that the reason for that is to catch people doing drugs lol. If that's true, the US has such a bizarre obsession with punishing addicts, and will do anything possible before actually helping people with illness.
Yeah, why not just do random drug test twice a year or something if it's really a big issue. Having no proper toilet doors is almost like just shitting behind an Afghanistan mud house where your neighbours says hi to you from the kitchen...
Thin flushable tissue (no need for trash can)
Alcohol to spray on tissue to clean toilet seat
Bidet
Makes the toilet stall less need to be cleaned especially if the user is not a pig
Wait 10 years, that disease is spreading all over the world.
The US is just a world leader, everyone else gravitates over time. Look at how popular McD is in France now
Been living in Japan for about three years now.
I never want to return to America for as long as I can help it 😩 it’s so clean and pristine over here you gotta STRUGGLE to find trash on the streets
It’s impossible to visit Japan and return to the United States without having this exact reaction. It’s amazing what actual hard work and determination can accomplish for a society.
To be fair, getting a bunch of different people with different levels of hygiene and cultural practices is quite difficult.
Americans and by and large the western countries haven't figured out how to establish decent hygiene standards and practices let alone getting everyone vaccinated from things like polio.
To the detriment of western society, it is and will unfortunately continue to be dirty without enforcement and early practice and learning in childhood. ... but then again, in places like America, people will somehow link it to the idea of "freedoms" being taken away.
I don't think it has much to do with hygiene standards, because if you've been to Japan, you'd understand that western countries have very thorough standards when it comes to hygiene by and large.
It has more to do with societal norms, civic pride, and personal responsibility. In Japan, from your first day of school to when you're retired, you're part of organizations that keep your city, neighbourhood, or street clean and maintained.
School children are responsible for serving their own lunches and cleaning their school. Work places in a district or street will take turns doing morning cleanups before business starts for the day. Retirees are given a small wage to maintain parks and plants in their neighbourhoods to keep them active and participating.
Every single stage in someone's life has them personally responsible for their little corner of their city and gives them a vested interest in ensuring that space is treated well. It also gives them empathy and respect for everyone else doing the same thing across the country. I've never seen a Japanese person throw a bottle or wrapper out of the window of their car, whereas I see that nearly every day here in NA.
> I've never seen a Japanese person throw a bottle or wrapper out of the window of their car, whereas I see that nearly every day here in NA.
Been living in Japan for almost a decade now. I have seen this, there's no shortage of people leaving trash all over the place here. However what Japan does have that many other countries do not, is a fair amount of people that go around picking up that trash and keeping the streets reasonably clean, particularly the elderly.
I'm not sure if that trend is going to carry over through the times though as it is generally the younger folks who are leaving trash everywhere...
I was going to say this. I lived in Japan for a bit over two decades and it's not that Japanese people are unfailingly clean, but the people who live in the spaces they litter rapidly clean up anything that is tossed on the ground near them. Japanese people are quick to step up and clean up someone else's mess if it is on their doorstep (so to speak).
There was an empty lot near the Shin-Koenji subway station and it was full of trash tossed in there, overgrown with weeds, and had graffiti. It was like that because no one took responsibility for that space so it didn't get cleaned up.
Empty lots seem to generally be free-for-alls. Other "hidden" places like over the levee and under the bridge, places like that, are also free-for-alls and often have tons of litter. But yeah, I'm with you, in other places it seems like as soon as someone litters, an old man is there to pick it up.
I will admit that the only places that I've found with trash were extremely out of sight. For example, very rural towns that've seen hard times, or small narrow spaces between buildings in Tokyo, Osaka, etc. Those usually have some random trash, but it depends on how well the neighbourhood is run.
I guess I've just been lucky, but I've still never seen anyone litter yet outside of foreigners. Littering is an extreme pet-peeve of mine, so I'm still actually shocked when I see people hold on to trash for 10-15 minutes before they find a conbini or the now rare vending machine bins.
I've never witnessed people throwing trash out their windows here like they do in the US. Oh, I've been here 20+ years, I know they litter, and I know there are places out of sight in many cities that are basically trash dumps from all the junk people throw there. Littering does of course still exist in Japan, it is just more hidden because it is not socially acceptable to do.
But yeah I witness what you say a lot, people going around and picking up said litter. One friend of mine, an old Japanese man, spend two hours every single morning walking around the city collecting litter. He then always takes it to city hall and complains to them for about an hour about the litter. I feel sorry for the public workers who have to listen to him, but I do admire that he puts so much effort into cleaning things.
>However what Japan does have that many other countries do not, is a fair amount of people that go around picking up that trash and keeping the streets reasonably clean
I voluntarily pick up litter if i find any in an otherwise clean area in Tokyo. Hard to do that in Shinjuku or Shibuya - but Nerima, Odaiba? I see a wrapper flying in the breeze? I just put that in my little mobile litter bag
Not saying that it never happens, but I have spent a lot of time driving around Japan and I've never seen it happen. I drove 15 minutes to work yesterday in Canada and saw a cigarette and coffee cup thrown out the window.
I think it has to do with a lack of a collectivist culture and society in the US. Since the West is generally more individualistic the average person probably feels less obligated to keep a public space clean for others.
This. Surprised this isn’t upvoted.
I’m not Japanese but SK but one thing I’ve noticed from Western counterparts is the emphasis on the individual versus harmony among peers, family or a group of people.
This has pros & cons, but the idea of keeping peace as you age becomes second nature.
100% agree with this. People who are concerned, helpful, and collaborative are frequently overlooked and put down against people who are self centered, and pushy. It has a lot to do with the values that are promoted. It goes from the government all the way down to work life expectations.
I understand what you’re saying and while true, it doesn’t really take any particular culture to
#THROW TRASH IN THE TRASH BIN
We separate the garbage very extensively in my prefecture but in America it’s all just going to a landfill. It should be easier to keep streets clean but nah
To be fair Japan is simply built different. Japanese people will hold on to their trash for as long as it takes. A more fair comparison is NYC or LA vs Montreal. I can go 3 - 4 blocks in LA or NYC (even Manhattan and Williamsburg) without seeing a trashcan and they're mostly full anyway. When I was in downtown Montreal, there was a trashcan and a recycling bin on every corner. Americans do need some better culture, but even those of us who take not littering seriously are not even empowered to the bare minimum to keep our streets clean.
Western countries...the same countries that would once make fun of Indians for washing their bums and have now discovered Japanese toilets and bidets and bum sprays...
Western countries...the same ones where they had to teach adults the "Happy Birthday" song to wash their fucking hands with soap after using the toilet.
I'm starting to think there's a lot of stuff wrong with Western countries and hygiene seems to be one of them.
Hate to break it to you but the Japanese men where I worked in Japan rarely washed their hands after using the urinal. Also, they rarely cleaned with any disinfectant, just the same dirty rags and water.
The main point is they try to keep things neat and tidy and it’s instilled in school where everyone cleans, but they have their own gaps like any society. The janitors if you will were for fixing things, setting up for events, and other tasks.
This exactly. Things look clean but looks can be deceiving. My workplace doesn't use any cleaning products or disinfectants, we just run that same old dirty rag over everything. Wipe the floors with itz rinse it out with water and run it over the desks the same way. Before I started working there the windows were so filthy that you literally couldn't see through them, they were greyed out with dirt. My colleagues clean every day before and after work but never thought to clean the windows. I started to clean them myself and they joined in when they saw me doing it the first time but I never see them doing it otherwise. I make sure they never go back to that state again because it was so much work to get them clean so I wipe them clean every month or so. Western culture seems to care more about cleaning windows in small business and domestically. Also mopping floors clean. The floors may look clean in Japan but they are so dirty sometimes because they never get properly mopped.
Someone should teach the Japanese that song then b/c nobody washes their hands after using the toilet here. At most you'll get a brief 3 second finger waggle under running water.
You seriously didn't get that from my post?
Like I said...all these Western countries and Westerners that were making fun of people for being clean and then it turns out that they were fucking COVID heathens that didn't even wash their hands.
It was quite the experience realising that all of these guys who were making fun of Indians for washing their ass weren't even washing their hands after using the toilet.
I mean, you can say hurt...but for me it was an eye opening experience. And somewhat funny.
>the same countries that would once make fun of Indians for washing their bums
I don't think you should use India as an example of superior hygiene when it was only back in 2011 that 35% of people had access to a toilet. I don't think people were washing their hands there either when they didn't even have access to modern plumbing.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10373110/#:\~:text=By%202011%2C%20the%20percent%20of,to%2071%25%20%5B1%5D](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10373110/#:~:text=By%202011%2C%20the%20percent%20of,to%2071%25%20%5B1%5D).
Not once did I use India as an example of "superior hygiene", all I said was Western countries were making fun of India and Indians for washing their asses while they were wiping and not washing their hands.
And now they've discovered things such as bum guns, Japanese toilets and what not and think they've caught onto something new.
Like...those that did have toilets and houses, do you not think they also had access to soap? Those Indians that travelled around the world...didn't know how to wash and clean up?
>all I said was Western countries were making fun of India and Indians for washing their asses
Where did the bidet originate again exactly?
There is only one country that had a weird aversion to them and it is the USA.
The U.K. as well.
It wasn't just the U.S. I think France was literally the only European country to even think about washing and even then, from my understanding, they were used by prostitutes more which is why the U.S. felt they were dirty.
America is too mixed racially and culturally for people to care about their communities in the same way. Sorry to say, but it's the truth. We live in a highly individualistic racial jungle lol
Human beings are very fickle and simply care more about those who look and act like themselves. Promoting the same type of societal cohesion doesn't seem viable.
That's where I am now. I got back from a Japan trip last year, and now all I see when I look at fast food is overpriced, low quality garbage. I've lost 65 pounds since returning from there. I find no serotonin in eating that shit anymore.
People in America throw trash out their car window.
Recently at a McDonalds drive thru; the people in front of me got their order; and threw out the trash from their last visit out the passenger window.
While a trash can was available less than 5 feet ahead of them.
We Americans tend to take everything for granted.
Traveling and seeing other cultures really does open minds.
Japan’s collectivist culture is on next level. Mostly it’s cultural. It can never get to the same level in the west. But some elements can be borrowed. But for that you need uniform society where everyone is on the same page. What is unique about Japan is that it’s few islands with little outside influence for centuries, so they developed their own cooperative culture. But this comes with a lot of unwritten rules that people have to follow and if one doesn’t follow them they are not being treated nicely so they eventually have to fall in line. Also they have a lot of people so the population is dense and people have to copperate to live a decent life. In the US people are too spread out. In Japan they also have many regular natural disasters which they’ve adapted to. But for that you also need cooperation. So yes, while Japan is nice it can hardly be replicated anywhere else. One similar case I can think of is Britain but historically it was more open with less population and has not had many natural disasters so they are not on the same level as Japan in terms of cooperation, which leads to cleanliness and other things that people are impressed about in Japan.
The first smart thing he’s ever said?
Taking a train to the airport in Tokyo, flying, then taking BART in SF is the saddest, most depressing thing since baby cancer.
As a JPN native who just came back from visiting family and seeing the level of overtourism😱I’d say I appreciate the compliment, but instead of flocking to 🇯🇵and leaving the mess, plz take that sentiment home and keep your own community clean. Don’t give up on your neighbors and start doing something that affects them. Living in DTLA myself I know it seems impossible to change ppl’s behavior but nothing gonna change if you ain’t doing nothing
[Look at my recent post on my city's subreddit.](https://www.reddit.com/r/longbeach/s/aC7aMTWn2y) Its downright depressing regarding the stuff we gotta deal with in our cities. I really try my hardest to be a good neighbor and to keep my community clean, but we can only do so much in a country where people are highly individualistic and selfish. It's not surprising to find people here dreaming of moving somewhere with peace, harmony, and establish social norms that keep society going.
Kimmel's disgusting neighborhood in Hermosa Beach. Shinjuku and Shibuya are much cleaner! 👍
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11821133/Jimmy-Kimmel-building-new-lavish-mansion-impeccable-ocean-views-Hermosa-Beach.html
He does live in LA, so not surprised.
Although zoning laws in Japan are radically different so you will find businesses with trash heaps in residential neighborhoods at times. When you only go to tourist places of course they look polished.
I'll never forget my domestic flight to Philly just after arriving from Tokyo, one of the passengers asked the flight attendant about switching seats with another passenger, and she said "I don't care what you do, just stop talking to me" while giving the 'talk to the hand' gesture. The dude's jaw was on the floor and a few others laughed and said "yup, she's from Philly"
Ha people talking about landing in LA from Tokyo. My wife and I landed in Atlanta. One of the filthiest airports I’ve ever been in. Rude staff too. Just all around horrible airport.
Education, no education on how to keep yourself and surrounding clean back in school in the US, and looking at Asian country they have to clean their surrounding since elementary school, and perform collectively as a group
Arriving back in the US after being in Japan for any amount of time is always such a downer. Getting barked at by security to move faster in a grungy airport only to pick up your luggage that’s been thrown about isn’t always the warm welcome!
I’m in Tokyo Japan as I read these comments and it’s all true. Very very very clean city. I had to carry my empty smoothie cup with me this morning because there aren’t any trash cans anywhere. People move fast to where they are going and are minding their own business. I will be flying back to SFO and dirty California. I can’t wait (sarcasm)
Honestly, it’s definitely what I miss most about home. I absolutely love our hyper cleanliness culture, which stems from our Shinto background I believe…
Now living in Western Europe, it’s…disappointing.
1 yes true
2 well at least your taxes are way less where right now I’m only getting 51% of my paycheck. But every one has healthcare and the city actually does work so I can see where it’s going
3 Japan is turning away from giving people jobs just because in the tech space but yes when you get older and still want that pension you become a bike/car parker.
Had a layover in Honolulu are our trip back in 2018 and one of the bathroom doors was just hanging half off the jam. It was such a harsh culture shock!
I feel like the U.S. would have compared more favorably a couple of decades ago, but is now a society in decline.
Not just economic decline like Japan but comprehensive social decay.
I have bad news: tons of countries, even china, have better and cleaner cities than america.
Shanghai is massive. More massive than i could comprehend before i went.
Shanghai’s metro is clean and safe and efficient.
NYC’s subway smells like piss and trash and I worry i’m gonna get mugged half the time.
As a Japanese person, whenever I get to the US, I have the same feeling. However, after a week, I am used to it and don't care about it at all. Safety issues are more serious for me.
I'm going later this year. Haven't even been yet and everything I've seen and read makes me think Japan is the only country actually living in the 21st century.
A lot of people don’t care about their environment and will just dump their shit wherever they want in the US. There are zero public trash cans in Japan, but the streets are clean. Meanwhile you have trashcan everywhere in every city in the US and there’s trash everywhere.
It’s 100% a cultural thing. Next time you’re hanging with a friend and they liter, call them out on it.
He isn’t wrong especially if you’re directly comparing anywhere in Japan to LA. For one: subways are pristine in Japan yet here it’s completely normal for it to smell like urine
Same feeling in Canada. Japan is the nation with the declining birth rate and “stagnant economy” but which economy is working for its people? No place is perfect but there’s a lot to be admired there.
I agree! So many homeless and crazy people high on drugs or with some serious mental health issues. Aggressive looking people asking for money. It’s a mess!
Yep, I was in Japan last week, Tokyo especially is super clean, Kyoto is clean as well.
I felt the same when I came home to Brisbane, so much rubbish on the sides of the highways, it's like government can't see it, or refuse to see it.
Comes down to pride really and there isn't much at all
I went to Paris late last year, and as someone who lives in NYC when I landed at JFK I was very tempted to just get on another flight and go back. The things we put up with here compared to other countries is absolutely insane.
Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya...buh bye
Makes all his money and enjoys all the fame in the most disgusting country in the world ...fuck Jimmy Kimmel
Landing in LAX will do that to a mf
God, landing in LAX after leaving from Tokyo was wild. It's like there was a nasty film on everything
America is filthy, disgusting and fatter than anywhere on earth,
Landing at LAX from Tokyo and then using the toilet…is the absolute worst. Going from pristine bathrooms that warm your booty to toilets with crap all over the floor and walls…let me take the 10 hour flight back.
This is exactly what I experienced after landing at O’Hare. So depressing lol
Everyone was fat, I realized.
Just moving from Denver back to western KY did that for me. It's a striking difference. Like, I'd forgotten how it was.
Moving back from Thailand, after 8 years, my Midwestern town made me realize that, in comparison, at least my region, it seems like a spotless paradise lol. I was FaceTiming with my wife and showing her where I'm from and one of the first things she asked me is "why is it so clean?"
I landed in Atlanta, how do people that big fit in the aircraft? How?! Like whole families that are two seats wife just waddling through the airport. Largest people you see in Japan, either have some sort of mental health issue or are sumo wrestlers. Go near a US military base and the dependents are just as big as the sumo wrestlers.
Maybe the actual objective was to "make America slim again" ?
It’s the hyper refined foods we have(mainly) in America . Ozempic is literally a hormone that re-teaches your body “This is how you’re supposed to respond to food”
Waiting in line for the elevator at the parking garage of LAX after my trip to Japan was depressing. There were two elevators but one was broken and the whole area was gross and graffitied. Japan would never 😂
Or San Fran, my God. I mean San Francisco geographically is maybe one of the most beautiful cities in the US, it’s a hub of tech one of us biggest exports, it could be a shining hub of what the future has to offer and yet has been handed over to homeless population. And then they only clean it when the president of China comes? To me that exposed everything, it shows they’re not looking out for people’s well being at all, they don’t care. It’s about control.
Hey hey to be fair SFO is one of the best airports I’ve been to and I’ve seen most of the major ones. It’s right behind Incheon airport in Korea
They didn't clean it they just put the dirt in a corner
Truth!
At least not at JFK and taking the subway.
JFK for me. Yikes.
Coming back to the LA metro after being in Tokyo for months was like getting hit by Truck-kun
To be frank, it’s downright embarrassing. I had to host few colleagues from Shanghai, Tokyo, and Zurich in SF at my past job and they got to witness the current state of BART. Of course BART isn’t the same as LA Metro but I think the point still stands.
Is there a particular reason why the US is so dirty compared to Japan? Why do people seem not to care about dirt in western countries? Is it lack of education?
I think these are a few major factors: 1. Cultural differences. Japan has a collectivist culture while the US has an individualistic "cowboy" culture. 2. Japan has a large middle class, this is good for city taxes, municipalities, and the general attitude that individuals "own" their society (in the US people are so disenfranchised by a rigged system that alienates a lot of groups, "why should I give a shit about cleaning up a country that's done worse than nothing for me??" 3. The ultra wealthy in the US have created a mentality of extreme penny pinching to the point of cutting corners and "useless jobs." The US does not value human life as much as what a human can provide in an employment sense, so "useless" jobs like old people cleaning public areas are nonexistent. Japan is the opposite in that it seems to be more important to create jobs for people, even jobs where old people just "stand around" instead of treating them like disposable garbage.
Points 1 and 3 are very true of other Asian societies, such as Hong Kong, Singapore,Taiwan, Mainland China or Korea. Unfortunately the middle class is shrinking everywhere.
Being different is seen as a quality in the US. And if by "different", it means "an insufferable asshole", then so be it. To be honest, it's not just the US. Japanese people are different from each other, like any other people from any other country, but not humiliating yourself is a core value here. Well, you can moderately humiliate yourself if you're drunk, that's fine. I think most Americans love the idea of being the best country in the world, but in reality, they don't really care about their fellow countrymen or don't really want to contribute financially to its supposed greatness. So, a dirty city ? Not my house, don't care. Even if my house is dirty, we're in a free country, you fucking communist. I guess that's the idea.
There's some things you said I would disagree a bit about, but this right here fucking nails the problem exactly: > Being different is seen as a quality in the US. And if by "different", it means "an insufferable asshole", then so be it.
It's so true though. Ive lived in 3 countries and America really celebrates individualism while others celebrate collectivism (idk if that's the right word lol). It has it's pros and cons, but lately I've been leaning towards conformity being healthier for a society and people.
Regarding point 1; Japanese are taught from Kindergarten on to clean up after themselves. They have cleaning duties from Kindergarten into office-cleanup. Signs at parks don't read "littering fine $200" but "let's help keep _our_ park clean together!". Littering in your _own_ city/park is like scratching your own car.
Massive difference between most of America and LA though. By far the dirtiest city I've been in. 2nd is New York. Boston was actually pretty nice.
Those are all large cities
LA doesn't even touch some of the levels of depravity of inner cities like Detroit.
Funny enough, people just standing around is an effective way to cut down crime.
If you told an American that you can cut down crime without getting loaded semi automatic weapons into the hands of every man, woman, infant, and family pet, their heads would fucking explode.
Jane Jacobs’ eyes on the street principle - everyone is safer when there’s more people around!
4: Americans just have different tidiness standards, for example many wear their shoes inside their house.
That I could never get used to. Like you go outside where dogs piss and take crap and then step inside your house. And then some people put their feet wearing shoes on the sofa or even bed. Plain nasty.
Oh it's because of uh.. You know.. Big corporations and hum... Poor people huh... Japanese are collectivists so that's why am dirty.
In the US people cannot self-criticize. It’s always someone else’s fault.
#2 is a huge point and weighs the heaviest I think. You can't fix it if you don't own the rights to fix it. #3 companies have to watch out for their stakeholders and often they aren't even from the same country. CEOs and generally the 1% have no sense of civic duty/providing a quality of life.
Culture influences laws as well, US practically legalized littering and being a shite human in general by not enforcing any of those laws.
Many reasons but I think it comes down to less social cohesion than Japan. It's much easier to rule a homogenous country where you have strong social contracts. Homogenous country means the constituents have similar values and strong social contracts means people tend to follow the law and display benevolent attitude towards social order and welfare. The way the Japanese people frequently say しつれいします or すみません is a pretty good indicator of this I think. I have visited Japan few times and I don't think I have ever seen Japanese throw trash out in the station compared to say the US where people will just do whatever they want. It's easier to maintain cleanliness when there's less stuff to clean. In the US - it's common to flaunt "muh rights" attitude and that results in the opposite. There's also complicated racial relationship and history in the US that gets in the way of investing in equitable public infrastructure and solving homelessness problem that also lead to dirtier environment. It's quite sad. edit: u/Diablo_Police beat me to the punch but I think we're more or less in agreement.
American kids are taught that they are unique a snowflakes that should do things their way. Japanese kids are taught they are part of a society and are responsible to one another.
Lots of little reasons, but the biggest one w.r.t. the social disorder here vs there is Japan has more than 10x the number of psychiatric care beds per capita as the US: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Psychiatric-care-beds-per-100-000-population-2014-2016-OECD-website-101787-0191328e-en_fig2_331186514
Oh there’s a reason
Collectivist society versus an individualistic one
It's my freedom to litter!
[удалено]
Coming back to chicago I just looked around and thought “damn the roads here are crumbling”, of course they don’t have to deal with constant rock salt and our crazy winters. Also it made me furious that an entire culture can carry their rubbish home or until they find a trash can and here we have trash cans and people still litter incessantly.
Sapporo is a great example of crumbling roads that get fixed up quick. I live here - the snow just now has melted away, so now the crews are going around literally everywhere to patch up the roads. The freeze cycles over winter are fucking brutal for these roads
That's nice. In Iwate the roads just stay broken.
Sounds like Philly
Hey now Chicago is a lot cleaner than say NYC lmao.
Out of all of the cities I've been to, Including other countries, Chicago doesn't really rank super high on dirtiness honestly. Boston for example, is incredibly dirty Don't get my wrong though, compared to cities in Japan, it's filthy.
You should check out Kanazawa in winter. Their roads have embedded continuous anti ice spray lol.
The small mountain town in Japan that I live in gets snow, the roads get salted every year, and constantly has logging trucks running up and down it. The roads are still in great condition.
Sapporo has worse winters than Chicago. The roads are potholed every spring from snowplows and freeze-thaw, but they're generally kept in decent repair, despite our almost 20 feet of cumulative snowfall a year.
Understandable, I was disgusted by LA. It's the only city I've visited and felt like I had to take a shower when I got back to my hotel. Nice people, just trash everywhere.
When I tell people about my hometown, I tell them that I love the food, the people, the culture, the music, the mountains, the ocean, the desert, the rivers, the plans, the animals, the language. Los Angeles is the smell of sagebrush and pine in the hot sun, the ocean on the sand, the fog in the eucalyptus trees. I just fucking hate the city they built there.
Just got back from the UK. It was an absolute dump. It's always been grimy, but it has got way worse (possibly due to covid and other financial issues). Trash everywhere, disgusting streets, and dog shit all over the place. And this wasn't just big cities, but everywhere from small towns to villages. Have people just given up?
> Have people just given up? Sometime in the early 2000s, the west went from a high trust to a mid to low trust society. Social ties are fraying and without a sense of mutual trust, things can't function in a positive way. We have become programmed to look out only for ourselves and have lost the optimism that characterized the post WW2 era. It peaked in the 90s, and then petered out. Was it all just 9/11? Maybe. It's hard to blame it all on that, but I'm sure it had an effect. Anyway, we are on a downward spiral. We will never regain the feeling of optimism that most of the world had in the 90s. The genie is out of the bottle; once you have western societies shrugging off mass violence, enabling fascist strongmen, and devolving in to a political discourse that i us vs them to the point of frothing hatred, it's all over. The grand experiment has failed. Then again, that's probably what everyone said after ww1 and 2 so who knows. For now, everything is shit, but at least we don't have school shootings here in Japan, so that's some consolidation.
Lower socioeconomic areas in the UK look like developing countries
This wasn't just lower socio-economic areas, but some well off areas and tourist resorts too. Dog shit and litter particularly, was everywhere. It was out of season for the tourist areas, so maybe they spruce up a bit later, but it was approaching Easter and everywhere was still a shithole.
Install more toilet bidets in the US please. [It does seem to be increasing in numbers](https://getpocket.com/explore/item/they-panic-bought-bidets-during-the-pandemic-it-changed-their-lives) but there should be more.
Also please have proper toilet doors, I don't want Tony peeking at me taking a shit...
I've read that the reason for that is to catch people doing drugs lol. If that's true, the US has such a bizarre obsession with punishing addicts, and will do anything possible before actually helping people with illness.
Yeah, why not just do random drug test twice a year or something if it's really a big issue. Having no proper toilet doors is almost like just shitting behind an Afghanistan mud house where your neighbours says hi to you from the kitchen...
cant trust people with that here though. someone shit would end up in the bidet itself
I was gonna say I would never use a bidet in a public US restroom because I could never trust it to be clean
Thin flushable tissue (no need for trash can) Alcohol to spray on tissue to clean toilet seat Bidet Makes the toilet stall less need to be cleaned especially if the user is not a pig
Imagine what crackheads and homeless would do to your average public bidet toilet.
Coming from Seoul to Vancouver was like going from heaven to hell
Everyone ask how Vancouver but no one asks cancouver
Vancouver is a shit hole. No fun city.
He is not wrong
Yeah Jimmy, we know. Americans are also fat AF and like to bring their pets with them everywhere.
Hey! That’s support animal to you! /s
Can’t blame them with how good the Mexican food is there, it’s hot trash in Japan
You are not wrong.
Cold trash, usually.
Wait 10 years, that disease is spreading all over the world. The US is just a world leader, everyone else gravitates over time. Look at how popular McD is in France now
Going back to US to visit for 2 weeks after being in Asia for just over 4 years, my god everyone is so fat.
I'm american living in Japan and I agree
Been living in Japan for about three years now. I never want to return to America for as long as I can help it 😩 it’s so clean and pristine over here you gotta STRUGGLE to find trash on the streets
And the prices here in Japan is so low. While the quality of life is so high. What the heck is this place, Elysium?
Low prices because the wages are low and was maintained that way. Good luck getting promoted.
It’s impossible to visit Japan and return to the United States without having this exact reaction. It’s amazing what actual hard work and determination can accomplish for a society.
How long before he signs up to the JET program?
Can we blame him? He went from Tokyo to Los Angeles. Not the best transition
To be fair, getting a bunch of different people with different levels of hygiene and cultural practices is quite difficult. Americans and by and large the western countries haven't figured out how to establish decent hygiene standards and practices let alone getting everyone vaccinated from things like polio. To the detriment of western society, it is and will unfortunately continue to be dirty without enforcement and early practice and learning in childhood. ... but then again, in places like America, people will somehow link it to the idea of "freedoms" being taken away.
I don't think it has much to do with hygiene standards, because if you've been to Japan, you'd understand that western countries have very thorough standards when it comes to hygiene by and large. It has more to do with societal norms, civic pride, and personal responsibility. In Japan, from your first day of school to when you're retired, you're part of organizations that keep your city, neighbourhood, or street clean and maintained. School children are responsible for serving their own lunches and cleaning their school. Work places in a district or street will take turns doing morning cleanups before business starts for the day. Retirees are given a small wage to maintain parks and plants in their neighbourhoods to keep them active and participating. Every single stage in someone's life has them personally responsible for their little corner of their city and gives them a vested interest in ensuring that space is treated well. It also gives them empathy and respect for everyone else doing the same thing across the country. I've never seen a Japanese person throw a bottle or wrapper out of the window of their car, whereas I see that nearly every day here in NA.
> I've never seen a Japanese person throw a bottle or wrapper out of the window of their car, whereas I see that nearly every day here in NA. Been living in Japan for almost a decade now. I have seen this, there's no shortage of people leaving trash all over the place here. However what Japan does have that many other countries do not, is a fair amount of people that go around picking up that trash and keeping the streets reasonably clean, particularly the elderly. I'm not sure if that trend is going to carry over through the times though as it is generally the younger folks who are leaving trash everywhere...
I was going to say this. I lived in Japan for a bit over two decades and it's not that Japanese people are unfailingly clean, but the people who live in the spaces they litter rapidly clean up anything that is tossed on the ground near them. Japanese people are quick to step up and clean up someone else's mess if it is on their doorstep (so to speak). There was an empty lot near the Shin-Koenji subway station and it was full of trash tossed in there, overgrown with weeds, and had graffiti. It was like that because no one took responsibility for that space so it didn't get cleaned up.
Empty lots seem to generally be free-for-alls. Other "hidden" places like over the levee and under the bridge, places like that, are also free-for-alls and often have tons of litter. But yeah, I'm with you, in other places it seems like as soon as someone litters, an old man is there to pick it up.
I will admit that the only places that I've found with trash were extremely out of sight. For example, very rural towns that've seen hard times, or small narrow spaces between buildings in Tokyo, Osaka, etc. Those usually have some random trash, but it depends on how well the neighbourhood is run. I guess I've just been lucky, but I've still never seen anyone litter yet outside of foreigners. Littering is an extreme pet-peeve of mine, so I'm still actually shocked when I see people hold on to trash for 10-15 minutes before they find a conbini or the now rare vending machine bins.
I've never witnessed people throwing trash out their windows here like they do in the US. Oh, I've been here 20+ years, I know they litter, and I know there are places out of sight in many cities that are basically trash dumps from all the junk people throw there. Littering does of course still exist in Japan, it is just more hidden because it is not socially acceptable to do. But yeah I witness what you say a lot, people going around and picking up said litter. One friend of mine, an old Japanese man, spend two hours every single morning walking around the city collecting litter. He then always takes it to city hall and complains to them for about an hour about the litter. I feel sorry for the public workers who have to listen to him, but I do admire that he puts so much effort into cleaning things.
>However what Japan does have that many other countries do not, is a fair amount of people that go around picking up that trash and keeping the streets reasonably clean I voluntarily pick up litter if i find any in an otherwise clean area in Tokyo. Hard to do that in Shinjuku or Shibuya - but Nerima, Odaiba? I see a wrapper flying in the breeze? I just put that in my little mobile litter bag
Not saying that it never happens, but I have spent a lot of time driving around Japan and I've never seen it happen. I drove 15 minutes to work yesterday in Canada and saw a cigarette and coffee cup thrown out the window.
I think it has to do with a lack of a collectivist culture and society in the US. Since the West is generally more individualistic the average person probably feels less obligated to keep a public space clean for others.
This. Surprised this isn’t upvoted. I’m not Japanese but SK but one thing I’ve noticed from Western counterparts is the emphasis on the individual versus harmony among peers, family or a group of people. This has pros & cons, but the idea of keeping peace as you age becomes second nature.
100% agree with this. People who are concerned, helpful, and collaborative are frequently overlooked and put down against people who are self centered, and pushy. It has a lot to do with the values that are promoted. It goes from the government all the way down to work life expectations.
I understand what you’re saying and while true, it doesn’t really take any particular culture to #THROW TRASH IN THE TRASH BIN We separate the garbage very extensively in my prefecture but in America it’s all just going to a landfill. It should be easier to keep streets clean but nah
To be fair Japan is simply built different. Japanese people will hold on to their trash for as long as it takes. A more fair comparison is NYC or LA vs Montreal. I can go 3 - 4 blocks in LA or NYC (even Manhattan and Williamsburg) without seeing a trashcan and they're mostly full anyway. When I was in downtown Montreal, there was a trashcan and a recycling bin on every corner. Americans do need some better culture, but even those of us who take not littering seriously are not even empowered to the bare minimum to keep our streets clean.
People in America are vaccinated against polio and have been since at least the 1950s.
and Japan is vaccine-hesitant at the government level
Western countries...the same countries that would once make fun of Indians for washing their bums and have now discovered Japanese toilets and bidets and bum sprays... Western countries...the same ones where they had to teach adults the "Happy Birthday" song to wash their fucking hands with soap after using the toilet. I'm starting to think there's a lot of stuff wrong with Western countries and hygiene seems to be one of them.
Hate to break it to you but the Japanese men where I worked in Japan rarely washed their hands after using the urinal. Also, they rarely cleaned with any disinfectant, just the same dirty rags and water. The main point is they try to keep things neat and tidy and it’s instilled in school where everyone cleans, but they have their own gaps like any society. The janitors if you will were for fixing things, setting up for events, and other tasks.
This exactly. Things look clean but looks can be deceiving. My workplace doesn't use any cleaning products or disinfectants, we just run that same old dirty rag over everything. Wipe the floors with itz rinse it out with water and run it over the desks the same way. Before I started working there the windows were so filthy that you literally couldn't see through them, they were greyed out with dirt. My colleagues clean every day before and after work but never thought to clean the windows. I started to clean them myself and they joined in when they saw me doing it the first time but I never see them doing it otherwise. I make sure they never go back to that state again because it was so much work to get them clean so I wipe them clean every month or so. Western culture seems to care more about cleaning windows in small business and domestically. Also mopping floors clean. The floors may look clean in Japan but they are so dirty sometimes because they never get properly mopped.
Yup, saw a guy rush out of a public bathroom yesterday after peeing with no hands washed.
Literally saw the same thing in Tokyo just hours ago and multiple times since being in Japan.
Westerner, lived in America and Europe, and now Japan, there are exceptions, but I totally agree.
Someone should teach the Japanese that song then b/c nobody washes their hands after using the toilet here. At most you'll get a brief 3 second finger waggle under running water.
Who hurt you? lol
You seriously didn't get that from my post? Like I said...all these Western countries and Westerners that were making fun of people for being clean and then it turns out that they were fucking COVID heathens that didn't even wash their hands. It was quite the experience realising that all of these guys who were making fun of Indians for washing their ass weren't even washing their hands after using the toilet. I mean, you can say hurt...but for me it was an eye opening experience. And somewhat funny.
>the same countries that would once make fun of Indians for washing their bums I don't think you should use India as an example of superior hygiene when it was only back in 2011 that 35% of people had access to a toilet. I don't think people were washing their hands there either when they didn't even have access to modern plumbing. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10373110/#:\~:text=By%202011%2C%20the%20percent%20of,to%2071%25%20%5B1%5D](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10373110/#:~:text=By%202011%2C%20the%20percent%20of,to%2071%25%20%5B1%5D).
Not once did I use India as an example of "superior hygiene", all I said was Western countries were making fun of India and Indians for washing their asses while they were wiping and not washing their hands. And now they've discovered things such as bum guns, Japanese toilets and what not and think they've caught onto something new. Like...those that did have toilets and houses, do you not think they also had access to soap? Those Indians that travelled around the world...didn't know how to wash and clean up?
>all I said was Western countries were making fun of India and Indians for washing their asses Where did the bidet originate again exactly? There is only one country that had a weird aversion to them and it is the USA.
The U.K. as well. It wasn't just the U.S. I think France was literally the only European country to even think about washing and even then, from my understanding, they were used by prostitutes more which is why the U.S. felt they were dirty.
America is too mixed racially and culturally for people to care about their communities in the same way. Sorry to say, but it's the truth. We live in a highly individualistic racial jungle lol Human beings are very fickle and simply care more about those who look and act like themselves. Promoting the same type of societal cohesion doesn't seem viable.
It's culture not race.
This is also me after returning from Japan
Couldn’t eat fast food for years after returning.
That's where I am now. I got back from a Japan trip last year, and now all I see when I look at fast food is overpriced, low quality garbage. I've lost 65 pounds since returning from there. I find no serotonin in eating that shit anymore.
People in America throw trash out their car window. Recently at a McDonalds drive thru; the people in front of me got their order; and threw out the trash from their last visit out the passenger window. While a trash can was available less than 5 feet ahead of them. We Americans tend to take everything for granted. Traveling and seeing other cultures really does open minds.
Japan’s collectivist culture is on next level. Mostly it’s cultural. It can never get to the same level in the west. But some elements can be borrowed. But for that you need uniform society where everyone is on the same page. What is unique about Japan is that it’s few islands with little outside influence for centuries, so they developed their own cooperative culture. But this comes with a lot of unwritten rules that people have to follow and if one doesn’t follow them they are not being treated nicely so they eventually have to fall in line. Also they have a lot of people so the population is dense and people have to copperate to live a decent life. In the US people are too spread out. In Japan they also have many regular natural disasters which they’ve adapted to. But for that you also need cooperation. So yes, while Japan is nice it can hardly be replicated anywhere else. One similar case I can think of is Britain but historically it was more open with less population and has not had many natural disasters so they are not on the same level as Japan in terms of cooperation, which leads to cleanliness and other things that people are impressed about in Japan.
Comparing a country that builds their cities for people, to a country that builds their cities for cars.
The first smart thing he’s ever said? Taking a train to the airport in Tokyo, flying, then taking BART in SF is the saddest, most depressing thing since baby cancer.
As a JPN native who just came back from visiting family and seeing the level of overtourism😱I’d say I appreciate the compliment, but instead of flocking to 🇯🇵and leaving the mess, plz take that sentiment home and keep your own community clean. Don’t give up on your neighbors and start doing something that affects them. Living in DTLA myself I know it seems impossible to change ppl’s behavior but nothing gonna change if you ain’t doing nothing
[Look at my recent post on my city's subreddit.](https://www.reddit.com/r/longbeach/s/aC7aMTWn2y) Its downright depressing regarding the stuff we gotta deal with in our cities. I really try my hardest to be a good neighbor and to keep my community clean, but we can only do so much in a country where people are highly individualistic and selfish. It's not surprising to find people here dreaming of moving somewhere with peace, harmony, and establish social norms that keep society going.
This is on a much larger scale than the individual unfortunately
Speaking the truth
Sad really, I used to admire the USA so much as a kid back in the 80's. Seems totally doomed.
Kimmel's disgusting neighborhood in Hermosa Beach. Shinjuku and Shibuya are much cleaner! 👍 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11821133/Jimmy-Kimmel-building-new-lavish-mansion-impeccable-ocean-views-Hermosa-Beach.html
He does live in LA, so not surprised. Although zoning laws in Japan are radically different so you will find businesses with trash heaps in residential neighborhoods at times. When you only go to tourist places of course they look polished.
the tourist places in America look like trash. How do you explain that
Japanese have separate room for using the toilet and bathing… they don’t shit where they clean.
I'll never forget my domestic flight to Philly just after arriving from Tokyo, one of the passengers asked the flight attendant about switching seats with another passenger, and she said "I don't care what you do, just stop talking to me" while giving the 'talk to the hand' gesture. The dude's jaw was on the floor and a few others laughed and said "yup, she's from Philly"
Ha people talking about landing in LA from Tokyo. My wife and I landed in Atlanta. One of the filthiest airports I’ve ever been in. Rude staff too. Just all around horrible airport.
Education, no education on how to keep yourself and surrounding clean back in school in the US, and looking at Asian country they have to clean their surrounding since elementary school, and perform collectively as a group
He shouldn't ever visit India then. He'll think the US is beautiful and spotless after walking those streets.
Arriving back in the US after being in Japan for any amount of time is always such a downer. Getting barked at by security to move faster in a grungy airport only to pick up your luggage that’s been thrown about isn’t always the warm welcome!
Damn we've come out of the hole just for this post, eh.
The USA sucks. He’s totally right.
I’m in Tokyo Japan as I read these comments and it’s all true. Very very very clean city. I had to carry my empty smoothie cup with me this morning because there aren’t any trash cans anywhere. People move fast to where they are going and are minding their own business. I will be flying back to SFO and dirty California. I can’t wait (sarcasm)
Honestly, it’s definitely what I miss most about home. I absolutely love our hyper cleanliness culture, which stems from our Shinto background I believe… Now living in Western Europe, it’s…disappointing.
Based, but the policies he advocates for are why the US is that way.
What policies?
Kimmel encapsulates those traits perfectly.
Philadelphia is pristine
Well if you compare to LA, definitely yes. Other states are alright. New York is also a mice-infested garbage, but I will take it over LA.
Exactly how I felt.
yep… that was exactly what i felt after my trip to Tokyo and Kyoto last Fall…
Countries that value and respect the people and the environment around them seems to have a clean country. This starts with your bedroom.
The US has no problem getting money to build new roads, new neighborhoods, but good luck getting money to maintain those things.
1 yes true 2 well at least your taxes are way less where right now I’m only getting 51% of my paycheck. But every one has healthcare and the city actually does work so I can see where it’s going 3 Japan is turning away from giving people jobs just because in the tech space but yes when you get older and still want that pension you become a bike/car parker.
As much as I hate things like banks here it’s so hard for me to move back to the US
He’s not wrong
Saw that haha. Can understand, have not been back in a decade and don't really want to go visit even.
Japan deserves multiculturalism I guess
Had a layover in Honolulu are our trip back in 2018 and one of the bathroom doors was just hanging half off the jam. It was such a harsh culture shock!
If you travel the world, it will open your eyes to a lot of things. US isn’t #1 in jack squat. Maybe gun violence, that’s about it.
Facts!
I feel like the U.S. would have compared more favorably a couple of decades ago, but is now a society in decline. Not just economic decline like Japan but comprehensive social decay.
It feels like visiting the future. I can't wait to go back.
Places aren’t disgusting, *people* are disgusting.
Yup
I think heads up his mind when he landed in Haneda, went to the toilet and discovered the bidet.
The same thing happened to Tucker after Russia trip, amirite? Hahahaha
I have bad news: tons of countries, even china, have better and cleaner cities than america. Shanghai is massive. More massive than i could comprehend before i went. Shanghai’s metro is clean and safe and efficient. NYC’s subway smells like piss and trash and I worry i’m gonna get mugged half the time.
Reading this seating in a stall at the Naha airport and can confirm
Open borders and a class of people raised by single mothers - Japan doesn't have either.
No shit jimmy
My coworkers came from London and almost got to witness a shooting at a shopping center.
As a Japanese person, whenever I get to the US, I have the same feeling. However, after a week, I am used to it and don't care about it at all. Safety issues are more serious for me.
Made him filthy rich too.
I'm going later this year. Haven't even been yet and everything I've seen and read makes me think Japan is the only country actually living in the 21st century.
A lot of people don’t care about their environment and will just dump their shit wherever they want in the US. There are zero public trash cans in Japan, but the streets are clean. Meanwhile you have trashcan everywhere in every city in the US and there’s trash everywhere. It’s 100% a cultural thing. Next time you’re hanging with a friend and they liter, call them out on it.
He isn’t wrong especially if you’re directly comparing anywhere in Japan to LA. For one: subways are pristine in Japan yet here it’s completely normal for it to smell like urine
Same feeling in Canada. Japan is the nation with the declining birth rate and “stagnant economy” but which economy is working for its people? No place is perfect but there’s a lot to be admired there.
Sounds about right to me
I don’t like him but he’s not wrong. Capitalism gone wild baby
The country where half the populace thinks picking up trash is gay happens to be disgusting? I'm fucking flabbergasted.
Also in Japan they have decent state sponsored medical insurance Deym socialists!!
Currently in Japan, and uhhh true. But Japan can be dirty sometimes
Shame it didn't make him realise he hasn't been funny in twenty years
Yea. America is pretty dirty other than rich neighborhoods. Mass transit might as well be riding a turd and blood covered carnival ride.
I agree! So many homeless and crazy people high on drugs or with some serious mental health issues. Aggressive looking people asking for money. It’s a mess!
r/americabad moments
Yep, I was in Japan last week, Tokyo especially is super clean, Kyoto is clean as well. I felt the same when I came home to Brisbane, so much rubbish on the sides of the highways, it's like government can't see it, or refuse to see it. Comes down to pride really and there isn't much at all
I went to Paris late last year, and as someone who lives in NYC when I landed at JFK I was very tempted to just get on another flight and go back. The things we put up with here compared to other countries is absolutely insane.
I’m right there with him. Leaving Tokyo tonight for the US and not looking forward to getting back to the rudeness and selfishness.
Got that right
Americans are fukt honestly
what?
Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya...buh bye Makes all his money and enjoys all the fame in the most disgusting country in the world ...fuck Jimmy Kimmel
People finally waking up huh