Carrying your rubbish in Japan: where the bins are and how to read them

In their first hour in a Japanese city, most visitors end up holding an empty bottle and a rice-ball wrapper, looking for a bin that isn't there. Public bins are rare, and the ones you do find are particular about what goes in them. Once you know where they are and what the labels say, it stops being a problem.

Follow the vending machines

Many drinks machines have a recycling box beside them, usually labelled かん・ペットボトル (kan, petto botoru: cans, plastic bottles). These boxes are for drink containers only, so food wrappers and paper coffee cups don't belong there. Some have a separate small hole for caps. The usual habit is to take the cap off, peel away the label if it comes off easily, and drop the bottle in empty.

Stations and the conbini door

Station concourses and platforms usually have a row of bins sorted by type: newspapers and magazines, cans and bottles, and one marked その他 (sono ta, other) for everything else. These are the most forgiving bins in the country, so empty your pockets while you wait for a train.

Convenience stores put their bins by the entrance or inside near the eat-in counter. They are meant for things you bought in that shop, and many carry a small printed sign by the slot.

家庭ごみの持ち込みはご遠慮ください。

The sign asks people not to bring in household rubbish. Throwing away one wrapper after buying a drink is what the bin is for. Bringing in a bag of the day's rubbish is what the sign is about.

Carry a bag, and let the hotel do the rest

The simplest fix is a small bag folded into your day pack. Conbini carrier bags cost a few yen each, and you can reuse one all day. Back at the hotel the room bin takes everything, and if there are two, one is usually for bottles and cans.

On the shinkansen, the bins are in the vestibule between carriages, and on some lines staff walk the aisle with a bag before major stops. On festival and fireworks nights, temporary sorting stations go up, often staffed by volunteers who will point you to the right bag.