Japan, a country known for it's cleanliness has little to none trash cans in public spaces.
The lack of trash cans have always become a centre of attention for travellers, who have a hard time finding a simple way to dispose garbage in public places.
According to a survey conducted by the Japanese National Tourism Organization (JNTO), 21% of tourists cited the difficulty of finding a place to throw away garbage as the single biggest issue they has to deal with during the trip.
Why Japanese don't necessarily need trash cans?
One reason Japan does not need trash cans is despite buying their food and drink from convenience stores, they don't necessarily consume these products on the streets as it is considering bad manners.
For deer in Nara, the UNESCO-listed city, who are known for taking crackers from visitors and bowing as a thank you, the lack of trash cans trash has become a life-or-death issue.
As nine deer died in 2019 after eating plastic waste that was left on the ground by tourists.
In 1985, trash cans were removed from Nara's park to prevent deer from trying to eat out of them.
The dark history of lack of trash cans in Japan
Aside from hygiene factor, there's a dark truth behind the lack of public trash cans in Japan.
In March, 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult carried out sarin gas attacks on several Tokyo subways, killing 14 people and injuring around 5,500.
The cult members dropped sarin gas on subway cars and then punctured the bags with umbrella tips as they left the trains.
Several subway workers who attempted to clean up the spill and help passengers escape were among those who passed away.
This shocking incident forced Japan to change key regulations surrounding trash such as removing trash cans and using clear bags so police can monitor it's contents.
