Tokyo's Shibuya Ward adding new anti-littering fines; will require more trash cans too

TOKYO — Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood is one of the most popular, and crowded, parts of the city. In particular the part of the district that stretches from Shibuya Station, across the world-famous Shibuya Scramble intersection, down the Center-gai shopping street, and into the shops, restaurants, and pubs along the way and the roads that branch off from it, is packed with sightseers on pretty much any day or night of the week.

Shibuya has gotten especially crowded since the end of the COVID pandemic and its associated travel restrictions, becoming a top destination for the foreign tourists streaming into Japan. But while there’s a lot to see and do in Shibuya, recently there’s also been a lot more trash on the streets too, and so the government has announced that it’s adding some teeth to local ordinances, with a new fine for littering officially approved and scheduled to go into effect.

The Shibuya Ward assembly began formally discussing the proposed changes last week, and they were approved on Thursday. Though the areas around Shibuya and Harajuku stations have had the worst increases in litter in recent years, the ban will be enforceable anywhere in Shibuya Ward, a sizable part of downtown Tokyo that also includes the neighborhoods of Ebisu, Yoyogi, and some parts of the city that even many locals aren’t aware of being within the ward, such as the Shinjuku Takashimaya department store complex.

Under the new ordinance, anyone caught littering will be required to pay a fine of 2,000 yen. Shibuya Ward says that the ban will be enforced 24 hours a day by patrolling officials, though it hasn’t specified if there’ll be a team of dedicated anti-litter agents or if enforcement will be added to the responsibilities of civil servants in general who’re out in the field. Payment must be made in cash or using e-money systems, with the latter format suggesting that violators might be required to pay their fines on the spot.

Also passed by the Shibuya Ward assembly is a new ordinance requiring operators of convenience stores and cafes to install public trash cans (“cafes” in this case ostensibly referring to establishments that offer drinks and food as to-go items, not eat-in only restaurants with menus limited to light fare). This ordinance will be in place only for certain designated sections of Shibuya, such as around Shibuya Station, and failure to comply will result in a 50,000-yen fine for the business operator.

Psychologically, there’s an argument that can be made that once a price is set for it, some people might see a fine as more of an optional service fee they can pay in lieu of following the rules. In addition, if the Shibuya Ward government is attempting to influence the behavior of foreign tourists, a potential 2,000-yen hit might not be enough to stop the lazy and mannerless ones from littering, given how weak the yen is against foreign currencies. On the other hand, not all the trash in Shibuya comes from foreign tourists, and 2,000 yen still feels like a lot to Japanese locals. There’s also the question of whether the requirement for more trash cans in some parts of the ward, but fines for littering in all of it, will create a sense of entitlement that the trash can requirement be expanded throughout the ward as well.

All that said, stern warnings haven’t been doing the trick of keeping Shibuya clean, and hopefully these new rules will result in more trash in proper receptacles or taken home, not left on the streets.

The new ordinances will go into effect on June 1.

Source: Teleasa News via Yahoo! Japan News

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