There
are many foibles and peculiarities about living in Japan. Some people
of a certain age might remember a book entitled The Organization
Man by William Whyte (1956) in which the herd instinct is thought
to be stronger than the mythos of rugged individualism. We can think
of Japan as The Over-organization Society where conformity
trumps individuality unless you are an individual who appoints
him/herself the enforcer of conformity.
Just
about every aspect of communal life in Japan is organized to the point (in the
eyes of an “outside person”) of absurdity—and, I might add,
profit. Take garbage, for example. In the sacrosanct name of
re-cycling, there are endless lists of the correct way of the disposing
of garbage. Here is a quote from a 2005 New York Times
article:
 |
| "What should we do?" (garbage reduction cycle guide) |
The
city of YOKOHAMA, Japan . . . “handed residents a 27-page booklet
on how to sort their trash. Highlights included detailed instructions
on 518 items.
Lipstick goes into burnables; lipstick tubes, "after
the contents have been used up," into "small metals"
or plastics. Take out your tape measure before tossing a kettle:
under 12 inches, it goes into small metals, but over that it goes
into bulky refuse.
Socks?
If only one, it is burnable; a pair goes into used cloth, though only
if the socks "are not torn, and the left and right sock match."
Throw neckties into used cloth, but only after they have been "washed
and dried."
Got
your head spinning yet?
Which
brings me to a story I heard recently about the garbage bag man. The Yokohama story is an extreme example, granted. You might
think it's a joke. But it isn't as exaggerated as you might think. We
take our garbage disposal seriously in these here parts. Not only do
you have to separate your trash, but it has to go in a specially
designated colored (yellow) bag that has to be purchased at the
supermarket. (Some municipalities, in order to increase revenues, are encouraging businesses to advertise on the garbage bags--for a fee, of course.) You can't just put your trash in the free plastic (clear white)
grocery bag supplied by the check out cashier. If you do, your bag
will be glaringly obvious from the approved yellow bags and it WILL
NOT be picked up, but left in plain sight until you feel embarrassed
enough to go and pick it up. I kid you not, I've seen this with mine
own eyes.
Listen. The
story I heard recently on local TV news is about a city that has
introduced several color-coded bags for specific types of trash and
garbage: red, yellow and blue. The specific content of each color bag
is not the point of the story, however, silly as it may seem. No, the
twist in the story is the 80-something-year-old man who has appointed
himself the garbage policeman of his neighborhood. This gentleman has
made it his mission in life to supervise the proper use of the color-coded bags for the correct disposal of the neighborhood
garbage.
 |
| "Today is RED BAG day! Does this look like a red bag to you?" |
Naturally
he must be properly uniformed (this IS Japan, after all) to be a
garbage policeman. Since a different color bag is used on different
days, he has to have color coordinated attire. This old dude is
very creative. He designed his own uniforms. He went to a department
store and picked out three sets of trousers, baseball caps and wind
breakers in, yep, you guessed it, red, yellow and blue. On red bag day
he wears his red outfit and patrols the trash dumping sites. If he
sees a miscreant using the improper colored bag, he scolds the
individual, embarrassing and shaming him into going home and
re-bagging his trash in the correct colored bag--red, in this case.
On blue bag day, the blue outfit, on yellow bag day the yellow
outfit and so on. When the neighbors were interviewed on TV, they praised the garbage
bag man for his community spirit and zeal in making sure the rules
were being followed. But one elderly lady, something of an
individualist no doubt, said, with a wry smile, of garbage bag man:
“Yes, he has fine community spirit, doesn't he; and we won't dare
cheat, will we?”
 |
| Ha-ha. If you read this far, bet you were expecting this picture! |
When
there is no longer one miscreant left, garbage bag man says he will
consider his “Mission Accomplished” and retire, presumably to go
on to his eternal reward in that big dump in the sky.
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